Kraków
About Kraków
Kraków, a southern Poland city near the border of the Czech Republic, is known for its well-preserved medieval core and Jewish quarter. Its old town ringed by Planty Park and remnants of the city’s medieval walls is centered on the stately, expansive Rynek Glówny (market square). This plaza is the site of the Cloth Hall, a Renaissance-era trading outpost, and St. Mary’s Basilica, a 14th-century Gothic church. On a hill above the Vistula River is Wawel Cathedral and Wawel Castle, a sprawling Gothic royal palace-turned-museum showcasing European paintings and sculpture. The city’s Jewish history is on view at Oskar Schindler's Factory and the former Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, which is now dotted with hip cafes and bars. Visitors often take day trips to nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau, a Nazi concentration camp memorial and museum, or 327m-deep Wieliczka Salt Mine, with a vast labyrinth of tunnels, chapels, and chambers open to the public for exploration.
Wieliczka Salt Mine
The Wieliczka Salt Mine in the town of Wieliczka lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. From Neolithic times, sodium chloride was produced from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.
Wawel Castle
Wawel Royal Castle is a castle residency located in central Kraków 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.
Main Square
Main Square of the Old Town of Kraków is the principal urban space located at the center of the city and is the largest medieval town square in Europe. The main square is a square space surrounded by historic townhouses and churches. Most buildings have acquired a neoclassical look over time, but the basic structures are older and can be seen in their doorways, architectural details, and interiors.
Kraków Cloth Hall
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 holds the largest permanent exhibit of 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture, in four grand exhibition halls arranged by historical period and the theme extending into an entire artistic epoch.
Ojców National Park
Ojców National Park is a national park in Kraków and is Poland's smallest national park. The park contains numerous castles, including a ruined Gothic castle at Ojców and a better-preserved Renaissance castle at Pieskowa Skała, both on the tourist Trail of the Eagles' Nests. There are two museums in the park, the Professor Władyslaw Szafer Museum and a branch of the Kraków-based National Art Collection, located in the Pieskowa Skała castle.
St. Mary's Basilica
Saint Mary’s Basilica is a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków and serves as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture. The church is famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At every hour a trumpet signal called the Hejnał mariacki is played from the top of the taller of Saint Mary's two towers.
Rynek Underground Permanent Exhibition
The underground square central museum of Kraków is situated below the market square of the city and has an area of over 6000 square meters. The main exhibit, “In the footsteps of Krakow’s European identity”, makes use of holograms constructed by using projectors alongside fog machines and several dozen screens and projectors to recreate the atmosphere of Kraków seven hundred years ago. The exhibition allows visitors to see six hundred models in three dimensions via thirty-seven touch screens placed throughout.
Old Synagogue
Old Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue situated in the Kazimierz district of Kraków. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in Poland, and one of the most precious landmarks of Jewish architecture in Europe. The museum in the Synagogue organizes temporary exhibitions here devoted to various aspects of Jewish life in Kraków.
Ogrodzieniec Castle
Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the semi-mountainous highland region called the Polish Jura in south-central Poland. It was built by the influential Sulimczyk family between the 14th and 15th centuries. Its memorable panorama and atmosphere felt while sightseeing the place provide each visitor.
Smocza Jama
Smocza Jama is a limestone cave in Wawel Hill in Kraków. Owing to its location in the heart of the former Polish capital and its connection to the legendary Wawel Dragon, it is the best-known cave in Poland. In the underground pools lives a rare crustacean troglobiont, Niphargus tatrensis, relict of the Tertiary sea fauna.
Best Time To Visit Kraków
The best time to visit Kraków is from March to May and between September and November.
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