POLAND : KRAKOW - Sightseeing
Kraków can be easily visited on foot as most
of the main sights are located within the Planty, a leafy park that
forms a green belt around the historic centre or Stare Miasto (Old
Town). Among the most notable of the city's hundreds of historic
buildings are: the Royal Castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill, where King
John III Sobieski is buried; the medieval Old Town with its beautiful
square; Market Square (200 meters on a side); dozens of old churches and
museums; the 14th century buildings of the Jagiellonian University; as
well as Kazimierz, the historical centre of Kraków's Jewish religious
and social life.
The Gothic St Mary's Church stands by the market place. It was built in
the 14th century, and its famous wooden altar was carbed by Veit Stoss.
Every hour, a trumpet call called the hejnal is sounded from the
church's main tower.
The epicentre of tourist Kraków is the Rynek Glowny (Main Market
Square), laid out in 1257, one of Europe’s most impressive public
spaces, which is overrun by tourists during the high season. Relaxing in
a pavement café here is a good way to get acquainted with the city.. It
is dominated by the 16th-century Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), which
continues to perform its role as a trading centre with lively market
stalls and pavement cafés in and around the building. The surrounding
lanes of the Stare Miasto (Old Town) are ringed by the Planty, a leafy,
linear park that follows the line of the Old Town walls. The voluminous
hulk of Wawel Hill, to the south, is home to Wawel Castle, It was here
that the Polish Kings ruled from the 14th to 17th centuries and there is
enough to see to occupy at least a day or two, including the Castle
itself, the State Rooms, Treasury and Armoury, Royal Tombs and Wawel
Cathedral. It was at this location, in 1000 AD, that the bishopric of
Cracow was established and the Cathedral remains the spiritual home of
Poland.
Ten minutes’ walk from Wawel is the district of Kazimierz, southeast of
the Old Town, where the city’s sizeable Jewish population used to
prosper before the Nazis arrived. For centuries it was a centre of
Jewish culture, until the Nazis killed most of its residents and
deported many of the survivors to the wartime ghetto of Podgorze and
thence to nearby Auschwitz. Kazimierz had largely fallen into decline
since World War II, but the area is currently undergoing something of a
renaissance in response to the renewed interest brought about by the
film Schindler’s List. The Jewish culture of the area is being revived,
with lively art galleries, kosher restaurants and regular cultural
events.
