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KRAKOW - POLAND
Kraków sometimes also spelled Krakow or Cracow in English, in full Royal
Capital City of Kraków; Polish: Królewskie Stoleczne Miasto Kraków, see also
Cities alternative names) is one of the oldest and largest cities of Poland,
with a population of 760,000 (as of 2004)-agglomeration 1.2 million. This
historic city is situated on the Vistula (Wisla) River at the foot of Wawel
Hill in the southerly region of Little Poland (Malopolska). It is the
capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodship (województwo malopolskie) (since
1999); previously it was the capital of Kraków Voivodship (since the 14th
century).
Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading scientific, cultural and
artistic centres of the country. It was once the national capital and is
considered by many to still be the heart of Poland, due to its history of
more than a thousand years. Kraków is also a major centre of local and
international tourism, with more than two million visitors annually .
Modern landmarks
The old city of Kraków has a rich architecture, mostly Renaissance with some
examples of Baroque and Gothic. Kraków's palaces, churches and mansions
display a richness of color, architectural details, stained glass, paintings,
sculptures, and furnishings.
Among the most notable of the city's hundreds of historic buildings are: the
Royal Castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill, where King John III Sobieski is
buried; the medieval Old Town with its beautiful square; Market Square (200
meters on a side); dozens of old churches and museums; the 14th century
buildings of the Jagiellonian University; as well as Kazimierz, the
historical centre of Kraków's Jewish religious and social life.
The Gothic St Mary's Church stands by the market place. It was built in the
14th century, and its famous wooden altar was carbed by Veit Stoss. Every
hour, a trumpet call called the hejnal is sounded from the church's main
tower.
Kraków hosts many annual artistic events, including some of international
significance, such as the festival of Short Feature Films, Biennial of
Graphics, and Jewish Culture Festival). There are several active theaters,
including:
The Old Theatre (Kraków) (Stary Teatr)
the Slowacki Theatre
Kraków Opera
Kraków Operetta
Nearby points of interest include the salt mine in Wieliczka, the Tatra
mountains, the historic city of Czestochowa, the former concentration camp
at Auschwitz, and Ojcowski National Park.
Kraków contains 28 museums and art galleries, such as the National Museum (Kraków)
and Czartoryski Museum (Muzeum Czartoryskich).
Kraków is a major centre of education. Today there are 18 university-level
institutions with about 10,000 faculty and 110,000 students.
Notable modern artists living in Kraków include:
Tadeusz Kantor
Nigel Kennedy
Slawomir Mrozek
Krzysztof Penderecki
Zbigniew Preisner
Wislawa Szymborska
Maciej Malenczuk
Zbigniew Wodecki
Historical districts
The oldest parts of Kraków, united in late 18th century are:
Old Town (Stare Miasto) - the area once contained within the city walls, now
encircled by a park known as Planty
Wawel - a limestone hill south of the Old Town, the sight of the Royal
Castle and the cathedral
Stradom and Kazimierz - south of Wawel; the latter was once divied into
Christian and Jewish quarters
Kleparz - north of the Old Town
Areas added in the 19th and 20th centuries include:
Podgórze - built across the Vistula by the Austrians in the 19th century
Nowa Huta - built east of Kraków by the Communist regime after the Second
World War
Administrative districts
Stare Miasto
Grzegórzki
Pradnik Czerwony
Pradnik Bialy
Lobzów
Bronowice
Bienczyce
Zwierzyniec
Debniki
Lagiewniki
Swoszowice
Wola Duchacka
Prokocim-Biezanów
Podgórze
Czyzyny
Mistrzejowice
Grebalów
Nowa Huta
History
Medieval
The earliest known settlement on the present site of Kraków was established
on Wawel hill, and dates back to the 4th century. Legend attributes the
town's establishment to the mythical ruler Krak, who built it above a cave
occupied by a ravenous dragon.
Before the Polish state existed, Kraków was the capital of the tribe of the
Vistulians, probably linked to the larger polity of Greater Moravia.
Kraków's first appearance in historical records dates back to the 8th
century, and notes that the prince of the Vistulians was baptized.
After Greater Moravia was destroyed by the Hungarians, Kraków became part of
the kingdom of Bohemia. By the end of the 10th century, the city was a major
center of trade. Around this time, it was incorporated into the holdings of
the Piast dynasty of Poland. Several brick buildings were also constructed,
including a castle, Romanesque churches, a cathedral, a basilica, and the St.
