The second largest city of Poland, is a leading academic, cultural and artistic place of the country. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Poland between 1038-1569.
It is situated on the Vistula river and ath the foot of the Carpathians mountains.
The numerous impressive of the Old Town (Europe’ s largest medieval market square) and the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz possess a variety of architectural styles( Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque). We find these styles at the palaces,churches, gargoyles, thetres and mansions. The Market Square is the largest medieval commercial square in Europe (each of its sides is 200 m long).
Stephen Spielberg’s famous movie Schindler’s List was shot in Kazimierz. Most of the quarter’s houses are still decorated with Stars of David. The local synagogues and tiny shops and cafés that serve Jewish dishes are all enshrouded in the spirit of those times. In 1930 there were about 120 registered synagogues. The quarter used to be wealthy and well populated.
The St Florian’ s Gate ( whose construction started in the 13th century) is the best preserved part of the medieval city walls.
St. Mary’s Trumpet Call can be heard playing hourly from the tower of St. Mary’s Basilica – a major symbol of Craków. The melody always stops short, which symbolises the legend of a trumpeter who, in 1240, wanted to warn the locals of an approaching enemy, but was killed by an arrow.
The Wawel castle( 10th century), an importand landmark is in the UNesco world heritage.The Castle of Wawel has a “one painting exposition”. The exhibit in question is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine” original. The 11-tonne Sigismund Bell, located in the bell tower of the Wawel Cathedral, is sounded only during the most important of the Polish holidays.
Kraków University, established in the 14th century, is the oldest university in Poland.There are 7 universities in a city of 755000 people.
The Town Hall Tower of Kraków is the city’s own version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Even though the tower deviates from the base by mere 55 cm, it can be clearly seen thanks to its being 70 m high.
The city has also a high density of bars and clubs so the nightlife is quite intensive.
Mirelaistravelling 