Polygon Square (Piața Poligon) is a small historic square and public garden in central Brăila, surrounded by nineteenth-century buildings that now house several of the city’s cultural institutions. Its landscaped center, with flowerbeds, hedges, and a bust of philosopher Nae Ionescu, provides a quieter public space a short distance from the larger Trajan Square.
Originally used as a passage and transit area, the square was paved in 1883 as part of improvements to Brăila’s public spaces. Its central section was subsequently converted into a small enclosed garden, with trees planted in 1888 from the nursery of Monument Park. Over the following decades, the garden underwent several alterations, at one point featuring a water basin and a perimeter marked by posts joined with metal chains.
Today, the garden has paved paths, lawns, decorative flowerbeds, trimmed hedges, benches, and traditional-style street lamps. At its center stands a bronze bust of Nae Ionescu (1890-1940), a philosopher and journalist born in Brăila who became an influential but controversial intellectual figure during the interwar period.
Among the buildings surrounding the square is the Brăila County Library Panait Istrati, housed in a former nineteenth-century residence. Nearby, the historic Petre Ștefănescu-Goangă House serves as the headquarters of the Chira Chiralina Cultural and Leisure Center, while the Nicăpetre Cultural Center is housed in the former headquarters of a shipping company.
