Krakow is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, Situated on the Vistula river in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Krakow from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Krakow Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Krakow has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish scientific, cultural and artistic life. As the former national capital with a history encompassing more than a thousand years, the city remains the spiritual heart of Poland. It is a major attraction for local and international tourists, attracting seven million visitors annually.
Famous landmarks include the Main Market Square with St. Mary’s Basilica and the Sukiennice Cloth Hall, the Wawel Castle, the National Art Museum, the Zygmunt Bell at the Wawel Cathedral, and the medieval St Florian’s Gate with the Barbican along the Royal Coronation Route. In 1978, UNESCO added Krakow’s historic centre, which includes the Old Town, Kazimierz and the Wawel Castle to the list of World Heritage Sites.
Krakow lies in the southern part of Poland, on the Vistula River in a valley at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, 219 meters (719 ft) above sea level, between the Jurassic Rock Upland (Polish: Jura Krakowsko-Cz?stochowska) to the north and the Tatra Mountains 100 kilometers (62 mi) to the south. There are five nature reserves in Krakow, with a combined area of ca. 48.6 hectares (120 acres). Due to their ecological value, these areas are legally protected. Krakow has also 192 nature monuments characterized by their unique scientific, historical and aesthetic value.
The western part of the city, along its northern and north-western side, borders an area of international significance known as the Jurassic Bielany-Tyniec refuge. The main motives for the protection of this area include plant and animal wildlife and the area’s geomorphological features and landscape.
Another part of the city is located within the ecological ‘corridor’ of the Vistula River valley. This corridor is also assessed as being of international significance as part of the Pan-European ecological network. The city centre is situated on the left (northern) bank of the river.
Krakow has a temperate climate. Average temperatures in summer range from 17 °C (63 °F) to 19 °C (66 °F) and in winter from 0 °C (32 °F) to 5 °C (41 °F). The average annual temperature fluctuates between 6 °C (43 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F). Krakow usually sees between 23 and 58 days per year with below-freezing temperatures. Predominantly western winds, conducive to rainfall, are typical of summer months, whereas eastern winds, decreasing the amount of precipitation, blow mostly in winter.
These are the most popular tourist destinations, and if your time is limited, you would be best sticking to these:
- Stare Miasto – “Old Town”, this area lies inside the old town walls, that are now the “Planty” gardens
- The Wawel Hill – the Castle and Cathedral
- Kazimierz – The former Jewish town
- Kleparz and Wesola
- Stradom
- Piasek and Nowy Swiat
- Srodmiescie Krakowskie
The oldest neighborhoods of Krakow were incorporated into the city before the late 18th century. They include the Old Town (Stare Miasto), once contained within the city defensive walls and now encircled by the Planty park; the Wawel District, which is the site of the Royal Castle and the cathedral; Stradom and Kazimierz, the latter originally divided into Christian and Jewish quarters; as well as the ancient town of Kleparz.
Major districts added in the 19th and 20th centuries include Podgorze, which until 1915 was a separate town on the southern bank of the Vistula, and Nowa Huta, east of the city centre, built after World War II.
Since March 27, 1991, Krakow has been divided into 18 administrative districts, each with a degree of autonomy within its own municipal government (Rada Dzielnicy). The current divisions were introduced by the Krakow City Hall on April 19, 1995. Districts were assigned Roman numerals as well as the current name: Stare Miasto (I), Grzegorzki (II), Pr?dnik Czerwony (III), Pr?dnik Bialy (IV), Krowodrza (V), Bronowice (VI), Zwierzyniec (VII), Debniki (VIII), ?agiewniki-Borek Fa?ecki (IX), Swoszowice (X), Podgorze Duchackie (XI), Bie?anow-Prokocim (XII), Podgorze (XIII), Czy?yny (XIV), Mistrzejowice (XV), Bie?czyce (XVI), Wzgorza Krzes?awickie (XVII), and Nowa Huta (XVIII).
