A Winter Visit to Kraków

Our hosts – Matt and Urszula – invited us for a drive to Kraków one day. Many thanks, friends! It was my wife’s first visit and it was my third visit of Kraków. We managed to see and to discover many things. Walking in Poselska Street, we saw a mysterious and intriguing sculpture located on the wall of the headquarters of the municipality of Kraków.

The sculpture is called "Angel of Light". It was dedicated on August 12, 2020 by the Italian artist Enrico Muscetra, an Italian graphic artist, a painter, and a sculptor. "Angel of Light" is a gift of Enrico Muscetra for the city and its residents, to whom the artist said goodbye after two decades with Kraków. The sculpture is to remind you of the difficult period of pandemic. According to the artist, the work belongs to those symbols that bring hope, when people face the calamity and are tested in the time of pandemic. The Angel of Light sculpture is 96 cm in height; its wings are almost 1.7 m wide.

I was glad to be in Marker Square again, this time with my wife. This is the largest medieval square in Europe (200 by 200 m). Its borders were indicated during the construction of the city in 1257.

Our Lady’s Church and St. Wojciech Church had been built earlier; therefore, they are located obliquely to the main market square. Later they built the Sukiennice (a covered market), a town hall and brick houses around the square.

Market Square, Kraków

At the monument to Adam Mickiewicz, Kraków

You can’t miss an important object located here - the monument to Adam Mickiewicz . The project of this monument was completed by Theodor Ryger on the hundredth anniversary of the poet’s birth (marked in 1898).

Looking at the restored houses and palaces around the square, it is difficult to believe that they are 500-600 years old. It is worth taking a closer look at the houses in Market Square:

• The gray house (No. 6): according to legend, King Casimir the Great gave this house to his mistress Sarah.
• The palace “Under Christopher” (house No. 35) also deserves attention: this is where Yan Kazimiezh, Mikhail Korybut Visinovetsky and Yuzef Ponatovsky lived.
• Today “Under the Baranami” (“Cellar under the rams”, house No. 27), the famous theater-cabaret, functions in this house.
• Restaurant in House No. 15 transfers us to a distant past - to the famous feast that took place in 1364.

We walked past St. Wojciech Church during our exploration of Market Square. This small church in the Romanesque style is one of Krakow's oldest sights. Its story dates back to the 10th century, and the current appearance of the temple is the result of reconstruction carried out in the eighteenth century. According to legend, the church was built in the place where Saint Wojciech pronounced his sermons.

We visited St.Mary’s Church, admired its exquisite interior and prayed. The church was built on the donations of the city residents in the 13th century. It is one of the most beautiful Gothic basilicas in Poland. The interior delights you with the beautiful polychrome by Jan Matejko. There are also beautiful stained glass windows. Some of them date back to the 14th century, others are creations of S. Vyspiansky and Jozef Megoffer. It is worth view in the numerous memorial plaques of famous families and sitting on wooden baroque benches – stalls. Many centuries ago, Krakow's nobility sat here.

The altar is certainly most valuable attraction of the basilica. The height of the altar is 13 m, and the width is 11 m – it is the largest medieval wooden altar in Europe. It took the artist twelve years to complete the masterpiece. Researchers calculated that there are 200 figures on the altar, with a height from a few centimeters to three meters, and they are all carved with great care of the details. The central stage of the altar is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The bas -reliefs on the lateral mobile parts of the altar represent stories from the New Testament.
We heard the chimes of the cathedral from the higher tower (81 m), followed by the trumpet signal called “Mary’s Signal”. Every hour a trumpeter gives this signal to four sides of the world.

The Sukiennice (also known as the Cloth Hall) - the covered market- was our next destination. This market arose in the thriteenth century. Then there were only two rows of clutches of cloth merchants. During the time of King Casimir the Great, a 108-meter-long Gothic building was built. However, it was destroyed during the fire of 1555. The Sukiennice was rebuilt in the form of an impressive building. The staircase and loggia were built according to the project of J. M. Padovano. The building was completed by the Renaissance attics and the figures of masquerones. The final form of the Sukiennice appeared in the nineteenth century, when the market building was rebuilt according to the project of T. Polinsky – a Gothic arcade with vaulted galleries was added.

Inside, like many centuries ago, trade flourishes in stylish shops and stores. You can see the emblems of merchants and workshops, as well as the emblems of the cities of Poland on the walls. You can also pay a visit to the gallery of Polish art of the 19th century located on the first floor. Here you can familiarize yourself with the famous works of Polish artists:

• Henryk Semiradsky (Torch Nero),
• Jan Matejko (Worship of Prussia, Kosciushko near Ratslavitsa),
• Vladislav Podkovinski (Madness of ecstasy),

as well as paintings by Arthur Grottger , Alexander Germsky, Juzef Helmonsky and Yatsek Malchevsky.

I took my wife to the huge bronze head of "Eros Bendato", is a gift the city from the world-famous sculptor Igor Mitorai, who studied at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts.
We stood in front of the City Hall Tower – this brick tower is the only surviving fragment of the Krakow Town Hall. It was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The long-neglected town hall was dismantled in the 19th century. The height of the tower is 70 meters. Two stone lions are sitting at the entrance from the Cloth Hall. This entrance leads you to the department of the historical museum. It is worth going upstairs to the tower, from where the impressive panorama of the old city is visible.

After a coffee at Szara Café in Market Square, Matt and Urszula took us along the old streets around the square. Thus, we reached St.Florian’s Gate. As far I as know, It was built in the 15th century remained from powerful fortifications surrounding the city. The city fortifications represented a three kilometer-long belt, mounted with 47 towers, eight gates and a moat. St.Florian’s Gate used to be a representative city gate. It opened the Royal Tract, along which the royal and embassy retinue drove to Wawel Castle.

The city defense walls were dismantled by the Austrian authorities in the 19th century, and in their place a city park called Planty was founded. Only the Barbican Tower remained, all others were demolished. The places, where towers stood, are marked by stones on the pavement and have a bronze memorial plaque each. We saw one dedicated to Baszta Rymarza – Saddler’s Tower.

We walked further past the Princes of Czartoryski Museum located opposite the Piyars’ Church. It is known as the Czartoryskis Museum. The museum includes some masterpieces of the world painting: “A lady with the ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci and “A landscape with a merciful Samaritan” by Rembrandt. The works of Italian, German and Flemish masters are also presented here. The collection is complemented by commemorative objects associated with Polish kings, hetmans and generals, as well as a magnificent collection of porcelain. The museum was created in 1800 on the initiative of Princess Izabela Czartoryska (1746-1835).
We saw the monument to Mercury, a replica of the famous work of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844). The monument is on the left side of St.Florian’s Gate, in front of the entrance to the Czartoryski Museum.
Matt and Urszula showed us some memorial places of the 2010 VT Euromeet, where the VT members used to gather for dinner.

Enjoying a nice evening walk downtown, Kraków

Souvenirs galore, Kraków

Lots of souvenir stores in Kraków

The candy store with the smallest candies, Kraków

We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in the Old Town.

Matt and Urszula showed us what I called "VT Euromeet memorial places" - the restaurants, where the participants of 2010 VT Euromeet gathered to have a good time together.

At Kawaleria Restaurant, Kraków (a VT venue)

Harris Piano Jazz Bar, Kraków (a VT venue)

Evening views of Market Square, Kraków