Dzień na wczasach - Kraków (cz. 1)

I recently went to visit some family in Poland. I'd been meaning to do so for ages, but sadly I'd been far too busy over the past year. That, and I'm not the most confident flyer. Along the way, I decided to go and do some tourism of my own, in Poland's second largest, but possibly most important, city.

Situated in southern Poland, Kraków started out as the home of the Wiślanie tribe, up until the 10th century. It was already a pretty significant city by the time Mieszko I, the first king of Poland, conquered the city in the late 10th century; by 1038, Kraków was the capital of Poland. Over the following centuries, Kraków expanded, was sacked by the Mongols, and rebuilt, before being the centre of Poland's Golden Age during the Renaissance. Since then, Kraków's significance may have declined, with it losing its capital city status to Warsaw in 1596, but it's still too historically and culturally significant to dismiss!

Rynek Główny 

This was the centre of it all, in Kraków's Old Town. The city is centred on the Rynek Główny, the local market square, which dates back to 1257. It's one of the largest medieval market squares in Europe, in fact, at almost four hectares in size. Sukiennice, the medieval cloth hall, is probably the most prominent structure, standing right in the middle, splitting the square in two. 

Rynek Główny, with Sukiennice

You'll also find a range of churches around the square's perimeter, including St Mary's Basilica, which sits in the corner with its two spires jutting into the sky. The Town Hall Tower, meanwhile, stands opposite. It's the last remaining section of the old town hall, which was demolished in 1820 due to urban planning changes. So yes, the town square has no town hall. 

St Mary's Basilica

Town Hall Tower

I don't have any photos inside the basilica - they were holding a service when I got round to visiting - but I did manage to stick around to hear the Hejnał Mariacki. It's played every hour, every day, four times in every direction. It's so important to Kraków, it even manages to silence the street performers in the market. I even got to see the player waving high up from the basilica tower, trumpet in hand. The Hejnał's origins are unclear, though it's said to be in remembrance of the Mongol invasions. As Ogadai Khan's forces made their way into Poland, a trumpeter played the Hejnał to warn of their incoming incursions. A Mongol warrior shot the trumpeter midway through the call, according to legend, so now the Hejnał ends halfway, too.

City walls 

The Rynek is encircled by Planty, a park which snakes its way along the former, horseshoe arranged medieval city walls. It's wonderful, but at times can get in the way of where you actually want to go. For example, when I wanted to visit the Church of St Peter and St Paul, I couldn't just cut across the park, no, instead I needed to walk around and head inside the town centre. It is a beautiful park, though, even if inconvenient, and I managed to capture some blooming begonias that had just been rained upon.

 

Not that the Church of St Peter and St Paul was necessarily worth visiting at the time. It's a pretty church, for sure. It's the biggest historic church in Kraków, in fact; not bad for a so-called "City of Churches". However, when I turned up, it was closed, so I couldn't even get inside and admire it. Maybe another time...

There is one place where the city walls still stand, though, and that's along Pijarska Street, not too far from the Rynek. In the centre lies St Florian's Gate, built in the 14th century to withstand Mongol forces, which is decorated on both sides. One features an eagle from the historic Piast dynasty, the first ruling family of Poland, the other has a relief of St Florian himself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact, head down south from the gate and you'll be on Floriańska Street, one of the prettiest and most expensive streets in Kraków. And just round the corner, you'll find a pretty cool museum.

Czartoryski Museum 

To finish off before I finish this part of the post, I'd like to discuss the Czartoryski Museum. It's part of the National Museum in Kraków, the largest museum in Poland, but I only bought a ticket to visit this part specifically. It cost 65 zł, too, so about £13, which I consider a bit of a steal.

As the name suggests, it originates from the Czartoryski family collection, specifically Izabela Czartoryska, a countess who founded the museum in 1796. However, it was based all the way over in Puławy in eastern Poland, before being relocated by 1876 to Kraków. In that time, some of the collection was destroyed in 1830 during a rebellion against Russian occupation.

The remaining part of the collection is wonderful, even if lots of it consists of coins and cutlery. There's several sections devoted to militaria, with countless swords and armour, which I didn't find all that fascinating, aside from a display on the winged hussars with their large armoured wings. For the unaware, they were the elite cavalry formation in Poland for nearly two centuries; the wings were supposed to be impending.

Winged hussar on the left

However, a large remainder of the museum is devoted to paintings, and boy, there are loads of them. Several of the paintings are Polish, unsurprisingly, but there are an odd few by names you're bound to recognise. There's a Rembrandt, for example, and most famously Leonardo Da Vinci. His Lady with an Ermine has an entire room devoted to it, with the lights low and flash photography prohibited. 

Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan

Honestly, I can't blame them - for one, it's one of only four paintings Da Vinci made of women, with one of them being the bloody Mona Lisa. However, it's also a bit of a Polish national treasure, having been in the Czartoryski collection from the very start, as well as surviving the Nazi occupation and their art theft. Even the museum's gift shop is full of Lady with an Ermine stuff, from bookmarks to coasters to magnetic fridge puzzles. 

Lady with an Ermine

There's also the odd combination of ancient and oriental art to be found, too, with a few Hindu god sculptures and Roman marble reliefs to be found in different halls. I found myself getting a bit lost wandering around the museum once I got there, not least before I stumbled into the arsenal section at the end, with even more swords and armour on horseback. One section I did really like was the small collection of written texts, including the first version of Copernicus's text which pioneered the idea of heliocentrism. All in all, wonderful stuff, even if I found myself skimming past the displays at this point.

   

Epilogue 

This is where I'll leave off for now; the next part will have way less visiting and way more wandering around the rest of the historic centre of Kraków. I suppose if I came earlier, that wouldn't have been the case, and I'd have more museums to discuss. Then again, I probably wouldn't have had the budget for that. Hope you enjoy part 2!