Krakow's main market. Market Square. In those days, the towers served instead of watchtowers. Every day the trumpeter climbed them and looked around the surroundings to see if everything was calm in their area

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Market Square, which appeared in the 13th century, is one of the largest in Europe. It is made in the shape of an irregular square with sides extending about 200 meters, which are framed by buildings built in the Middle Ages. This place is considered an iconic landmark of the ancient capital and cars are prohibited from entering here, so guests and residents of the city can calmly enjoy the architectural delights, looking around only to choose the next object to admire. Over the many years of its existence, the square has repeatedly changed its appearance, but has always remained the face of Krakow. On maps and guidebooks today it is designated as Rynek Glowny, and local residents it is often called simply “Market”.

Among the main buildings of the Market Square are the Church of St. Wojciech, the Zbaraski Palace, and the Cloth Hall building, also known as. Today, it still performs its basic functions. However, in addition to the fact that the Sukiennice is an important trade artery of the city, with a lot of shops and souvenir shops, it also serves popular place for connoisseurs of beauty. The fact is that on the second floor of the building there is a gallery of national painting, with paintings by Polish masters of the 18th-19th centuries exhibited in its halls. Directly in front of the Cloth Hall stands a monument to the famous poet Adam Mickiewicz. Another interesting sculpture that deserves attention is a work called “Bound Eros,” which is a huge head wrapped in wide ribbons, over 2 meters high and 3.7 meters wide.

In the area between the Church of St. Wojciech and the southern corner of the Cloth Hall, an elegant marble slab stands out, indicating the place where many years ago, the first Duke of Prussia, Albrecht of Hohenzollern, publicly took the oath of allegiance to Poland. Also, on the Market Square there is the most famous tavern in the country for aristocrats - “Pivnitsa under the Rams”, to the delight of lovers of “something stronger”.

Over the years, the “Market” has witnessed important historical events, with coronations, executions and official celebrations. These days, the Market Square is still an iconic landmark of Krakow and attracts increased tourism. Here they make appointments, walk, take pictures against the backdrop of ancient medieval buildings, and even ride on a real horse-drawn carriage. Coming here and not visiting this place is the same as not visiting the city at all, so anyone excursion route in the former capital

Continuing my walk, I reached the market square. I immediately felt that I was in the center of the city's tourist area. The Market Square does not provide any options for spending your money. Here you have the opportunity to ride in a beautiful carriage drawn by a pair of beautiful horses, and small sightseeing buses, and throw a coin at the living sculpture, and there are many cafes along the perimeter of the square.
Let's start with the main structure of the square, which is business card city, St. Mary's Church. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in common parlance St. Mary's Church, is a Catholic church of Gothic architecture, the facade of which consists of two high towers. One of them, 80 meters high, was considered a guard tower in the Middle Ages.

Either from Wawel or from the Florian Gate, you will definitely end up at the Main Market. Florianskaya Street can be compared to Arbat, and the Market, by analogy with Moscow, is, of course, Red Square. Only the Główny Market is much more humane than our official, pompous, sepulchral main square.
The main market of Krakow dates back to 1257, when King Bolesław the Bashful granted the Magdeburg Law to the city. Then, in the center of Krakow, they planned a huge square area measuring about 4.3 hectares. For comparison, Red Square in Moscow occupies about 5 hectares. Krakow's main square seems too large and spacious for a cramped medieval city. Until the 19th century, the Główny Market was densely built up: there were more than 400 shops in the square, plus a town hall, a vazhnya (weighing house), and a city barn. In the 19th century, during the time of Emperor Franz Joseph, the “city fathers,” contemptuously calling Krakow an “architectural dump,” carried out a total “cleanup” of the Main Market. Miraculously, only the town hall tower survived...

Renaissance cloth rows – the famous Krakow Cloth Hall...

and the tiny church of St. Wojciech, sunk into the ground.


