Dzień na wczasach - Kraków (cz. 2)

The Historic City of Kraków is one of the oldest Unesco World Heritage Sites. In fact, it's one of the original twelve from 1978. Kraków's designation consists of four different quarters: 

• The Old Town, which I blogged about in the last post
• Wawel
• Stradom
• Kazimierz 

Today, I'll discuss the other three. One of them is more interesting than the others. 

Before I begin, I'd also like to point out Kraków has two Unesco sites, the other being the Wieliczka salt mine. However, it's far out from the city centre, so I didn't visit this time. I did go seven years ago, though, so enjoy this photo:

Wieliczka tunnel. I'll come back one day, don't worry.

Wawel

It's said that Kraków was established by King Krak, according to 13th century legend, who built a castle up on Wawel Hill. During his reign, a pretty nasty dragon came to plague the city, making his home beneath the castle. The people needed to feed him cattle, or else he'd eat them instead. That was until Skuba, a poor shoemaker, finally managed to defeat him by feeding him with sheep stuffed with sulphur. This made the dragon thirsty, so he drank all the water from the Wisła and promptly exploded. I'm willing to take all that as fact.

Wawel Castle on the outside

Wawel Castle is a real place, however, and it is perched on top of a hill. The hill became the royal residence of King Kazimierz I in the 11th century, with the castle following in the 13th. It was later rebuilt in 1504, in line with the Renaissance, and again in 1595 after a fire. Since then, it's stood largely untouched, besides the odd damage and restoration since.

And wow, it's stunning. Okay, I didn't go inside - I turned up too late for that. However, I spent loads of time walking around the castle grounds, taking the odd photo of the flowers and the Kraków skyline, and it was an amazing experience. Even the little metal scale model they had looks wonderful.

As soon as you enter the grounds from the main entrance, you'll notice Wawel Cathedral, the third to stand here. This one was consecrated in 1364, and is the resting place for various notable Poles, including past kings and presidents. I also didn't step inside; yet again, when I'd arrived, it was closing to visitors. Ditto for the cathedral museum opposite, which is named for Pope John Paul II. Arguably Kraków's biggest claim to fame, he was Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, presiding over this exact cathedral.

Wawel Cathedral

The courtyards are stylish, having been designed around the Renaissance, and whilst I didn't walk around much for the same reasons as before, it was worth it to just walk around and admire how ornate all the furnishings and balconies were. In fact, I'm annoyed I was too hesitant to not even try and walk up to a balcony. If only I wasn't so scared of ticket inspectors.

 

Just outside the castle, meanwhile, lies a curious statue of the Wawel Dragon. Sorry for how many people are in the photo, everyone was crowding around the dragon, with a few kids sitting on top of the plinth. The statue was installed in 1972, and sits in front of the Dragon's Den (a series of limestone caves sitting below the castle - you can also visit them, but I didn't). It's quite pretty, what with all its bronze scales, but its best feature is very much "blink and you'll miss it". 

Every so often, the dragon will shoot fire out of its mouth. Everyone, already watching the dragon through their phones, screams out in astonishment, the kids especially, with the whole spectacle lasting a few seconds. It's about fifteen minutes between each fire breath, and it's worth sticking around just to see it happen.

 

If the dragon's too boring for you, there's always the Wisła on the other side for you to watch. You might notice the hideously brutalist Jubilat department store, a fine reminder of Communist Poland as any. Alternatively, there's the balloon that floats ominously above the embankment, which looks like an ad at first sight but is actually available for viewing Kraków from up high. However, if you're a fan of pavement, you'll also find Kraków's very own Walk of Fame, with embossed handprints from filmmakers and actors like Andrzej Wajda and also Tim Roth.

   

On the whole, Wawel is a rewarding experience, just to take it all in. Next time I come to Kraków, I might just try and get a ticket to see what lurks inside. It's an art museum, by the way, one of the most visited in the whole world. Sounds exciting to me!

 

Stradom

I honestly couldn't tell you from memory what there is to see in Stradom. It's a pretty minor district, truth be told, in fact for a while it used to be part of Kazimierz. I think at most, I wandered through it when trying to get from the Old Town to Kazimierz. Looking online, it seems like all the landmarks are various churches I didn't visit - the whole area looks really residential. However, if anyone here is a Pole, or lived in Stradom, please tell me what I've been missing out on!

Kazimierz

This is the true anomaly of all the quarters. Whilst Kazimierz was originally part of Kraków, it was actually its own city for nearly five centuries up until 1795, when the Austrian Empire occupied Kazimierz and subsumed it back into Kraków. Kazimierz is actually named after Kazimierz III of Poland, who clearly wasn't much of an egoist.

Kazimierz used to be predominantly Jewish. Jews were expelled from Kraków and resettled in Kazimierz in 1495, separated from Kraków by a series of walls until the two cities reunited. In the 1930s, Kraków was home to around 120 synagogues, with the oldest being the Old Synagogue, at the time the main religious centre for Jews living in Kraków.

However, come the Second World War and Nazi occupation, all Jews were moved out of Kazimierz and forcefully relocated south of the Wisła into the Kraków Ghetto. 15,000 Jews were forced into the Ghetto, with many later sent to forced labour and concentration camps.

Since then, Kazimierz's Jewish population has never been as high as it was before the war. That said, there are still signs of Jewish cultural life around the area, such as in the newer synagogues which cropped up after the Second World War, as well as the odd Hebrew on posters and memorials. The Old Synagogue still stands to this day, although it's now a museum with various Jewish history displays...although I didn't visit when I came to Kraków.

Old Synagogue

Kazimierz today is supposed to be a thriving neighbourhood, popular amongst young people and the culturally chic. There are various cafes around Wolnica Square and the old city hall, alongside quite a bit of graffiti along building walls. 

Kazimierz city hall

You'll also find the odd church, such as Corpus Christi Church, which was founded in 1335 by King Kazimierz III. You shouldn't be surprised, Kraków has loads of churches. That said, it is pretty stunning inside, with all the golden decorations, as befits a Catholic church.

Corpus Christi Church

Inside the church

Epilogue

After visiting Kazimierz, I slowly made my way back to the Rynek in the Old Town. I still had a few other places to visit, but I wasn't planning to stay in the city centre until it got late. Besides, I had a flight the next day, and most places were likely to be closed at this time. 

On the whole, Kraków is a beautiful city, one I wouldn't mind moving to one day. Okay, I won't be buying a house there just yet, but I have to admit, when I got to the main railway station and looked outside, seeing Kraków at night, it looked perfect. Somehow, I suspect all the places I've written about must look even more stunning when all the streetlights are on.