These days, it is a district of Bydgoszcz, which until 1973 was a separate small town with a very long, multicultural history. Some of the most prominent historic sites of Old Fordon include a classicist building of an old synagogue dating from the late 18th century, which miraculously survived the German occupation (the Nazis turned it into a cinema, which was going until 1988), the neo-gothic Church of St John, Apostle and Evangelist dating from 1878-1879, and the neo-baroque Church of St Nicholas dating from 1927-1928 (designed by Stefan Cybichowski). In the Market Square of Old Fordon, our attention is focused on a group of buildings of the Penitentiary Prison for men, whose origins date back to 1859. The oldest of the buildings, erected in 1780-1783 (pavilion II of the prison), served as an old Prussian customs house.
