POLAND: A WALKING TOUR OF KRAKOW'S OLD TOWN

June 23, 2019

Krakow (pronounced "krack - ohv") is one of the oldest cities in Poland and traditionally the center of Polish culture, academics, arts, and economics. Therefore, this is a good time to discuss Polish money, which combines at least culture, arts, and economics.

First off, can I just say that our US dollars are so BORING compared to these colorful bills?  The green 100 zloty note (roughly pronunced "zwall-tuh") has the face of Wladyslaw II Jagiello (King of Poland 1386-1434) on front and the eagle from his tombstone and the Grunwald swords on the back. The blue 50 zloty has the face of Kazimierz II Wielki (aka Casimir the Great, King of Poland 1333-1370) on the front and the white eagle from his personal seal on the back. The pink-orange 20 zloty has the face of Boleslaw I the Brave (first King of Poland in 1025) on front and a silver coin from his reign on the back.  

In the US, our "faces" only go back to George Washington (President from 1789-1797). We are such a young nation.

By the way, $1 USD = 3.78 zloty OR 1 zloty = about 25¢.

We had booked a personal tour of Krakow through Cracowguide.com.pl. Our guide, Krzysztof Blaszczyk (who told us to call him Chris--thank goodness), met us at the edge of Old Town in Jan Matejko Square at the Grunwald Statue, an imposing, hard-to-miss piece:

When I looked up this statue for this post, I learned that the monument was commissioned by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, an internationally famous pianist who became the president of Poland in 1919, nine years after this statue was erected.

The Battle of Grunwald, fought in 1410, was the turning point that marked the end of the domination of the German-Prussian Teutonic Knights and the rise of the Polish-Lithuanian Union. The guy on the horse on the top is King Wladyslaw Jagiello, the king on the 100 zloty note. The prone body on the front is the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Urluch Von Jungingen. His pinky finger looks like it gets rubbed/touched a lot:

Soldiers from both sides of the conflict ring the base:

In front of the Grunwald monument is one of Poland's Tombs of the Unknown Soldier (there is another one in Warsaw):

Behind the monument is the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. The painter Matejko (1838-1893), for whom the square is also named, is perhaps Poland's most famous artist. Established in 1818, this is the oldest Polish fine arts academy.

Look closely and you'll see Matejko sitting in front  of the window above the entrance:

I love the Polish dragon, part of Polish folklore and seen here on the roof of the art academy:

The official entrance into Old Town is the Barbicon, a round tower built in the late 1400s as part of the city walls. By the way, unlike almost all other major cities in Poland, all of the old buildings are original, not rebuilt after World War II, as Krakow was not bombed by the Germans. Following the invasion of Poland by the Nazis in 1939, Krakow became the capital city of one of the General Government areas established by the Third Reich, so it was in their interest to protect it.

Just past the Barbicon is this imaginative statue of the painter Jan Matejko, he for whom the aforementioned square is named, the painter known for his large landscapes:

St. Florian's Gate is a Gothic tower built in the 14th century. It was one of eight entrance towers, but the other seven were torn down during the "modernization" of Krakow in the 1800s. It is decorated on one side with the ubiquitous Polish eagle:

Here is the other side:

The street that leads into the heart of Old Town takes its name from the gate--Florianska:

And there is Jan Matejko again, peering at the tourists from his spot on a door. It's interesting that the description is in English and braille, but not in Polish:

We stopped to admire St. Mary's Basilica, a 262-foot-tall Gothic church built in the 14th century. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside because mass was being held.

A very majestic King John III Sobieski (Polish king from 1676-1696), known for his military prowess, is depicted in a bas relief on one side of the tower. (Totally appropriate for a basilica, right?)

Twelve heads literally pop off the doors to the basilica:

As far as I can tell, they are Polish saints:

For example, this one is St. Casimir the Prince, son of Casimir the Great (who is the guy on the 50 zloty bill). He was known for his service to the sick and poor and for his general piety and was canonized in 1521:

St. Barbara's Church is a smaller church right next to St. Mary's Basilica and is easily overshadowed by its iconic neighbor. When we returned to Old Town later in the day on our own in an attempt to get inside St. Mary's, it was still closed to tourists, but St. Barbara's was open.

 On our way in we were greeted by these two dignitaries:

. . . and when we walked inside, HOLY COW! This is a minor church???

St. Barbara's Church may be small, but wow, it was worth the return to Old Town just to see the inside.

St. Mary's and St. Barbara's are on the edge of Old Town's picturesque main square:

In front of what is called "the Cloth Hall" (a market building) is a memorial to Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855), Poland's national poet:

I thought this was a particularly good street "statue":

The Church of St. Adalbert (aka Church of St. Wojciech), Krakow's oldest church, is a mish-mash of various architectural styles from many centuries of additions and is one of Poland's oldest churches:

This photo from Wikipedia shows how the city grew up around St. Adalbert's (which is the green-domed building on the left):

While walking through a passageway in Cloth Hall . . .

. . . we noticed a large iron knife dangling from a chain above our heads, placed there to remind passers-by that the punishment for stealing was cutting off one's ear. A legend associated with this knife says that the two brothers who built the two towers on St. Mary's Basilica were competing to see who could build the highest tower. When one brother realized he would not win, he killed his brother with this very knife. However, his guilt got the better of him, and he jumped to his death from the tower he had built.

Gruesome, right?

