The statue of Nicolaus Copernicus standing in the south-eastern corner of the Old Town market is one of the most important symbols of Toruń.
Cast in the studio of the renowned Berlin sculptor Fryderyk Tiecka, it was placed in its current location in 1853.
The bronze monument presents the astronomer as a figure dressed in a professorial toga and holding in his left hand an astronomical tool called the armillary sphere (spherical astrolabe). Unlike most other monuments and portraits, the youthful face of Copernicus is adorned with a delicate, visibly visible mustache.
Latin inscription on the plinth informs that the commemorated person is Nicolaus Copernicus, a Torunian who moved the Earth and stopped the Sun and the sky.
There are many pleasant customs associated with the Copernicus monument. It is here that the authorities of Toruń's Nicolaus Copernicus University honor their patron on every anniversary of his birth. At the foot of the astronomer, President of Toruń meets every year with students of the best classes of schools in Toruń. The student juvenile is less serious, during which the astronomer's statue is dressed in various costumes or becomes the focal point of fun arrangements. In December, the aged astronomer adorns the red hat of his namesake - Saint Nicholas, while nearby is a tall and beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
The Copernicus Monument is the most popular meeting place of Toruń and the most photographed object of Toruń - a city where the future astronomer spent the first eighteen years of his life.
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