Lesser Poland
Krakow
State
Country
Poland
Continent
Europe
Size
327 KM2
Population
779,115
Spending Budget
$450 - $900
Famous For
- History
- Monuments
- Traditional Food
Best Time to Visit
- January
- March
- April
- May
- September
History
The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second-most-important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was reported as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau (Kraków District) became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from where they were sent to German extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.
Present Day
Kraków, written in English as Krakow and traditionally known as Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Province, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013, Kraków was officially approved as a UNESCO City of Literature. The city hosted World Youth Day in July 2016.
Future
Krakow is ranked as one of the most technologically advanced cities of the world. In the same vein, the city has plans to reduce the effects of climate change in its localities and become a greener space to live in. The project calls for citizens of a residential quarter to not have to travel more than 15 minutes to access essential items like groceries, and other goods and services. The aim is to reduce the carbon emissions of its population. There are also plans to make garden spaces more common to mitigate the effects of the urban heat islands.
Main Market Square
The main square of the Old Town of Kraków, Lesser Poland, is the principal urban space located at the center of the city. It dates back to the 13th century, and at 3.79 ha is the largest medieval town square in Europe. The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) lists the square as the best public space in Europe due to its lively street life, and it was a major factor in the inclusion of Kraków as one of the top off-the-beaten-path destinations in the world in 2016. The main square is a square space surrounded by historic townhouses and churches. The center of the square is dominated by the Cloth Hall, rebuilt in 1555 in the Renaissance style, topped by a beautiful attic or Polish parapet decorated with carved masks.
Wawel Castle
The Wawel Royal Castle is a castle residence located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard. The castle, being one of the largest in Poland, represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in the country. The castle is part of a fortified architectural complex erected atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River, at an altitude of 228 metres above sea level.
Planty Park
Planty is one of the largest city parks in Kraków, Poland. It encircles the Stare Miasto (Old Town), where the Medieval city walls used to stand until the early 19th century. The historic Old Town is not to be confused with the Administrative District No. 1 Stare Miasto extending further east. The park has an area of 21,000 square meters and a length of 4 kilometers. It consists of a chain of thirty smaller gardens designed in varied styles and adorned with numerous monuments and fountains. There are over twenty statues of noble historical figures in the park. The park forms a scenic walkway popular with Cracovians. In summer, sprinkled with ponds and refreshment stalls, it is a cool and shady retreat from the nearby bustling streets.
Barbican
The Kraków Barbican is a barbican – a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls. It is a historic gateway leading into the Old Town of Kraków, Poland. The barbican is one of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers that once encircled the royal city of Kraków in the south of Poland. It currently serves as a tourist attraction and venue for a variety of exhibitions. Today the Barbican is under the jurisdiction of The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków. Tourists may tour its interior with its displays outlining the historical development of fortifications in Kraków.
St. Florian's Gate
St. Florian's Gate or Florian Gate in Kraków, Poland, is one of the best-known Polish Gothic towers, and a focal point of Kraków's Old Town. It was built about the 14th century as a rectangular Gothic tower of "wild stone", part of the city fortifications against Turkish attack. The tower, first mentioned in 1307, had been built as part of a protective rampart around Kraków after the Tatar attack of 1241 which destroyed most of the city. The south face of St. Florian's Gate is adorned with an 18th-century bas-relief of St. Florian.
Kościuszko Mound
Kościuszko Mound is an artificial mound in Kraków, Poland. It was erected by Cracovians in commemoration of the Polish national leader Tadeusz Kościuszko, and modeled after Kraków's prehistoric mounds of Krak and Wanda. A serpentine path leads to the top, approximately 326 metres above sea level, with a panoramic view of the Vistula River and the city. Next to the mound there is a museum devoted to Kościuszko, that displays artefacts and mementoes of his life and achievements. In 1997, heavy rains eroded the mound, thus threatening its existence. It went through a restoration process from 1999 till 2003 in which state-of-the-art technology and modern materials were used. The mound was equipped with a drainage system and a new waterproofing membrane.
Florianska Street
Floriańska Street or St. Florian's Street is one of the main streets in Kraków Old Town and one of the most famous promenades in the city. The street forms part of the regular grid plan of Stare Miasto (the Old Town), the merchants' town that extends the medieval heart of the city, which was drawn up in 1257 after the destruction of the city during the first Mongol invasion of Poland of 1241. A number of notable landmarks and monuments, mainly kamienica-style buildings, are located on the street. Today, the street is a major tourist attraction, and most buildings feature shops, restaurants, cafes and similar establishments.
Krakow Cloth Hall
The Kraków Cloth Hall, in Lesser Poland, dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town, which since 1978 has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was once a major centre of international trade. Travelling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, the hall was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the east, while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine. On the upper floor of the hall is the Sukiennice Museum division of the National Museum, Kraków. It holds the largest permanent exhibit of 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture.
Saint Mary's Basilica
Saint Mary’s Basilica is a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków, Poland. Built in the 14th century, its foundations date back to the early 13th century and serve as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture. Standing 80 m tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss. On every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of Saint Mary's two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate a famous 13th century trumpeter who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before a Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.
Vistula Boulevards
The Vistula Boulevards are historical hydraulic boulevards used for flood management in Kraków, Poland. The boulevards are structured from retaining walls (an upper, high and lower which is used to channel the river channel), allowing the boulevards to perform a river port function. The nineteenth- and twentieth-century boulevards are used for flood management, namely during the floods of 1970, 1997, and 2010. The boulevards around the river channel of the Vistula and the Rudawa are part of an area of parkland, being a popular recreational area for Cracovians and tourists alike. The boulevards are pedestrianised, with bicycle routes.