Among the most notable historic districts of the city are: Wawel Hill, home to Wawel Castle and Wawel Cathedral, where many Polish kings are buried; the medieval Old Town, with its Main Market Square (200 metres, or 656 feet, square); dozens of old churches and museums; the 14th-century buildings of the Jagiellonian University; and Kazimierz, the historical centre of Krakow’s Jewish social and religious life.
The Old Town district of Krakow is home to about six thousand historic sites and more than two million works of art. Its rich variety of historic architecture includes Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic buildings. Krakow’s palaces, churches and mansions display great variety of color, architectural details, stained glass, paintings, sculptures, and furnishings.
In the Market Square stands the Gothic St. Mary’s Basilica (Ko?cio? Mariacki). It was built in the 14th century and features the famous wooden altar carved by Veit Stoss. A trumpet call, hejna? mariacki, is sounded from the church’s main tower every hour. The melody played ends unexpectedly in midstream. According to legend, the tune was played during a 13th-century Tatar invasion by a guard warning citizens against the attack. He was shot by a Tatar warrior while playing, the melody breaking off at the moment he died. This story, however, has its origin in a book by an Irish writer, published in the USA in the late 1920s.
Krakow is one of the oldest cities in Poland, with evidence showing settlements there since 20,000 BC. Legend has it that it was built on the cave of a dragon whom the mythical King Krak had slain. However, the first official mention of the name was in 966 by a Jewish merchant from Spain, who described it as an important centre of trade in Slavonic Europe.
Through trade with the various rulers of Europe, it grew from a small settlement in 1000AD to a large wealthy city, belonging to the Vistulans. However, through the 9th and 10th centuries, it fell under the influence of the Great Moravians, then the Bohemians, before being captured by the Piast Dynasty of Poland. In 1038, Kazimierz the Restorer made Krakow the capital of Poland.
In 1241, the city was almost entirely destroyed by Tatars. It was rebuilt to a design that remains largely unchanged to the present day. However, after more successful attacks by the Mongols in the late 13th century, Kazimierz the Great set about defending the city. Walls, fortifications, and the original Wawel Castle were added. The University was also established. King Kazimierz established the district of Kazimierz for Jews to live in free from persecution. This area remained mainly Jewish for centuries until the Nazi occupation.
The 16th century was Krakow’s golden age. Under the influence of the joint Polish-Lithuanian Jagiellonian dynasty, Krakow became a centre of science and the arts. In 1569, Poland was officially united with Lithuania and as a result government activity started to move to Warsaw. King Zygmunt III officially moved the capital in 1609.
However, the 17th century was a return to troubled times for Krakow and Poland. After being invaded by Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Transylvanians, Swedes, and the French, it went through a phase of various forms of political control.
These included being part of the Duchy of Warsaw, established by Napoleon, and becoming an “independent city”. However, it mostly fell under the sphere of influence of the Austrian Habsburg Empire, in the province of Galicia.
In the First World War, Jozef Pilsudski set out to liberate Poland and the Treaty of Versailles (1919) established an independent sovereign Polish state for the first time in more than 100 years. This lasted until the Second World War, when Germany partitioned the country, with German forces entering Krakow in September 1939.
Many academics were killed and historic relics and monuments were destroyed or looted. Concentration camps were established near Krakow, including Plaszow and Auschwitz. After German withdrawal, the city escaped complete destruction and many buildings were saved.
In the Communist period, a large steel works was established in the suburb of Nowa Huta. This was seen as an attempt to lessen the influence of the anti-Communist intellegentsia and religious communities in Krakow. In 1978, UNESCO placed Krakow on the World Heritage Sites list. In the same year, the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, was made Pope John Paul II. The Communist Government collapsed in 1989 and Krakow is now undergoing another period of regeneration, with historic buildings being restored.
Public transport is based around a fairly dense network of tramway and bus lines operated by a municipal company, supplemented by a number of private minibus operators. Local trains connect some of the suburbs. The bulk of the city’s historic area has been turned into a pedestrian zone with rickshaws and horse buggies; however, the tramlines run within a three-block radius.