It’s not for nothing that the square is called Główny Rynek: in the old days, in many shops there was a trade in everything that your heart desires. Between the rows of shops there were little markets selling their special goods: salt, fish, bread, meat. The market was noisy, crowded and unsafe - the rich city attracted not only nobles, merchants and artisans, scientists and scholars, but also lovers of easy money. For dashing people, the medieval law was harsh: either execution or expulsion from the city for “100 years and 1 day.” In case of expulsion, the criminal was publicly flogged in the square, and then they were escorted out of the city along Slavkovskaya Street, starting in the north-western corner of the square. This street had a bad reputation: behind the Slavkovskaya Gate, in a vacant lot, lesser villains were executed, and for murderers and robbers, a gallows or scaffold was erected in the square itself, where Slavkovskaya Street begins.


Street St. The mark, running along the northern side of the Old Town, led to the executioner's tower. In the old days, only master craftsmen were addressed as “maestros,” which is why the street was formerly called the Workshop. The executioner was branded with the contempt of medieval townspeople and lived separately from everyone. In addition to executions, “defamation of criminals,” that is, cutting off their ears and burning the brand with a hot iron, the executioner also swept the streets, caught stray dogs and cleaned the city sewer. Thanks to his knowledge of anatomy, the “maestro” sometimes practiced healing. Those who could not pay a doctor or wanted to keep their illness a secret resorted to his services. In Krakow, the executioners were often Germans; the Poles abhorred this craft.

Less severe punishments were also used to maintain the rule of law. On the square in front of the Spissky palace there was a pillory and a cage. Fraudsters condemned to public disgrace were chained to the pillory. Tradeswomen who deceived customers or violated trade rules were imprisoned in cages. Any Krakow resident, passing by these instruments of justice, superstitiously spat over his shoulder, secretly fearing that he would be a candidate for execution.

In the 19th century, with the decline of Krakow, the medieval market also disappeared. The shops were demolished, the first floors old houses rebuilt into shops and restaurants. Only the city bazaar remained on the square, and then in a truncated form. After the war they wanted to abolish it, but the city residents managed to defend the flower market. It is located opposite the entrance to St. Mary's Church.

The geometrically correct rectangle of the Market is broken only in two places: in the northeast it departs at an angle from the square.

Krakow. Main market. St. Mary's Church.

And in the northwestern corner, diagonally facing the square is a marvelous - probably the most famous symbol of Krakow. In 1241, the Romanesque temple that stood here was destroyed during Batu's raid. In its place they begin to build a new Gothic cathedral. The main nave and the lower part of the towers date back to the 13th century, the presbytery and vaults were built in the 14th century. The construction of St. Mary's Church lasted almost 100 years.


There is a dark legend about the church towers in Krakow. The towers were built by 2 brothers. The elder, more experienced, was the first to finish his tower and set off to distant lands. Returning to Krakow, he found his younger brother's tower far from being completed. However, with the experienced eye of an architect, he assessed its strength and realized that this tower would be much taller than his own. Envy clouded his mind, he rushed at his younger brother with a knife and killed him. The tower remained unfinished. But the elder brother could not live with such sin in his soul. He repented to people of his crime and threw himself down from the unfinished tower. According to another version, he inflicted a mortal wound on himself with the same knife. This bloody history Krakow was so shocked that the “city fathers” ordered the names of the brother-architects to be erased from the city books, and because of earthly pride they neglected the highest goal for which the cathedral was built. The unfinished tower was never completed for the edification of descendants; later it was covered with a helmet. Also, city councilors decided to hang the knife with which the murder was committed at the entrance to the Cloth Hall opposite St. Mary's Church.


The main nave of the church rises 28 meters (like a 9-story building), and in the depths of the church there is one of the main artistic treasures not only of Krakow, but of all of Poland. This is the altar of St. Mary's Church.

This carved miracle was created by master Veit Stoss, originally from Nuremberg. In Polish sources he is called Wit Stwosz. The carver worked on it from 1477 to 1489. This is the largest carved altar of medieval Europe. Its dimensions are 11x13 m. The altar consists of a central part depicting the coronation of the Virgin Mary and 4 wings covering it. On the wings the master carved 12 episodes from the life of the Mother of God. The altar was repaired and renovated many times, and almost always unsuccessfully. Authentic Gothic polychrome was repeatedly repainted and gilded in the 17th century. XVIII centuries. During the occupation, “art connoisseur” fascist governor Hans Frank ordered the altar to be dismantled and taken to Germany. In 1946, Professor Karl Oestreicher found it in the dungeons of Nuremberg Castle and returned it to Poland. Since 1957, the altar has again taken its place in St. Mary's Church.

