Market square krakow poland. The Old Town and Market Square are the heart of ancient Krakow. The city residents were shocked by this outcome and decided not to complete the construction of the younger brother’s tower, but simply covered it with a Renaissance roof. The knife was hung in the Cloth Hall, there

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

Brief 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 is occupied by the National Museum of 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.

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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

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The Market Square, or Main Market Square in Krakow, is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe.

It was built in 1257 and was very large for that time, but gradually acquired new buildings and blended into the urban landscape. The layout of the square has been preserved unchanged since the 13th century - it is a slightly irregular square with sides of 200 meters, from each side of which there are three streets leading to the entrance gates of Krakow. The buildings surrounding the square were erected in the 14th-15th centuries, but over time they were reconstructed more than once, so now we see facades in the classical style of the 17th-19th centuries, in which many architectural fragments of the Renaissance and Baroque era have been preserved: portals, ceilings, attics, galleries courtyards.

The market square became a trade center, where there was a place for artisans of various specialties: there was a salt row, coal, fish, grain, etc. In addition to its trading function, the square began to serve as a central square in the city; it more than once witnessed the most important historical events, even executions took place here. For example, here, after the coronation, the townspeople swore an oath to the king.

From the beginning of the 19th century, when the Austrian authorities came to the city, the market square became simply a decoration of the city. Only the renovated building of the Cloth Hall (Cloth Hall) and the town hall tower were left on the square. The facades of houses are being updated, the cemetery near St. Mary's Church is being cleaned.

Among the main current attractions of the square are the Sukiennice, the Town Hall Tower, the Church of St. Wojciech, the Zbaraski Palace, the Palace "Under the Rams", the monument to Adam Mickiewicz and, first of all, the St. Mary's Church.

Now the square and the surrounding streets are closed to traffic and have become a place walking. On the western part of the square there is the opportunity to ride in a carriage. Cafeterias, taverns and restaurants, museums and cultural institutions located on the Main Market, together with historical attractions, attract tourists from all over the world.

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 a rather massive and high tower with an observation deck at a 50-meter height. The town hall looked askew 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.

Daily 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 complete the construction of the younger brother’s tower, but simply covered it with a Renaissance roof. The knife was hung in the Cloth Hall, where it is kept.

Trumpeter and symbol of Krakow - hejnal

In those days, towers served instead 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 residents 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

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. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in common parlance St. Mary's Church - a Catholic church of Gothic architecture, the facade of which consists of two tall towers. One of them, 80 meters high, was considered a guard tower in the Middle Ages.