Krakow Poland

Krakow is a real gem in the southern part of Poland and is often recognized as one of Europe's most beautiful cities. We had a fantastic time here. The old town includes remnants of the medieval city including the old city gate, St Florian's Gate, and the Barbican, a fortified outpost. The old town is separated from the larger city by a great green space, a four kilometer ring of large trees called Plenty Park that follows the path that city walls once filled.  The central square is the largest medieval square in Europe and is a vibrant place with a market, many restaurants and shops and enough horse drawn carriages for all.  We were lucky enough to visit during festival time and were treated to an abundance of music and dance and local arts and artisans.

Settlement here began with a hamlet on Wawel Hill in the Stone Age. From that beginning grew the City of Krakow dating back to the 7th century. Krakow has had an important place in history including hosting a succession of Polish royalty. This was the capital of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1038 to 1569, the capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596, the Free City of Krakow from 1815 to 1846, the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918, and Krakow Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1998. In more recent history the people of this region suffered greatly during World War II as Poland was invaded and occupied by German forces.

In 1978 the archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla was elevated to become the first Slavic Pope and the first non-italian Pope in over 450 years, as Pope John Paul II.

We started and ended our time here with a horse drawn carriage ride around the old town and squeezed a lot of fun in between. We visited the sites of the old city, walked through the wonderful parks, strolled through the market place, enjoyed traditional music and dance, found some great places to enjoy local cuisine and even took a boat ride on the Vistula River. And, as you can see we enjoyed warm and sunny weather as well!

Cloth Hall dating to the Renaissance, once the center for international trade.
Today it remains a great market place, so we shopped, of course. 

St Mary's Basilica, a gothic church,is standing behind this horse drawn carriage.
One tower is taller than the other and from here a trumpeter plays on the hour. 

You gotta love Krakow! The Beer is great!

Krakow's Big Bronze Head
Officially, Eros Bendato (Eros Bound), the work of  Polish artist Igor Mitoraj.

Some fun folk music, song, and dance.

This was our ride around town. Quite nice!

"Rzezba Plac Szczepansi"
"The Giggle of Life" by Michal Batkiewicz

The Church of Peter and Paul,
a Roman Catholic Polish Baroque church built between 1597 and 1619.

In front of the church are statues of the apostles.

The street leading to St. Florian's Gate, the old city gate.

St Florian's Gated and a remaining section of the city wall

St Florian's Gate was the way in

and out of Krakow in medieval times. The gate, along with a portion of the city wall which once encircled and protected the city, stand today and provide a glimpse of Krakow in the distant past.

Beyond the gate as you exit the old town you come to an external part of the fortifications that once formed a part of the pathway into the city. The barbican is a round structure with three meter thick walls and seven turrets. It is completely surrounded by a moat. The Barbican was once connected to the city gate by a covered walkway but not anymore. The gothic style barbican is believed to have been built around 1498 and is one of three such fortified outposts  remaining in Europe. It is really neat and a bit magical.

The Barbican

The Church of St Bernard's

Wawel Castle

                                               Wawel Castle is built in the tradition of gothic architecture and was constructed under the reign of Casmir II the Great who ruled from 1333 to 1370. It has been expanded through time and includes a number of large structures within a fortified wall surrounding expansive gardens and a central court yard. The castle is situated on the shoreline at the bend of the Vistula River.

Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill are considered among the most culturally significant and historically significant sites in Poland. This was the residence of Polish royalty for hundreds of years. Now it is the site of some great museums displaying paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and a collection of armor and artifacts following the history of Poland.

We spent the better part of a day up on this hill and explored the Wawel Cathederal, the palace, and several of the museums.  

The inner courtyard of the Wawel Castle facing the Wawel Cathedral

The Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus on Wawel Hill is known as Wawel Cathedral. It is sited within the castle boundary and is more than 900 years old. It is the Polish national sanctuary and was traditionally the site for coronation of Polish Monarchs. This also serves as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Krakow. Karol Wojtyla who became Pope John Paul II was ordained as a priest here in 1946 and in 1958 was ordained as Krakow's archbishop here. One of Pope John Paul II's most noted quotes is "as the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live." 

On our last day in Krakow the weather was just right so we boarded one of the larger boats for a cruise on the Vistula River. A boat ride on the Vistula River checking out the great sights followed by lunch with an icy cold local beer and a cyder on the top deck of one of the floating restaurants in the bright sun, well, it doesn't get much better than that.

A hot air balloon ride in front of  the new and impressive  
ICE Krakow Congress Centre

1. 
   

Cricoteka, centre for Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor.
An attention getting building dedicated to theatre

And, one last thing, Oskar Schindler's Factory, well known from the movie Schindler's list, is now a very well done museum addressing the events and impact of the German invasion and occupation of World War II on the people here.