The Seat of Kings, Archbishops and Merchants (Krakow)

Member Name: Praskipark

Product:	Krakow
Date:	15/10/08 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A town filled with historical treasures, town houses, market squares and wonderful coffee houses.

Disadvantages: None really

This is a review of Krakow Old Town which is what I suggested and dooyoo have told me to put it under this heading.

Krakow has been the seat of Kings, archbishops, monks, magnates and merchants for a thousand years. Each generation has added treasures to the city, leaving an embarrasment of cultural riches to explore. If you are in Krakow for a few days then I suggest you concentrate on the famous sights of the Old Town, Wavel and Wieliczka, but if you are only visiting for a day then I think you will find all the nooks and crannies of the Old Town a rewarding experience.

Krakow is a walking city. Cars have difficulty with its cobblestones and narrow streets and public transport does not run through much of the Old Town. The main sights of Krakow are in the Old Town and mostly grouped together and well marked. If you do wander off the beaten track you will also find some wonderful buildings but today I will review the Old Town only.

Although I never use any guide books mainly because I don't like to be lumbered with 'things' I will set this review of Krakow Old Town out in a way that I think visitors will be able to easily follow.

Firstly I will start with the town's masterpiece - The Barbakan, and then take you through a tour introducing the town's most interesting features.

The Barbakan (Barbican)
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Krakow's barbican is the largest in Central Europe and one of the very few that have survived anywhere. Its red brick walls are 3m(10ft) thick, with three galleries for small artillery, and pierced with 130 firing 'loops'. The barbican wallls are topped by overhanging brickwork pierced by holes (machicolation) through which defenders could shoot arrows and drop stones or hot liquid on attackers. This massive fortification is topped by seven bartizans (small look-out turrets), with steep roofs. They did not really need seven turrets, but Gothic architects were fond of mystical numbers.

The barbican was originally on an island between the two moats. You would have crossed a drawbridge over the outer moat and passed under a gateway into the courtyrad of the barbican. From there a narrow, fortified bridge crossed the inner moat to the Florianska Gate. If you tried to force your way through, you would find your path blocked by portcullises dropped from above. You were then trapped and could be shot at leisure from the battlements. Those were the days!

The barbican remained undefeated, even by the 1768 Russian attack, until the surrounding fortifications were removed in the 19th century. A plaque hangs on the wall in memory of tailor Marcin Oraczewski who, acccording to legend, when bullets ran out, loaded his musket with buttons and killed the Russian General. Well, it is a legend but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some truth in it!

The barbican is open April to October from 10.30 am - 6pm.

Brama Florianska
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For hundreds of years Brama Florianska was the main gate to Krakow, guarding the open, northern approach to the city. The first gate, of earthwork and wood, was raised at some time after 1285 as part of the defences for the new districts around Rynek Glowny. It was replaced with a low, limestone tower in the 14th century. The upper storeys and their machicolated (pierced with holes) brickwork were added in the 15th century, together with the Barbican beyond the walls. The bronze crown on the tower dates from 1647.

The side of the tower that faces the Old Town I find very interesting as it is decorated with a Baroque statue, showing St. Florian, patron saint of fire brigades, putting out a burning tower with a pitcher of water. The opposite side is adorned with a Polish eagle and inside the gate is a small shrine to the Virgin Mary.

The gate, walls and towers visible today are only a small fragment of the medieval defences. There were once 39 towers, eight main gates and several posterns (secondary gates). Outside the walls ran a double moat whose inner ring was in places 22m (73ft) wide and 8m (26ft) deep. The water came from the Rudawa river and emptied into the Wisla. The outer banks of the moats was kept clear of buildings, to deny cover to any invader.

In 1810 the Habsburg authorities began to level Krakow's fortifications. The short stretch of northern walls that contains Brama Florianska was the last left standing and was in danger of being pulled down in 1817. However, an architect from Krakow named Feliks Radwanski came to the rescue and pointed out the historical importance of the gate. He stated,' that if the walls and gate were destroyed tourists wouldn't visit the town and the terrible cold northern winds would blow into Krakow exposing delicately bred women and children to this meteorological problem which would eventually cause frequent gum disease, rheumatism and maybe even paralysis.' His statement seems very dramatic to me but then the Polish people are always concerned about their health and notice I haven't used the word - hypocondria anywhere. The city walls were spared and Radwanski became a hero.

The three towers that still stand on either side of the Florianska Gate are the Pasamonikow (Tailors'), Stolarska (Joiners') and Ciesielska (Carpenters') towers. Each was named after the guild that was assigned to maintain and defend it. Although Brama Florianska is the only gate that remains open, the Butchers' Gate became part of the buildings of the Dominian Cloister and its remains can be seen from Planty (gardens) near Mikolajska Street.

Maly Rynek
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Long before the town planning of 1257 set out this square, there was a market here on the crossroads of two trade routes. Maly Rynek (the Small Market Square) was originally the Butcher's Market, filled with rows of stalls selling meat and fish. in the 18th century, it switched to vegetables, and fruit. In 1903, the stalls were ejected to make room for tram tracks, which in turn were removed in 1953. It now serves as a car park in winter, a beer garden in summer. Kamienicy (town houses of the middle classes) stand along the three sides of the square. The fourth side is taken up by church buildings. I recommend visiting the beer garden in the summer as it is a hive of activity and a great spot to sit and people watch.