Veit Stoss or, in Polish, Wit Stwosz, was from Nuremberg. In 1477, at the age of 32, he renounced his rights as a citizen of Nuremberg and moved to Krakow, where he gave 22 years of his long and difficult life. He devoted 12 years of them to creating the altar. Here is how the Polish poet Konstanz Idelfons Galczynski wrote about it:
And how the night turned pale over the forest
To that over-the-river workshop
Again the master came in and cut
Hands, souls and human flesh,

And he cut shirts and fur coats,
Bethlehem divas and miracles
And Mary's tender lips
And the crooked lips of Judas;

Marked golden stars,
Below are round apples,
I myself marveled: oh, how bright you are,
That block of linden wood!
With the return to Nuremberg in 1496, a streak of misfortune began for Wit Stwosz. He lost his fortune to a bankrupt banker and tried to forge a bill. For this he was branded an executioner and imprisoned in prison. Upon leaving prison, he is haunted by a streak of failures that lead the master to death in poverty and obscurity.
Krakow took his heart,
Like an apple from a branch.
And, not mourned by anyone,
He disappeared in Nuremberg.

The vaults of the cathedral are covered with beautiful paintings done by Jan Matejko. It creates the effect of a starry sky.


In a small square lying to the south of the church, there is a figurine of a craftsman - an exact copy of the figure from the altar of St. Mary's Church. It was created by Krakow artisans in 1958 in memory of Wit Stwosz.

On the same square in the back stands the Church of St. Barbara, erected in the 15th century according to the common vow of Krakow builders and miners, because St. Barbara patronizes both. According to legend, it was built from bricks left over from the construction of St. Mary's Church.


The most valuable of its decoration is the marble sculptural group, depicting the mourning of Christ, the so-called “Pieta” (from the Italian “sorrow”).


You can walk past the Church of St. Barbara to the Small Market. Once upon a time, it sold exclusively the famous Krakow sausages. Of course, we couldn’t resist and bought a couple. I affirm: it is difficult to call what is sold under this name in our country sausage, not to mention its taste.

Krakow. Main market. Sukennitsa

We return again to Główny Market to another symbol of Kraków – the famous Cloth Hall or Cloth Hall. Once upon a time, even before the reconstruction of the city in 1257, there was a shopping street here. On its sides there were shops of merchants, and the exits were closed with wooden bars. In 1380, construction began on the site of the shops. shopping arcades intended exclusively for the sale of cloth. Construction took 20 years under the direction of stone mason Martin Lindenthold. And 155 years later, in the middle of the 16th century, a serious fire damaged the Cloth Hall so much that they had to be completely rebuilt. The Italian architect Giovanni il Mosca from Padua covered the shopping gallery with a new vault, added a second floor, where he placed a hall for ceremonial meetings and hid it behind a solemn Renaissance attic. Attic Sukiennitz served as a model for similar decorations both in Poland and in neighboring Slovakia. In the 18th century Big hall The Cloth Hall becomes the venue for ceremonial receptions. The last Polish king, Stanislaw August, was honored here, then his nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski, and balls were held in honor of Napoleon and the King of Saxony, Friedrich August. Later, zealous fighters against “historical garbage” almost destroyed the Cloth Hall. The symbol of Krakow was saved by the townspeople themselves, who raised funds for repairs. Soon after the war in devastated Poland, money was found for a major restoration of the Cloth Hall. Nowadays there are souvenir shops downstairs, and in the halls of the 2nd floor there is an exhibition of Polish painting from the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.


Not far from the beginning of Grodzka Street stands the smallest and perhaps the oldest church in Krakow. More than a thousand years ago, here, among the dense forests, St. Wojciech (Adalbert) preached to the pagans. In the 10th century, a wooden temple was built here. The current one, built of limestone, dates back to 1100. Its ancient part went deep underground and turned into a crypt, and in the 17th century the walls were built on and covered with a baroque dome.

