Jacek Piwowarczyk Photography - Poland - Krakow - Main Square

KRAKOW

For many of its residents, Kraków (Cracow), a city with a thousand years of tradition and Poland's capital for many centuries, remains the country's only true capital. While Warsaw's appeal rests in its modernity and busy atmosphere, Kraków spellbinds you with its quiet cobbled lanes, countless monuments of the past which could easily furnish a few other cities, splendid museums, lively bars and cafes, all enveloped in an atmosphere of unique tranquility and magic. It is a city of students - over 100,000 of them study at its numerous institutions of higher education - to whom Kraków owes much of its air of eternal youth. Unlike Warsaw, Kraków was not devastated during the Second World War. Its historic architecture survived intact (some buildings, like the tiny Church of St Adalbert in the Main Market Square and St Andrew's Church in ulica Grodzka, date back to the early Middle Ages: 10th-11th century). The two biggest sights are the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill, and the Main Market Square, surrounded by finely restored old town houses and bustling with activity. In 1978 the entire urban precinct of the Old City was entered on UNESCO's first World Heritage List, a prestigious distinction awarded then only to the 12 most valuable sites in the world. Recently Krakow has become so popular that in season foreign languages are being heard more than the Polish within the Old Town area. In the recent survey carried out by the Guardian the city was voted the fourth most desirable city to visit in Europe! Pretty remarkable indeed.

Main Square

The Main Market Square (Rynek Glówny) is Europe's largest mediaeval market-place, measuring 200 x 200m and beautiful at any time of the day and year. For centuries it has been the focus of the city's life, its cultural, commercial, and tourist showcase. The square has never ceased to impress visitors with its dimensions and beautiful architecture: it is doubtless the city's "drawing room". The illustrious mansions around the square house cafes, restaurants, pubs, galleries, shops and museums, alongside residential premises for the lucky few. There are flowers stalls, buskers, street painters, pretzel vendors, souvenir sellers... And you can always bet on tourists, students and pigeons. The two most renowned buildings on the Main Market Square are St Mary's Basilica and the Cloth Hall. This 13th-15th century Gothic church contains a magnificent high altar by Veit Stoss, the biggest (13m high and 11m wide) and one of the finest mediaeval altars in Europe. It took 12 years to complete and features as many as 200 sculpted figures, their height ranging from 3 cm to 3 m. From the higher tower of St Mary's, a bugle call is played every hour to the four quarters of the world.


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