Thank you very much Maciej - and I am humbled that you include the #8 as one you particularly liked. This represents the first time I ever attempted to merge 2 photos. They were not shot for that purpose, I merely made two side-by-side pictures and only when working on these last fall did I suddenly realize that I could possible do a merge here, something I have read from other members here and was eager to try. Luckily it worked and I was quite pleased - from that you can see that I am not very accomplished at post work yet, but I keep trying ....

North of the Hala Targowa Market Hall stands the Great Mill, adjacent to which stands in a park next to the Old Town Hall a monument to the astronomer Jan Hevelius.

GREAT MILL - History: The Great Mill was built by the Teutonic Knights in 1350 on the artificial island of the Radunia canal, near a tannery, fulling mill, copper smithy, sawmill, oil mill, grinders and several other grain mills. The first record of it appeared in 1365. The building burned down in 1391, but was soon rebuilt. In 1454, the Great Mill was captured by the inhabitants of Gdansk, belonging to the anti-Teutonic conspiracy, which initiated the uprising against the supremacy of the Teutonic Order. After the Thirteen Years War, which was victorious for Poland, the king handed over the mill to the inhabitants of Gdansk. Until 1939, it remained in use and produced up to 200 tons of flour per day. During the Second World War it was partially destroyed. In 2016, it was donated to the needs of the Amber Museum.
Architecture: The Great Mill was one of the largest medieval grain mills in Europe. It was 26 meters high and 41 meters long. Situated on an island created for this purpose on the Radunia canal, it was surrounded on both sides by water, which allowed to double the number of mill wheels, and thus increase efficiency. It had 18 bucket wheels with a diameter of 5 meters. These wheels were on the two lower floors, six of the upper floors were intended for a warehouse. In the annex to the east, you could bake bread, then sell it, among others, on the Bread Bridge at the Old Town Hall. Around the Great Mill there were many other buildings, such as stables, bread stalls and the mill manager’s house.

OLD TOWN HALL - This building was erected in years 1587-1595, following the demolition of the earlier Gothic edifice. The design is attributed to Anton van Obberghen, a distinguished architect from the Netherlands and the most eminent representative of the Renaissance movement in Gdansk. The history of the building is also intertwined with that of another famous figure, namely that of Johannes Hevelius, who was a member of the Old Town council. After 1793, the building ceased to perform its original function, with its interiors adapted as a court of law in years 1803-06. In years 1911-14 the interiors were modified, with the Great Hall being restored to its former size and the Renaissance ceilings were restored. During World War II, the basement vaulting was reinforced in order to make it possible to use the basements as an air raid shelter. The building suffered only slight damage in 1945.

JAN HEVELIUS - (1611-1687) His first name is variously spelled as Jan, Johann or Johannes and his last name as Hevelius, Heweliusz, Hewel, Hevel or Howelcke. Jan was a councillor and mayor of Gdansk. As an astronomer, he gained a reputation as "the founder of lunar topography", and described ten new constellations, seven of which are still used by astronomers. His parents were wealthy brewing merchants of Bohemian origin. In 1630 Hevelius studied jurisprudence at Leiden, then traveled in England and France. In 1634 he settled in his native town. The following year, Hevelius became a member of the beer-brewing guild, which he led from 1643 onwards. Throughout his life, Hevelius took a leading part in municipal administration, becoming town councilor in 1651; but from 1639 on, his chief interest was astronomy. In 1641 he built an observatory on the roofs of his three connected houses, equipping it with splendid instruments, ultimately including a large Keplerian telescope of 46 m (150 ft) focal length, with a wood and wire tube he constructed himself. This may have been the longest "tubed" telescope before the advent of the tubeless aerial telescope.
In May 1679 the young Englishman Edmond Halley visited him as emissary of the Royal Society, whose fellow Hevelius had been since 1664, to persuade Hevelius to use telescopes for his measurements, yet Hevelius demonstrated that he could do well with only quadrant and alidade. He is thus considered the last astronomer to do major work without the use of a telescope. Hevelius made observations of sunspots, devoted four years to charting the lunar surface, discovered the Moon's libration in longitude, and published his results in Selenographia, sive Lunae descriptio (1647), a work which entitles him to be called "the founder of lunar topography". He discovered four comets, in 1652, 1661 (probably Ikeya-Zhang), 1672 and 1677. These discoveries led to his thesis that such bodies revolve around the Sun in parabolic paths. His observatory, instruments and books were destroyed by fire in 1679. His health had suffered from the shock of the 1679 fire and he died on his 76th birthday, 28 January 1687. Hevelius is buried in St. Catherine's Church in his hometown.


Notes
TRIP INFO: Set # 1 provides a brief introduction, maps and information for the entire series. Find it at:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-693834-1.html

DETAILS ON POLAND: Set 56 provides an intro, see: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-700547-1.html

DETAILS ON GDANSK/DANZIG: Set 83 provides an intro, see: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-703812-1.html

EARLIER POSTS of this series: Access my topic list, the new posts are listed in reverse chronological order:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-topic-list?usernum=45105

Thank you for visiting, I recommend viewing the downloads and look forward to your comments and questions.

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What an intriguing place! I too believe the Freemason's had a hand in the symbol atop the sign you showed in great detail.
I'm no expert on the subject but it wouldn't be out of character for them to just add the symbol to any work they were a part of.
I've noticed these same symbols at the Ferndale cemetery(and so many other places). No fanfare or credit seeking seems to be the mantra for the Freemasons.
just a symbol to say "we were here" or "I was a mason".
I'm with Mike on the water shots! Well done sir!
Rob