History of the town hall. Town Hall Tower.

Finally, in the south-eastern corner of the square, the Town Hall tower rises alone. Once upon a time it crowned a whole complex of buildings: next to it stood the 14th-century town hall itself and a Renaissance barn attached to it. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was decided to demolish the barn due to its disrepair, and rebuild the town hall into a theater. After the demolition of the barn, the walls of the town hall began to show huge cracks. There was nothing left to do but take it apart. They also wanted to demolish the tower, but, fortunately, they left it alone. This is what the town hall ensemble looked like during the heyday of the city.

The town hall tower was completed in 1383. From the 14th to the 16th centuries it was repeatedly built on and expanded. At the beginning of the 17th century, lightning struck the tower's spire, the tower caught fire and threatened to collapse. It was necessary to erect a powerful buttress, which saved the tower from being “overwhelmed,” although to this day it deviates from the vertical by 55 cm. At the same time, the Gothic spire, similar to the crown of St. Mary’s Church, was replaced with a Baroque helmet. The town hall and its tower served a variety of functions. In the dungeons of the town hall there was a prison with torture chambers, and behind the wall in the basement of the tower there was a tavern, where wine and beer from Świdnica flowed like a river, where songs of not always decent content were sung, and drunken visitors dared to scold the city order and even the king himself. For this, Kazimir Jagiellon closed the tavern for 45 years. The town hall was carefully guarded, not only because of the villains imprisoned in the dungeon, but also because of the city treasury, which was stored on the first floor of the town hall. The finances of the city were in charge of 3 treasurers, who had access to a chest of money, locked with 3 locks. Only by gathering together could they open the chest. Thus, the very thought of financial abuse was suppressed. Below in the tower there was a guard room and a weapons warehouse. On the 2nd tier there was a chapel, and even higher - a belfry.

Houses and legends of the Main Market.

The ancient houses located along the perimeter of the square were built back in the 13th-14th centuries. Since then, they have lost their Gothic decoration and acquired Renaissance attics, or even even baroque or classical facades. In the 17th and 18th centuries, many bourgeois houses were rebuilt into palaces of wealthy gentry. For a Polish nobleman, a city dweller's house seemed unbearably cramped. The tycoon bought 2-3 houses in a row from impoverished townspeople, rebuilt them in accordance with fashion and, as a result, received a city palace. An example of such a magnate palace is the so-called “House of the Prelate,” rebuilt by Polish architects at the beginning of the 17th century from 2 burgher houses.

The houses around the Main Market still bear medieval names: “Under the Rams”, “Under the Lamb”, “Under the Muzhins (Negroes)”.

The house “Under the Rams” received its nickname from the Gothic house sign preserved above the gate. Since the 16th century, this palace belonged to famous Polish nobles: the Ostrogskys, the Radziwills, the Pototskys. Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who fled abroad from the wrath of his father, Sovereign Peter I, stayed in the house “Under the Rams.” And 100 years later, Prince Jozef Poniatowski stayed there. Next to the palace “Under the Rams” there is a more modest house called “Under the Lamb”. The famous Italian sculptor Santi Gucci, who worked a lot in Krakow, lived there. In the photo the palace is on the left, and the narrow green house“Under the Lamb” is in the center. On the right, the “House under the Copper Sheets” came into the frame, which received its nickname because its roof was covered with copper for the first time in Krakow.

And in the Spissky Palace, even before it was rebuilt in the 18th century, lived the legendary warlock and alchemist Pyotr Tvardovsky. One day, Pan Tvardovsky met the devil himself and, without hesitation, sold his soul to him, sealing the deal with his own signature in blood taken from the “heart” finger of his hand. By order of Twardowski, the evil spirit carved a cave for the alchemist in the foothills, collected deposits of silver from all over Poland and deposited them near Krakow in Olkusz. Near the Sand Rock, he turned over a huge rock and strengthened it with its sharp end downwards. This rock is called the “Club of Hercules” and we will see it again. Tvardovsky himself made full use of evil spirits: he flew without wings, rode a wooden horse, sailed on a boat without oars or sails. He set out on a long journey riding on a rooster, which raced faster than the fastest horse. The alchemist master had a wife who sold pots at this very market. She was as pretty as she was grumpy, and the devil himself was so afraid of her that he ran away wherever he could. However, in the end, the evil one nevertheless showed up for Tvardovsky to drag him into hell. Back in the 18th century. in the city they showed a house riddled with cracks with a huge hole instead of a window. It served as irrefutable proof that it was from here that the devil dragged Pan Tvardovsky to hell. But this is not the end: Pan Tvardovsky was not at a loss, sang a Christmas song and was thrown... to the moon. From there he observes life in his native Krakow, and when he gets bored without news, he sends down a little spider on a silver thread.