Plac Mariacki
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This is actually two, small, quiet courtyards. Next to the bustle of the Rynek Glowny, they were until 1796 the cemetry of the Mariacki church whose bulk cuts the square in two. The streets around follow the town plan of 1257. The different colours of paving stones mark where the old walls and the five gates to the cemetry stood. Until 1791 Krakovian burghers (urban middle -class) were buried here until burial regulations changed in 1791. It is interesting to note that different funerary chapels line this area with numerous memorial plaques in a variety of styles from the 16th to 19th century. Living very close to the Jewish cemetry in Warsaw I am used to seeing graves stones and very elaborate gothic monuments adorning graves and I have to say I find some of the art work fascinating and not at all depressing. This is the case here also in Krakow.

Although the main gate out into the Rynek Glowny was torn down with the cemetry walls about 1796 the Baroque figure of the Merciful Mother of God that used to top the gate has survived. She now stands on a pillar at the end of Jagiellonska Street. In one hand she holds a sceptre of authority, in the other, the broken arrows of mercy. Krakow legend states that the statue was funded by the mother of a soldier who was heavily wounded in the 1768 Russian attack and was mistakenly believed to be dead. He was buried in a mass grave in the Mariacki churchyard but when his mother prayed to the Virgin Mary, she took pity on him and revived him. The soldier clawed his way out of the grave and into the arms of his grateful mother. Another legend - you may have guessed by now the Polish people are a very superstitious lot but I find the legends very interesting and sometimes amusing.

Rynek Glowny (The Main Market Square)

I should think this square is on everybodys list of places to see and rightly so as it is always bustling and brimming with character. Rynek Glowny is a spacious square surrounded by tall townhouses and palaces, the centre of the square is dominated by the Sukiennice (the Cloth Hall) and Wieza Ratuszowa (the Town Hall Tower) while the graceful gothic towers of Kosciol Mariacki (St. Mary's) Church soar over the entrance from Florianska Street. When this huge square was laid out , it was the largest in europe at roughly 40,000 sq metres.

This market square is very different from Warsaw's and other Polish cities as they have allowed their medieval town squares to become museum pieces while moving commerce elsewhere. Krakow's main square is still the heart of the modern city, as it was in the 14th century, cafe's and shops crowd its edges while a flower market and beer gardens fill the centre. Businessmen rub elbows with students and lawyers make way for flocks of nuns on Rynek Glowny's busy flagstones.

Sukiennice (the Cloth Hall)
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About 1344, work began on a large Gothic brick cloth hall to replace the stalls in the centre of the square. Completed in 1392, it quickly became the most important commercial building in town.

Its appearance now is largely thanks to 16th century rebuilding which gave it those fine Renaissance gables - copied in many other buildings in Krakow. Many of the masks on the gables are from ths period, though some are from the late 19th century reconstruction, as are the long, colonnaded arcades along the sides. The ground floor is still home to commerce, mostly souveneir shops and cafes. Upstairs is now a gallery of the National Museum, housing turn of the century art.

Open Tuesday to Sunday.

The Cloth Hall is one of my favourite haunts here in the Old Town. I love the lighting and the ambience in the arcades. People love to spend money here and although some items can be expensive if you look hard enough and barter you can find a bargain. It seems that the spirit of capitalism lives on in the Sukiennice!

When writing a review about an Old Town as interesting as Krakow it is difficult to know what to illustrate and what to edit so I have tried to keep the review a reasonable length but I fear it has gone over 'my reasonable length allowance'. I have included dates of buildings to demonstrate how old this town is and as I am a great fan of legends I have added two or three. To finish I will mention one more interesting feature of this town and that is The Town Hall Tower (Wieza Ratuszowa) and then my tour ends and you will have to visit the rest of the town and see for yourself what a wonderful place it really is.

The Town Hall Tower
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Krakow's Town Hall was built about 1300 as a low, square building with a single taller tower. In addition to Chambers for the Town Council, it contained a court of justice, a jail, torture chambers and storage for merchants' goods. The Town Hall itself was demolished in 1817 - 20, leaving only its tower and cellars.

The upper storeys of the tower, now part of the Historical Museum, are entered from the stairway flanked with two stone lions. Legend claims that if a virtuous maiden sits on their backs, the lions will roar (I might add that I have heard a similar legend in Warsaw regarding the Presidential Palace). However, few Krakowian girls seem to put their virtue to the test these days! The interiors of the tower retain many Gothic features which I love and the view from the top is superb.

Opening hours change frequently so please check times.

The cellars (the ground floor when the Town Hall was first built) are entered from the opposite side of the building and they house a cafe and an underground stage.

Open every day from 10 - 4.30pm.

That' ends my tour of Old Krakow. I hope you have enjoyed the tour and will visit sometime especially in Spring when it isn't too busy or even at Xmas when it looks its most stunning with snow on the ground.

There are many coach trips on offer from UK but be warned these are long and tedious and if you have long legs like me - are very uncomfortable! Cheap flights run from Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and London airports.

Summary: A wonderful old town in Poland.