Locals call Park Staromiejski “Herring Park”, and nobody agrees why. One theory points to the fish market nearby, where herrings were sold from open tubs. A less appetising one blames the smell that reportedly rose when the ground was dug up.

Either way, the nickname hides a bigger story. A century ago this was a Jewish market quarter, a maze of alleys, tenements and stalls. The two metal archways you pass today recreate the entrances to the Eljasz Karo market, an alleyway packed with stalls selling books, cloth and household goods. The market area was levelled when the Nazis sealed the Łódź Ghetto, and the park was laid out on the rubble in the 1950s.

Two VoiceMap tours pass through. One sets the park within Łódź’s rise and ruin. The other begins at its water feature and tells the story of the Łódź Ghetto.