Rail connections are available to most Polish cities. Trains to Warsaw depart every hour. International destinations include Berlin, Budapest, Prague, Hamburg, Lvov, Kiev, and Odessa (June–September). The main railway station is located just outside the Old Town District and is well-served by public transport.
Krakow airport, (John Paul II International Airport Krakow-Balice, Polish: Miedzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Paw?a II Krakow-Balice) is 11 km (7 mi) west of the city. Direct trains cover the route between Krakow G?owny train station and the airport in 15 minutes.
The annual capacity of the airport is estimated at 1.3 million passengers; however, in 2007 more than 3.042 million people used the airport, giving Krakow Airport 15 percent of all air passenger traffic in Poland. The passenger terminal is undergoing extension and is being adapted to meet the requirements of the Schengen Treaty.
Krakow is a major center of education. Eleven university or academy-level institutions offer courses in the city, with 170,000 students and 10,000 faculty, plus about a dozen colleges.
Jagiellonian University, the oldest and best known university in Poland and ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement as the best university in the country, was founded in 1364 as the Cracow Academy and renamed in 1817 to commemorate the Jagiellonian dynasty of Polish-Lithuanian kings. Its principal academic asset is the Jagiellonian Library, with more than 4 million volumes, including a large collection of medieval manuscripts like Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus and the Balthasar Behem Codex.
With 42,325 students (2005) and 3,605 academic staff, the Jagiellonian University is also one of the leading research centres in Poland. Famous historical figures connected with the University include Saint John Cantius, Jan D?ugosz, Nicolaus Copernicus, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Jan Kochanowski, King John III Sobieski, Pope John Paul II and Nobel laureates Ivo Andric and Wis?awa Szymborska.
AGH University of Science and Technology, established in 1919, is the second-largest technical university in Poland, with more than 15 faculties and student enrollment exceeding 30,000. It was ranked by the Polish edition of Newsweek as the best technical university in the country for the year 2004.
During its 80-year history, more than 73,000 students graduated from AGH with master’s or bachelor’s degrees. Some 3,600 persons were granted the degree of Doctor of Science, and about 900 obtained the qualification of Habilitated Doctor.
Other institutions of higher learning include Cracow University of Economics, established in 1925; Academy of Music in Krakow, first conceived as a conservatory in 1888; Pedagogical University, in operation since 1946; Agricultural University of Cracow, offering courses since 1890 (initially as a part of Jagiellonian University); Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest Fine Arts Academy in Poland, founded by the Polish painter Jan Matejko; Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts; The Pontifical Academy of Theology; and Cracow University of Technology, which has more than 37,000 graduates.
Older Polish people are strongly religious while younger thirty-somethings tend to be medium religious (attending church on major catholic holidays) or not at all religious. The so-called ‘Generation JP2′ (JP2 is short for John Paul II), people between the age of 16 and roughly 25, tend to establish a neo-conservative look on religion in Poland, just like Americans did in the ‘80. Some of the youngest are extremely religious, if not fundamentalists.
Others try to split from the Vatican in some intellectual reformatory way like the neo-catholics or neo-christians, but they still are very religious. The vast majority of youngsters remain officially catholic and occasionally go to church, but in fact do not give much attention to religion. During Easter, the churches have a lot of ceremonies and are very well visited by the locals. Saturday evening is for candlelight ceremonies outside the churches. On Rynek Glowny, there is outdoor theater and music in the evening. Regular stores are closed during main religious holidays (25th & 26th of December, Easter Sunday, and Monday), other holidays may mean shorter working hours.
Krakow is considered by many to be the cultural capital of Poland. It was named the European Capital of Culture for the year 2000 by the European Union. Krakow has 28 museums and public art galleries. Among them are the main branch of Poland’s National Museum and the Czartoryski Museum, the latter featuring works by Leonardo and Rembrandt. The city has several famous theaters, including: National Stary Theatre, a.k.a. The Old Theatre, Juliusz S?owacki Theatre, Bagatela Theatre, The Ludowy Theatre, and Groteska Theatre of Puppetry, as well as Krakow Opera and Krakow Operetta.
