Krakow

Krakow was the capital of Poland and the seat of government for 500 years up to 1596. It was the only Polish city to have come through WW2 mainly unscathed so is able to present us with a beautiful and original Old Town.

The central square is the focal point where the Sukiennice, the medieval Cloth Hall, dominates the middle. There are shops and cafes through the arcade arches you can see, with a central mall of stalls selling a variety of reasonable quality tourist goods.

 On the opposite side of the Cloth Hall are the towers of the Mariacki church (St Mary’s). The taller, left-hand tower was used as a lookout station. Legend has it that a watchman spotted a Tartar raid approaching and put his bugle to his lips to signal the alert, at which point an arrow pierced his throat. Since that time, each day on the hour, a lone trumpeter plays the missing bugle call from the top of the same tower. He repeats it four times, once from each direction. He’s probably also been issued with an arrow-proof  vest.

The church itself is described as one of the finest medieval churches in Poland. Inside, the alter is a masterpiece by German carver Stoss. The whole church, but his work in particular, is awe-inspiring.

The Town Hall Tower is all that’s left of the 14^th century town hall pulled down in 1820. A pair of lions guards the entrance. The right-hand one is wearing an Ena Sharples hair-net and looks totally bored. There’s got to be more to life than watching tourists.

 Walking from the central square to Castle Hill, called the Wawel, we pass many elegant buildings and smaller squares. Some were designed by brought-in Italian experts. We could have been back in Italy where we spent the winter. They do good ice-creams here too, just like the Italians. Mama Mia! (In Polish).

The Wawel was the seat of government when Krakow was the capital.  It comprises a castle, administrative buildings, museums  and a cathedral that contains the remains of nearly all the Polish kings.  We went in the cathedral- no photos allowed- and then walked around the courtyard and garden area. All beautifully preserved and nicely presented. This is the cathedral from the gardens.

South of the Old Town is the Jewish Quarter, the Kazimierz. We explored this on an organised walking tour with a guide. The Jews first came to Krakow in the 11^th century and their numbers had risen to 25% of the total population by the eve of the last war, around 65,000. Some came back after the war to try and restart their businesses but found Communism hostile. A single one has succeeded in reopening the family business, and that since Polish independence in 1988.  

The original name is etched in the stonework under the top row of windows and is the same as the garish modern sign. Difficult (impossible?) to see in the small blog photo. The shop is the same business, painting and decorating, and It has to be said that their building might benefit from a pot or two of what they sell. 

Schindler’s List was filmed in Kazimierz and we saw several of the locations used. Schindler’s factory was actually close by and was in production until 2004 as an electronics factory. It’s now a museum associated with Krakow Jews in WW2 and was included in our tour. It’s difficult to move away from the tragedy of 1939 to 45, but that was the subject of the Auschwitz blog.

Our guide was a mine of information. The Jews and Catholics integrated well and helped each other- the Jews even provided funds for the upkeep of Corpus Christi church! The Jews also believed in keeping to the city rules however arbitrary, for example that their synagogues should not exceed any Catholic church in height. Guess how they got round it in building the synagogue below.

Where there’s a will there’s a way: they excavated the floor to get the extra metre of internal height they wanted.

We also went inside a synagogue and Jewish cemetery where the guide explained the details of their religious practices. It was a very different and interesting tour.