The beautiful city of krakow.
Krakow is a university City, one of the largest university cities in Europe. At it's centre is the Old Town. It's a wonderful place, filled with old and great buildings.
Krakow, once a royal city, focusing all that was the most important not only for Poland but also for the cultural history of the Old Continent, still radiates an unusual energy and beauty. It is no mere chance that it is sometimes called "the Florence of the North" or "the Polish Rome".
The monumental character of Krakow is due to the architectural complexes enriched and developed throughout centuries in various styles - from Romanesque, through Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque to Classicism and Art Nouveau - which create the unique urban structure of the Piast and Jagiellon King's capital.
The high status and unusual artistic value of Krakow were confirmed in 1978 when UNESCO decided to place the town on the World List of Cultural Heritage
The mediaeval Old Town, limited by the line of Planty - a park-like area within the former city walls, some of which has been preserved - owns its structure to the act of foundation from 1257 issued by prince Boleslaw Wstydliwy. At that time Krakow was made in the shape of a chess-board, with a regular network of streets and squares and a four-sided marketplace of the size of 200m by 200m. When the central part was planned many older elements were incorporated into it, which added beauty to its pictures and authenticity. The basic arrangement of the Old Town was not changed in later times, in spite of the considerable growth of its area in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Krakow Market Square - the largest town square demarcated in the 13th c. in Europe - retained the atmosphere of the pulsating heart of the city and many of its valuable monuments. The most significant historical buildings are: the Town Hall Tower from the end of the 14th c. (a part of the Town Hall was destroyed in 1818), Sukiennice - a fourteenth-century trading hall decorated with a Renaissance attic wall and sculpted ornaments, and Krakow's main church, the monument of its glory, the basilica dedicated to the Assumption of Holy Virgin Mary. The church, the building of which started in the middle 14th c. in the place of two older ones, represents the Krakow Gothic style and houses the most splendid work of Wit Stwosz - the great altar, a penaptych sculpted in the years 1477-1489, which is the most magnificent object of that kind in Europe.
The Cathedral was built in the years 1320-1364 in place of two former Romanesque churches. It represents a native variety of Gothic architecture. It was the bishop's cathedral of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, until his election to the Holy See.
Ok, that's the 'official' version.
For Terry and myself, it was a place where we spent a few happy hours eating, drinking and taking in the wonderful sights. Here are a few pics we took. Click on any of them to enlarge them.
Terry just can't help himself - wherever he goes! LOL Tel.
This is in Sukiennice - the fourteenth-century trading hall which
has rows of stalls selling amber taken from The Black sea. It really is a
magnificent place to visit.
And finally, every city has a 'rag and bone man'. This is Krakow's version of
'Steptoe and Son'. Heh heh.
All in all, a wonderful trip full of emotions of all kinds. Terry and I have discussed it since we returned and we both agree that we would visit Krakow again, but not Auschwitz/Birkenau. We feel we have paid our respects to those who perished there and that was the reason we went. However, Krakow and Poland have much more to offer so keep tuned in for some more adventures of 'The Two Old Farts In Tandem'.