Krakow hosts many annual and biannual artistic events, some of international significance, such as the Misteria Paschalia (baroque music), Sacrum-Profanum (contemporary music), Cracow Screen Festival (popular music), Festival of Polish Music (classical music), Dedications (theatre), Festival of Short Feature Films, Biennial of Graphic Arts, and the Jewish Culture Festival.
It became the residence of two Polish Nobel laureates in literature: Wis?awa Szymborska and Czes?aw Mi?osz; a third Nobel laureate, the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric also lived and studied in Krakow. Other former residents include famous Polish film directors Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski.
Points of interest outside the city include the Wieliczka salt mine, the Tatra Mountains 100 kilometers (62 mi) to the south, the historic city of Czestochowa, the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, and Ojcowski National Park, which includes Pieskowa Ska?a Castle.
Planty is the best-known park in Krakow. It was established between 1822 and 1830 in place of the old city walls, forming a green belt around the Old Town. It consists of a chain of smaller gardens designed in various styles and adorned with monuments. The park has an area of 21 hectares (52 acres) and a length of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), forming a scenic walkway popular with Cracovians.
The first public park equipped with exercise fixtures was founded by Dr Henryk Jordan on the banks of the Rudawa river in 1889. The Jordan Park, equipped with running and exercise tracks, playgrounds, swimming pool, amphitheatre, pavilions, and a pond for boat rowing and water bicycles, is on the grounds of Krakow’s B?onia. The less prominent Park Krakowski was founded in 1885 by Stanis?aw Rehman but has since been greatly reduced in size because of rapid real estate development. It was a popular destination point with many Cracovians at the end of the 19th century.
The Old Town district offers excellent shopping, especially for clothes, jewelry, and art. You can wander all around the Old Town and Kazimierz, where antique stores abound. The center of this all is the Rynek Glowny (”Rynek” also means “market”), where you will find some of the city’s top stores.
In the middle of the Rynek Glowny stands the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), a center of trade in Krakow for hundreds of years. The entire ground floor is a market, where local artists sell their wares. Look for amber jewelry and sheep skin rugs. A great place to check out if you want to bring an authentic piece of Krakow back home.
Thanks to their proximity to each other, Krakow’s watering holes are ideal for bar hopping. Many locals and tourists have spent nights partying from the Old Town all the way to Vistula River at the end of Kazimierz. Most bars fall in the Old Town and Kazimierz districts.
In the warmer months, Krakow’s nightlife moves outdoors into hundreds of sidewalk cafes and beer gardens. When winter comes around, it moves underground into cellars all around the city. Many tourists, both from Poland and abroad, never leave the Old Town Square at night. If you want to party with tourists, that’s a great spot. Meanwhile, many of the locals have moved the party to Kazimierz and new bars are popping up there every month.
Krakow is experiencing a tourist boom at the moment, with 60% more visitors in 2005 than in 2003, the hotel industry is playing catchup so be prepared to pay more than someone who visited in previous years.
Don’t try too hard to save money on accommodation when you’re in Krakow. If you don’t want Krakow to become your worst experience, try to avoid hotels and hostels located in the Nowa Huta district; most of them are former shelters for part-time industry workers and the district is quite distant from the city center. Be sure to check the accommodation before agreeing to pay for it — some backpackers have ended up with filthy rooms complete with biting bedbugs!
There are plenty of decent clean backpacker hostels within a stone’s throw of the old city. Expect to pay 40-60PLN for a dorm bed, including breakfast (bread, jam, and cheese), laundry, sheets, lockers, and internet. A good way to stay in Krakow is to rent private accommodation. There are several websites that assist in this.
You can usually get a centrally located one bedroom apartment for about 60-90 Euro a night, so it may not be worth hassling with a hotel. It’s usually the same price as an overcrowded hostel, but nicer. There are two agencies opposite the main railway station offering rooms. If you hang around the street outside the agencies for a while, some landlords will approach you and make an offer. Saves you the commission, but may be a bit unsafe.
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