Felix and Adaukt Church.
In 1038, Kraków became the seat of the Polish government. Two hundred years
later, it was almost entirely destroyed in the Tatar invasions.
In 1257, the city was rebuilt, in a form which has remained practically
unaltered, and received city rights under Magdeburg Law. 1308 saw a
rebellion of German-speaking citizens in Kraków. The rebellion cost Poland
the city of Gdansk, which was taken by the Teutonic Orders, but German-speakers
lost their political ambitions and began to Polonize.
Kraków rose to new prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded
the University of Kraków, the second in central Europe after the University
of Prague. There had been a cathedral school under the auspices of the
city's bishop since 1150. The city continued to grow under the Lithuanian
Jagiello dynasty (1386-1572), which maintained close connections to the
imperial house of Habsburg of the Holy Roman Empire. As the capital of a
powerful state, it became a flourishing center of science and the arts. Many
works of Renaissance art and architecture were created here during that
time.
In 1475 delegates of the elector George the Rich of Bavaria came to Kraków
to negotiate the marriage of Hedwig, the daughter of King Casimir IV
Jagiello to George the Rich. Hedwig traveled for two months to Landshut in
Bavaria, where an elaborate marriage celebration, the Landshut Wedding (Landshuter
Hochzeit) took place.
Renaissance
In 1488 the imperial Poet Laureate and humanist Conrad Celtes founded the
Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana, a learned society based on the Roman
Acadiemies. In 1489 Veit Stoss of Nuremberg finished his work on the Great
Altar of the Church of St. Mary. He later also wrought a marble sarcophagus
for Casimir IV. Numerous other artists, mainly from Nuremberg, worked in
Kraków. By 1500, Haller had established a printing press in the city.
In 1520, Johan Behem made the largest churchbell in Poland, named the
Sigismund Bell after king Sigismund I. At the same time Hans Dürer, younger
brother of Albrecht Dürer, was Sigismund's court painter. Hans von Kulmbach
made the altar for the Johannis Church.
Decline
In 1572, the king Sigismund II died childless, and the throne passed to
Sigismund III of the Swedish House of Vasa. Kraków's importance began to
decline, accelerated by the pillaging of the city during the Swedish
invasion, and an outbreak of plague that left 20,000 of the city's residents
dead. Sigismund III moved his capital to Warsaw in 1596.
After the partition of Poland
In the late 18th century, the weakened Polish state was absorbed by its more
politically vigorous neighbors, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Kraków became
part of the Austrian province of Galicia. Tadeusz Kosciuszko initiated a
revolt, the Kosciuszko insurrection, in Kraków's market in 1794. The
Prussian army put down the revolt, and looted Polish royal treasure kept in
the city.
When Napoleon Bonaparte of the French Empire captured what had once been
Poland, he established the Duchy of Warsaw (1809) as an independent but
subordinate state. The Congress of Vienna (1815) restored the partition of
Poland, but gave Kraków its independence, as the Free City of Kraków. The
city again became the focus of a struggle for national sovereignty in 1846,
during the Kraków Uprising. The uprising failed to spread outside the city
to other Polish-inhabited lands, and was put down, resulting in Kraków's
annexation by Austria.
After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria granted autonomy to Galicia,
making Polish a language of government and establishing a provincial diet.
As this form of Austrian rule was more benevolent than that exercised by
Russia and Prussia, Kraków became a Polish national symbol and a center of
culture and art. Famous painters, poets and writers of this period include
Jan Matejko, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, Jan Kasprowicz, Juliusz Kossak,
Wojciech Kossak Stanislaw Wyspianski, and Stanislaw Przybyszewski. The
latter two were leaders of Polish modernism.
20th century
During the First World War, Kraków Legions led by Jozef Pilsudski set out to
fight for the liberation of Poland, in alliance with Austrian and German
troops. The Austrians and Germans lost the war, but the terms of the Treaty
of Versailles (1919) established the first sovereign Polish state in over a
century.
Poland was partitioned again in 1939, at the outset of the Second World War,
and Nazi German forces entered Kraków in September of that year. It became
the capital of the General Government, a colonial authority under the
leadership of Hans Frank. The occupation took a heavy toll, particularly on
the city's cultural heritage. On one occasion, over 150 professors and other
academics of the Jagiellonian University were summoned to a meeting,
arrested and dispatched to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen (see also
Sonderaktion Krakau). Many relics and monuments of national culture were
destroyed or looted. Major concentration camps near Kraków included Plaszow
and Auschwitz.
