Altmarkt

The Altmarkt, or Old Market Square, is a rectangle measuring one hundred by one hundred thirty meters in the heart of Dresden. It has functioned as a center for markets, festivals, and public gatherings since the thirteenth century. The square is defined today by the juxtaposition of its architectural layers, ranging from the soaring, ninety-two-meter tower of the Church of the Holy Cross to the modernist, trapezoidal roof of the Culture Palace, completed in nineteen sixty-nine.