The most important monuments of Krakow
There are countless monuments in Krakow, but there are objects and fragments of the city that can’t be missed. On our board, we noted the „Must See” in Krakow.
The main location of the Polish kings. The most outstanding group of historical monuments in Poland. On the Wawel Hill the oldest traces of human activity date back several decades ago. Already in the 9th century, there were buildings on the hill, which in time turned into a fortified city, and when Poland became state-owned, Wawel became the place of Polish authorities, both secular and ecclesiastical, and was that place for long time in the Polish history. The most important monuments on the hill are Wawel Cathedral, Royal Castle with Renaissance courtyard by Franciszek Florentczyk and Bartolomeo Berrecci, Zygmunt’s Chapel, defensive walls, fortifications and much more.
Main market square
The largest medieval square in Europe measuring 200 x 200 m, which was laid out at the time of the city’s establishment in 1257. Since then, it has served as a trade fair, meeting place for locals and important historical and political events. Here are located the most important monuments in Krakow. Remains of the town hall – Town Hall Tower in Gothic style, Cloth Hall with Renaissance attic, Romanesque church of St. Wojciech and St. Mary’s Church.
Town hall Tower
The city’s most important administrative building was the Town Hall. Today only the tower of the town hall has remained from it. In the tower is located the branch of the Historical Museum in Krakow, and from the top floor you can see a beautiful view of the city skyline.
Krakow Cloth Hall
In the place where in the Middle Ages the cloth stalls were forming an alley inside the market, over time, as a result of subsequent redevelopments, one of the most characteristic buildings in Krakow was built. The present shape of the Cloth Hall is owed to the redevelopments of it the 11th and 19th centuries. Today the Cloth Hall continues to function as a trade place. On the ground floor there are souvenir stalls, on the first floor there is the Gallery of Polish Painting and Sculpture from the 19th century, and in the basement, is the modern multimedia museum „Underground of the Market Square”.
Galeria Sztuki Polskiej: http://mnk.pl/oddzial/galeria-sztuki-polskiej
Podziemia Rynku: http://www.podziemiarynku.com/
St. Mary’s Basilica
The basilica dominates the city from the early Middle Ages, when still before the location of Krakow and the market was laid out, a Romanesque church was located here on the foundations of the current building. The temple is located in a square called St. Mary’s Square (plac Mariacki), which until the 18th century was a parish cemetery. Two characteristic towers of the church dominate the old city. The upper crown with a distinctive crown-shaped helmet from the very beginning was a watchtower, where a guard with the bugle call was signaling the closure and opening of the gates of the city and warned of the dangers. The lower tower has always been a bell tower.
Barbican and Florian Gate
The beginning of the so called- The Royal Route, which runs along Floriańska street and Grodzka street to the Wawel Castle. Remains of the medieval fortifications that surrounded the city on the place of today’s plant. The Barbican was set up in the 15th century because of the fear of the Turkish invasion. It is a Gothic building with the openings for artillery and seven towers. Until the nineteenth century, it served for a defense purposes and was the northernmost defensive element of the city.
Once the Barbican was connected by a collar to the main gate to the city, the Florian Gate, probably dating back to the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The 34.5 m high gate at the beginning of Floriańska Street is part of the remains of the defensive walls of Krakow, which were demolished in the 19th century.
In present-day Krakow, the Old Town district is quite extensive and covers the area from the Trzech Wieszczów Avenue through Kazimierz to the Vistula River. Historically, the Old Town included mainly the land of the Krakow city. In the old days, Krakow consisted of several independent cities: the chartered town, which is the area around today’s Plant, Kleparz with its own market square of the size of the Main Market Square (now this area is the Matejki Square and Stary Kleparz Square) and Kazimierz, the former Jewish town. Over time separate cities were connected to Krakow and formed its districts. Today, the Old Town in historical terms is the area around the Plant and adjacent to them. Of course, the heart of this district is, of course, the Main Market Square, which overlooks the main streets and in the vicinity of which the most important squares are located. In addition to many sights in the Old Town, there are also museums, galleries, restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs.
Formerly a neighboring town of Krakow, which was granted the right of localization in 1355 by the power of the privilege granted by King Kazimierz the Great. Kazimierz, originally located along Krakowska Street, the former shopping street in the direction of Wieliczka and Bochnia, had its own market, town hall and cloth stalls, and in the second half of the fourteenth century it was surrounded by defensive walls. Kazimierz developed very intensely, and at the end of the 15th century a separate district for the Jewish population was isolated in its part. Over time, the Jews began to settle in the rest of the city, creating the color of the place and the specific culture that is still visible today. Kazimierz is home to numerous Jewish and Christian cultural monuments. In modern times the district has begun to regain its glory and is a place that is visited by crowds of tourists and residents of Krakow.
In the old days, a separate city independent of Krakow, which was supposed to compete with it. Today’s newly discovered district full of cafes and pubs and great walking trails. Podgórze is connected to Kazimierz by a modern footbridge around which are worth visiting restaurants and cafes. This is where the newly built museum of Tadeusz Kantor is located near the Vistula River. The Oskar Schindler Factory and the MOCAK Museum of Modern Art are located in Podgorze. The center of old Podgórze is a market square with the dominant neo-Gothic church of St. Joseph. The market is adjacent to the Limanowski Street, through which you can reach the Ghetto Heroes’ Square with characteristic chairs, which commemorate the events of the liquidation of the ghetto. By the Square there is also a famous pharmacy „Pod Orłem”.
Schindler Museum and MOCAK
The Schindler Museum is a former World War II Emeralds factory, the story of which was featured in the Steven Spielberg’s well-known film „Schindler’s List.” Currently one of the most interesting museums in Krakow with an interesting exhibition. Next to the Factory is the Museum of Modern Art, MOCAK, opened in 2010, presenting Polish and international contemporary art.
Muzeum Schindlera: http://www.mhk.pl/oddzialy/fabryka-schindlera
Wieliczka salt mine
Salt Mine in Wieliczka is a priceless monument listed in 1978 on the UNESCO list. The mine has continued its activity as the only mine in the world since the Middle Ages. This property is one of the most popular destinations for tourists coming to Krakow from all over the world.
The museum was built at the site of the former concentration camp from World War II. It is the only concentration camp on the UNESCO list. The museum is a place of great historical value, which every man should visit to see for himself the tragic results of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Dominating over the western part of Krakow The Kościuszko Mound is a unique monument built in 1823 as a monument commemorating the Polish national hero. Since then, the mound has become an element of the city’s panorama and is an unusual place from where you can admire the view on Krakow.