The oldest house on the square is the so-called Shara (Gray) Kamenica. She is over 600 years old. Once a cook, who served one of the Krakow alchemists, got lost in her cellars. She got there by catching a rooster that did not want to get into the soup. Of course, it was the devil himself, who royally thanked the cook for saving her by pouring her an apron full of gold. The unclean one showed her the way to the exit and ordered her to walk without looking back until she got out of the dungeon. Of course, the cook could not resist and looked back at the very last step. The door to the basement slammed shut, tearing off her heel, and the damn gold immediately turned into trash.
There are always a lot of pigeons in the square, but residents do not chase them away and do not allow tourists to do so. After all, these are not pigeons, but enchanted knights. Here's what the legend says about it: in the 13th century, Prince Henryk IV ascended the Krakow throne, wanting to unite the Polish lands and become king. He began to prepare for a trip to Rome, because only the Pope could give him the royal crown. However, he did not have money for such a long journey - Henrik spent it on arming the army, with the help of which he had already united many lands. The prince turned to the witch for advice and she promised to help him, but set a condition: she would turn his faithful squad into pigeons, they would carry pebbles to the square all night and by morning the stones would turn into gold. But the faithful knights will only regain human form when their master returns with the crown. After consulting with his soldiers, the prince agreed. Having collected the received gold into chests, Henryk moved to Rome. But he never made it to Rome; he stayed for a long time in Venice. Several knights turned into pigeons flew there to him, and from them, they say, the pigeons from St. Mark's Square originate. In 1289, Henryk returned to Krakow... without a crown. Until his death, he did not dare to appear on the Market and look into the eyes of his faithful squad. He died the next year, probably poisoned. The knights never acquired human form; for 700 years now they have been flying as pigeons, peering at passers-by and looking for their prince, waiting for the witchcraft spell to subside.

In the next part we will go around the outskirts of the Market. In the meantime, you can look into or walk through.

Based on materials from the book by V.I. Savitskaya “Krakow” M, “Art”, 1975 and the brochure “Legends of Krakow” Wydawnictwo WAM, 2006

Its shape is square, 200 x 200 meters. The square appeared somewhere at the end of the 13th century, at a time when Krakow was the capital of the Kingdom of Poland. At that time there were many market pavilions on the square - hence its name.

On each side of the square there are three streets adjacent to it, connecting it with the entrance gate to Krakow. Along the perimeter there are former rich merchant houses, now there are restaurants and cafes.

Former merchant houses

The Market Square is a beautiful landmark of Krakow. It is completely pedestrian, except for the elegant carriages with horses. And there are a lot of them here, it feels like you are where they also like to take tourists around the city on horseback.

Eh, I'll give it a ride

There is also a monument to the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz.

Monument to Adam Mickiewicz

In the middle of the square there is a nice two-story building called the Cloth Hall. Once upon a time in the Middle Ages, cloth was traded there, hence the name. Now in the Cloth Hall on the ground floor they also sell goods, but mostly for souvenirs. And the second floor is given over to the painting museum.

Sukennitsa

Immediately behind the Sukiennice stands the 70-meter-high Krakow Town Hall. It is quite massive and high tower with observation deck at 50 meters altitude. The town hall looked askance slightly - like “ Leaning Tower of Pisa in Krakow style”, with a deviation from the vertical axis of 55 cm.