We stopped to admire the 230-foot-tall Gothic tower that is all that remains of the former City Hall after the Austrians demolished it at the beginning of the 19th century:

Our guide Chris explaining the City Hall's history:

A sleeping lion still guards City Hall:

It's easy to see that Krakow is a center for the arts in Poland. Art is everywhere. This enormous bronze head by Igor Mitoraj (1944-2010), a Polish sculptor, lies casually in the main square. The title Eros Bendata translates to Blindfolded Eros. Mitoraj's works refer to the struggle and suffering he saw during his lifetime in Europe. This sculpture was especially fun to see as we had seen another version of the same sculpture at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 2016.

Our next stop was the Collegium Maius, a 14th century building that is part of the Jagiellonian University, aka Krakow University, Poland's Harvard:

The center courtyard was packed because it was time for the clock to do its thing, which included music and a procession of figures out the door on the left and back in on the right:

We took some time to walk around the university, which has 52,000 students. Two of the most famous alumni are Nikolai Copernicus and Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II). Norman Davies, a world-renowned British historian, got his PhD here in 1968.

On November 6, about two months after the invasion of Poland by the Nazis, 184 professors were rounded up at the building below for a "meeting to discuss the future of the university." In actuality, it was a ruse, a way to get them together so that they could be hauled off en masse to Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps in Germany. It was a key part of the Nazi plan to eradicate the Polish intellectual elite, and the university was then closed until after the war.

During the time the university was closed, students and remaining professors formed an underground college in defiance of Nazi law. Among the students was Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.

A statue of Copernicus is in a prominent place on the university grounds:

And you can stay nearby in Hotel Copernicus if you'd like:

Where are we going next?

We passed the 10-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Grace, the patron of Warsaw, atop her 16-foot pedestal:

I know it may be hard to believe, but we ignored this chalk-written sign on the sidewalk that said "Lody Rzemieslnicze."  At the time I didn't know that meant "artisan ice cream."

Who is that waving from the window over the door below?

Poland's favorite Pope! 

We passed by the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, a Franciscan Monastery. I'm a little upset we didn't go inside because I know now that they have an exact replica of the Shroud of Turin:

Outside the church is a status of Adam Stefan Sapieha, the Archbishop of Krakow from 1946 until his death in 1951. He was the de facto leader of the Polish church during World War II and the teacher of the future Pope John Paul II.

St. Francis receiving the stigmata:

Moving on to St. Andrew's Church, built between 1079 and 1098 and one of the best preserved Romanesque buildings in Poland. It doesn't look bad for being almost 1,000 years old, does it?

Next up, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, aka the Church of the Twelve Apostles. Statues of the Apostles stand on the railings around the church. Built for the Jesuits in the 17th century, it is said to be one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in Poland:

Other saints stand in niches in the facade:

Ummm...are you noticing that we are not going INSIDE the churches? When we asked about going inside, our guide kept pointing out that we would not have time to see everything if we did. We thought seeing everything meant seeing inside the churches.

When I came home and looked up the churches to see what we had missed, I was even more disappointed. Here is the interior of the Saints Peter and Paul Church. (Photo from here.)

This rather controversial sculpture of Jesuit priest Piotr Skarga, whose remains lie in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, was installed here in 2001 and promptly named Krakow's worst sculpture. Critics says its style is "pompous realism" and that an angry-looking Skarga appears to be ready to jump off his pedestal:

Our next destination was the iconic Wawel Castle. We rounded a corner (literally) . . .

. . . and could see the towers of the Royal Cathedral, once the site of coronations and burials and considered a religious shrine by Poles:

Next to the cathedral is Wawel Castle, built by King Casimir III the Great in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is the largest castle in Poland and one of the largest Renaissance-style castles in the world. At one time the ground floor was used for military purposes, the royal family lived on the second floor, and the upper floor was devoted to government. Since 1930 the castle has been used as an art museum.

 On our way to the castle we passed by this important site . . . 

. . . the home of Karol Wojtyla from 1951 to 1967 (before he became Pope in 1978). By the way, there are actually tours that focus on traveling to sites where this man lived and worked, much like we might have a tour of sites relevant to Abraham Lincoln in the United States. Pope John Paul II is much loved by his Polish family.

The walk up the hill to the front of the castle included entertainment by local musicians:

  The cathedral is lined with royal burial chapels from different time periods:

In 1978, this complex was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Center of Krakow.

The view from Castle Hill of the John Paul II Theological Seminary, established by the Pope in 1981:

The castle fortifications are wonderfully preserved:

Of course, one would expect to see John Paul II on the premises:

Making our way inside:

This is a 16th century Renaissance inner courtyard:

The friezes under the eaves are in mint condition:

I got a kick out of how the tree on one wall was trimmed to keep the window exposed:

The castle and cathedral are surrounded by beautiful landscaping:

Photo bombers!

There are great views from Castle Hill of the Vistula River, the longest and largest river in Poland and the 9th-longest in Europe:

More views from the top:

Interesting architecture, but don't stand underneath. I think those protruding boxes are the toilets:

On our way out:

I'll finish this l-o-n-g post with two photos taken from two different angles of the Juliusz Slowacki Theater, which we saw when we returned to Old Town on our own in the evening. It is named for a famous Romantic Polish poet who lived from 1809-1849. Built in 1893, it is just behind St. Mary's Basilica

I am hoping to return to Krakow someday in the not-too-distant future. There are so many buildings we need to go inside of and so many other places to see. A day in Krakow is not even close to being enough time.

Next: Krakow's Jewish Quarter