Stary Browar: the Most Beautiful Shopping Center in Europe via @fotostrasse

Stary Browar, in English Old Brewery, is an arts, business and shopping center in the center of Poznan. The place is a mixture of retail space and art gallery, based on the 50/50 concept created by Grazyna Kulczyk. This way 50% of Stary Browar should be used as an Art Space and the other 50% as a normal shopping center. This way you can experience art in everyday situations.

Since we were staying a block away from the Stary Browar, we have to say that we enjoyed this place way more than we expected. At first, we thought the place was just a fancy shopping center but it grew on us and we decided that the Old Brewery should be the first post to come from our week trip to Poznan.

The first thing we did after arriving in Poznan was a guided tour of Stary Browar where we learned everything there is to know about this beautiful shopping complex that houses offices, a hotel, an art gallery, close to 210 stores and even a park.

Stary Browar is known to some people as the Old Brewery because it was built on the site of the old Huggerów Brewery, that dated back to 1844. The building produced beer until 1980, then mineral water until it was bought in 1998. The Huggerów Brewery buildings have become integrated to this shopping complex making it look like a beautiful mixture of old and new and you can see this on the pictures on this post.

Stary Browar – the best Shopping Center in the World

While we walked through the place, it is easy to see why this place won awards for its beautiful architecture. The first one came from the International Council of Shopping Centers back in 2005 when they were awarded for being the best Shopping Center in the World in the medium-sized commercial buildings category. The other award came later when Stary Browar was voted the best shopping center in Europe. And the place deserves all these awards and more. The buildings were designed by Studio ADS and the décor was designed by stage designer Ryszard Kaja.

At the Old Brewery you can find from antiques to fashion clothes and boutique type shops. The place is great for shopping. You should go down to Piotr i Pawel on the first floor and have fun going through all the brands of local polish beer and vodkas. And, since the exchange rate between the Polish Złoty and the Euro is great for us, we did more shopping than expected.

We never expected to write a post about a shopping center but the Old Brewery is not a simple mall. Our concerns about spending our first afternoon visiting a shopping center turned into dust after we started walking around the halls. The place is a beautiful mixture of shops and art and it should be an example to the world.

When you plan your trip to Poznan, it would be great to stay around this place since it is going to make your life easier. All your shopping needs will be satisfied in the same place and you can use the rest of your day to explore the beautiful city that is Poznan.