Krakow Town Hall

Why was she looking sideways like that? The fact is that the City Hall building was erected from brick and stone. Having stood on the square for more than 600 years, it was damaged by a fire caused by a thunderstorm. We had to dismantle part of the building, leaving only the tower, carefully strengthening it.

Previously, the city council met in it, the treasury and court were located, and prisoners were tortured in underground casemates. Now located in the Town Hall historical Museum. The history of Krakow is very rich, so there are many historical exhibits. Some of them are located in the dungeons under the square itself, occupying 6 thousand square meters.

Everyday life in the square is peaceful and calm. Residents and guests of the city love to sit in street restaurants.

Street restaurants are cozy and always warm

And young people sit comfortably in the square and feed the pigeons, which no one drives away. After all, according to an old legend, these are not pigeons at all, but enchanted warriors waiting for their reincarnation.

Everyday life

Many people are attracted by the cute sculpture of a little ram playing the pipe. I wonder what he's playing about?

Playing ram

Krakow's Market Square pleases the eye with beautiful churches. There are two of them: the squat Church of St. Wojciech, and the St. Mary's Church, which is adjacent to the square.

St. Mary's Church attracted our attention with the unusual asymmetry of two tall, attractive towers.They are of different heights: one is 82 meters, crowned with a Gothic helmet and crown. The other is 69 meters high and has a bell tower.

Why are the towers so different? The Poles have their own interesting legends about this.

Tower legends St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church towers

According to one of them, St. Mary's Church was built by two influential families in Krakow. Each fought for its superiority and built its own tower. There was an agreement - whose tower would be higher and more reliable, that family would have more influence in the city.

Emerging issues in construction often pitted the two families against each other, but whatever one may say, many things had to be resolved together. Therefore, the families, after some reflection, decided to unite by marrying their children. They agreed that the church towers would be completed by their children, and whoever wins would dominate their alliance.

Each head of the family hoped that his child would win the treaty. The son's father was confident that their family would have victory, since construction was still the work of men. But his daughter’s father, knowing her character, had no doubt that their family would give anyone a head start in this dispute.

And so it happened - the young wife so diligently pleased her husband at night that he had no strength left to do anything. So he slept during the day, and his wife’s tower grew and grew. And although the daughter’s family won the argument, for the young couple its result became absolutely indifferent, because they fell deeply and tenderly in love with each other, and this was much more important than any superiority.

Fragment of the facade of St. Mary's Church

Another legend tells about two mason brothers who contracted to build a church. Everyone built their own tower. The older brother's construction grew faster, but the younger brother's construction took longer, but more reliably. So the older brother became jealous that the younger brother was superior to him in skill, and in a fit of anger he killed his brother with a knife. But he could not survive what he had done, and threw himself down from the tower.

The city residents were shocked by this outcome and decided not to finish building the younger brother’s tower, but simply covered it up Renaissance shelter. The knife was hung in the Cloth Hall, where it is kept.

Trumpeter and symbol of Krakow - hejnal

In those days, the towers served instead of watchtowers. Every day the trumpeter climbed them and looked around to see if everything was calm in their area.

One day, the young guard noticed the Tatars approaching on horseback. The trumpeter blew his trumpet to warn the city's inhabitants about the danger, but his song ended abruptly - his throat was pierced by an insidious arrow from the enemy.

Then Poland fell under the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars and lost its freedom for many years. But every day a trumpeter climbed the tower and blew the song the young guard had begun, breaking it off at the same place.

The song (hejnal) has become a kind of symbol for the Poles. They believed that they would be able to regain their independence when their heynal sounded from the highest minaret of Samarkand. True or not, the time has come, and as the legend says, the Polish trumpeter finally played a melody (hejnal) from the minaret from the very beginning to the end. Soon after this, Poland became independent again.

The talisman song sounded even during all subsequent wars that befell Poland.

It sounds every hour now. From the highest window of the tower, a trumpeter blows in four directions. Having finished playing, he waves his hand in greeting to everyone who listens and sees him. For tourists, this is a good sign, giving them hope to visit again soon. nice city Krakow.