Thanks to a manoeuvre by advancing Soviet forces, Kraków escaped complete
destruction during and some historic buildings and works of art were saved.
After the conclusion of the war, however, the government of the People's
Republic of Poland ordered the construction of the country's largest steel
mill in the suburb of Nowa Huta. This is regarded as an attempt to diminish
the influence of Kraków's intellectual and artistic circles by attracting
the working class.
Kraków's population has quadrupled since the end of the war, and it is still
regarded as the cultural capital of Poland. In 1978, UNESCO placed Kraków on
the list of World Heritage Sites.
Culture
Kraków is considered by many to be Poland’s capital of culture. The city
boasts one of the best museums in the country and some famous theaters. It
counts two Nobel Prize winners in literature among its residents (Wislawa
Szymborska and Czeslaw Milosz). It is also home to one of the world’s oldest
and most distinguished universities. No wonder Krakow was named a European
City of Culture in 2000.
Theatres:
Krakow is a home of almost 30 major theares, the most known and noted are:
Teatr Stary- The Old Theatre
Teatr Slowackiego- Slowacki's theatre
Teatr Stu
Teatr Groteska
Teatr Bagatela
Teatr Ludowy- People's theatre
Teatr PWST
Operetka Krakowska
Museums:
The Cricoteka Centre for Documentation of Tadeusz Kantor Art
Jan Matejko’s Manor in Krzeslawice
The “Wieliczka” Salt Mine – Tourist Route
Cathedral Museum
Museum of Archaeology
The Museum of Polish Aviation
Archdiocesan Museum
The Museum of Independence
Armed Effort Museum
Seweryn Udziela Museum of Ethnography
Museum of Pharmacy at the Jagiellonian University
Geological Museum of the Intitute of Geological Sciences of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
Czartoryski Library
General Emil \"Nil\" Fieldorf Museum of the Home Army
The Museum of Photographic History
National Museum, Stanislaw Wyspianski Museum
Museum of History of the University of Mining and Metallurgy
National Museum in Krakow, The House of Józef Mehoffer
Museum of History of the City of Krakow
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Krzysztofory Palace
Manggha Centre of Japanese Art and Technology
Szolayscy House
Karol Szymanowski Museum in Atma Villa in Zakopane
Museum of National Remembrance Under the Eagle Pharmacy
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, “At the Sign of the Cross” House
Museum of Natural History ISEA PAS
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Old Synagogue
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, the Silesian House
The Stary Theatre Museum
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Celestat - The Residence of the
Sharpshooters’ Society
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Hipolitów House
MUSEUM OF INSURANCE
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Artistic Salon of the District of
Zwierzyniec
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, City Hall Tower
Museum of History of the City of Krakow, Barbican
The Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius
MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY
The Royal Castle on the Wawel Hill, National Art Collection
“Rydlówka” Regional Museum
Krakow by Night
There is no shortage of places to drink, eat, and stay merry late into the
night in Krakow. Notably, the huge central Grand Square in the heart of the
historic Old Town district and its environs look like they never sleep.
Recently trendy new hangouts are launched also in the nearby Kazimierz
quarter almost by the month.
Krakow Restaurants:
Wierzynek restaurant- The oldest Polish restaurant(1364)
Wentzl restaurant
Hawellka restaurant
Krakow Night Clubs:
Krakow boasts a lively club scene. The party goes on week long, but–no
doubts about it–the Friday and Saturday nights tend to be the hottest. As
elsewhere, on weekends Krakow’s young professionals, expats, and students
mingle happily in crowds that pack bars, discotheques, and restaurants in
vogue at the moment. Loyal patrons happen, but most club-goers wander from
place to place.
Local clubs are not large, few can seat more than 100.
Recorded music is the staple, with live performances two or three nights a
week. Some Krakow DJs attained local fame, while club celebrities from other
parts of Poland and from abroad spin occasionally in the city.
Krakow’s myriad live entertainment venues cater to all tastes and
generations. Sure thing, those in their twenties to thirty-something are
best served since most places offer contemporary club music. On the other
hand, jazz seems surprisingly popular. There are also hangouts for the fans
of rock, modern pop, ballads, etc. The roots music, inspired by varied
traditions of this part of Europe, has a niche of its own. Seniors, too,
have their places of choice to enjoy themselves with immortal evergreens .
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