Once joined to the mainland, Spichlerze Island was created when the New Motława
Canal was dug in 1576. A centre of trade developed here at the end of the 13th
century. What was then a relatively small number of granaries had grown to more
than 300 by the 16th century. Each granary had a name and each façade was
decorated with an individual emblem. The purpose of digging the canal, and thus
of surrounding the district with water, was not only to protect the granaries
against fire but also to safeguard their contents against thieves.

Everything was destroyed in 1945. Today a main road bisects the island, and the
charred stumps that can still be seen in many places are all that remain of the
granaries. The name signs on some ruins – such as Arche Noah (“Noah’s Ark”) on
Ulica Żytnia (“Wheat Street”) – remain legible. Reconstruction began several
years ago. The first granaries to be rebuilt were those between the Motława and
Ulica Chmielna (“Hop Street”). One of them is now the headquarters of ZUS, the
Polish social security organization. Restoration of a group of buildings on
Ulica Stągiewna was completed in 1999. Two 16th-century Gothic castle keeps,
survivors of World War II, are in this street. They are known as the Stągwie
Mleczne (“Milk Churns”).