On the Market Square in Krakow

Address: Poland, Krakow
Coordinates: 50°03"42.5"N 19°56"14.8"E

Short description

For Poles ancient city Krakow is not only the cradle of statehood, but also the custodian of Polish history, immortalized in stone. Krakow miraculously survived the Second World War and in 1978 was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

View of the Market Square from the tower of St. Mary's Church

Ancient Krakow arose at the foot of Wawel Hill in the 9th century, on the site of a settlement of the Vistula tribe. The first mention of this city belongs to the Arab merchant Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, who visited these places in 965. Jakub admired "Karoko" as a large shopping center, whose connections extend all the way to “the Russians and Constantinople.”

The rapid development of Krakow began around the year 1000, when the first crowned ruler of Poland, Boleslaw I the Brave, built a royal residence on Wawel Hill and erected it next to Cathedral and established the bishopric of Krakow. In 1252, Krakow received Magdeburg law (that is, the right to self-government), had its own magistrate and court. In 1275, in accordance with the decree of Prince Bolesław V the Bashful, Krakow acquired a regular layout with the Market Square in the center and a geometric grid of streets.

Main Market

Krakow reached its greatest prosperity in the 14th - 16th centuries, when it was officially the capital of the Polish state and the place of coronation of monarchs. The city's "golden age" ended in 1569, after Poland and Lithuania signed the Union of Lublin to unify the lands. Krakow found itself on the outskirts of the new state, which was now called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The fire at Wawel Castle served as an impetus for the transfer of the capital, and in 1596 King Sigismund III, together with the magnates, moved to Warsaw, which was precisely the center of the new power. Although Krakow lost its status as a capital city, it remained “royal”, since until the 18th century Polish kings were crowned kings in Wawel Cathedral.

St. Mary's Church

Sights of Old Krakow

All roads in Old Krakow lead to the Market Square, which in Polish is simply called "Rynek" ("Market"). This is a kind of “front room” of the city, where tourists and citizens gather. The Poles themselves are proud that main square With a size of 200x200 meters, Krakow is one of the largest in Europe. The market ensemble has preserved the layout of those times when Krakow traded with all of Europe, and ambassadors and monarchs, Baghdad merchants and Saracens walked along its streets.

In the center of the square stands the building of the former Cloth Hall with magnificent pointed arches in the neo-Gothic style. In the Middle Ages, cloth was traded in these premises, and now on the ground floor of the Cloth Hall there is a fair with amber and silver products. The second floor of the building occupies National Museum Krakow with a collection of paintings, sculptures and coins from the 14th to 20th centuries.

Church of St. Adalbert

Just behind the Krakow Rows stands the City Hall Tower. Once upon a time, the Krakow treasury was kept on the ground floor of the town hall, and prisoners languished in the gloomy dungeons. Near the Market, on the adjacent St. Mary's Square, stands the St. Mary's Church. The majestic Gothic facade of the temple consists of two towers of different heights. The first church on this site was built in 1221, but was soon destroyed by the Tatars. The current building is the third and dates back to the 14th century. A tragic legend is associated with St. Mary's Church. It says that the trumpeter, keeping watch on the church tower, was the first to notice the approach of Batu’s enemy troops and managed to sound the alarm. But as soon as the Krakowian began to blow the trumpet, he was struck down by a Tatar arrow that pierced his throat. Since then, in memory of the trumpeter’s feat, every hour a melody has been played on the church tower, ending on the note on which the hero’s life ended.

Monument to Adam Mickiewicz

St. Mary's Church is also notable for its ancient relics - an altar and a crucifix in the late Gothic style, the creation of which had a hand in the great German sculptor Wit Stwosz. The altar, carved from linden, consists of a central panel depicting the coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Blessed Trinity and four wings on which scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary are immortalized. The height of the figures on the main panel reaches 2.80 meters, which makes the Wit Stwosz altar one of the largest in medieval Europe. Opposite the church, in front of the Cloth Hall, there is a monument to the poet Adam Mickiewicz. The perimeter of the Market Square is surrounded in a dense ring by cafes and old houses, each of which has its own history. For example, in house number 9 the wedding of False Dmitry and Marina Mnishek took place, and in house number 16, to the left of Grodskaya Street, the restaurant “U Vezhinka” was located.