While strolling through the city centre and visiting the Krakow Market Square, we recommend visiting the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow. Its beginnings date back to 1899. The main headquarters of the Museum is located in the "Pod Krzysztofory" palace on the Main Square. Since the beginning of its existence, the institution has been caring for the cultivation of local traditions, such as Lajkonik, or Krakow nativity scenes.
Since 1946, the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow has been organising the Krakow Nativity Scene competition. We'll let you in on a secret - thanks to the kindness of the Museum and the organisers, in 2022 one of these wonderful works took pride of place in our hotel lobby.
Szczepanska Street 2 (at the corner of Main Market Square 35)
The "Pod Krzysztofory" Palace is a historic townhouse in Krakow, which, as you already know, is the main headquarters of the Historical Museum. The palace's decoration includes a beautiful arcaded loggia in the courtyard, and its representative interiors retain baroque decorations from the 17th and 19th centuries.
You might be intrigued to know that there's a legend about this place. It says that the palace's cellars and dungeons reach as far as St. Mary's Church, and that an alchemical workshop was once located there. Supposedly, a devil resides there, taking on the form of a rooster to lure daredevils into the underground with the promise of discovering treasure...
Rynek Główny 1
The underground market is located under the eastern part of the Main Market Square, between the Cloth Hall and St. Mary's Church. At a depth of several metres, there is a true treasury of knowledge about Krakow's past. To discover it, you only need to visit the Historical Department of the museum, located right next to the Cloth Hall, on the side of St. Mary's Church.
Walking along the underground tourist route In the footsteps of Krakow's European identity, we will feel the atmosphere that once prevailed in the medieval market and discover the connections that linked the old Polish capital to the most important trade and cultural centres in medieval Europe.
Over the centuries, the level of the Krakow market has risen significantly, so when we descend into the basement, we travel back several hundred years, to the times before the city was founded in 1257. This journey through time is supported by, among other things, exposed foundations of huts from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, brick walls of old buildings, original objects unearthed during excavations, reconstructions of craftsmen's workshops, as well as modern multimedia.
The youngest visitors can enjoy a special playroom and a mechanical theatre called The Legend of Ancient Krakow.
The tourist route includes the defensive walls along with the Rondel, a Gothic Barbican, located along the Planty Park. This is a gem of Krakow's fortifications, available to tourists from spring to autumn. In the summer, many events are organized there, introducing medieval history and customs. These include, among other things, knightly tournaments and concerts of medieval music.
The Barbican, together with the preserved fragment of the defensive walls with St. Florian's Gate, once belonged to the city's fortifications, mostly dismantled at the beginning of the 19th century. The tour includes the entire complex, along with the neo-Gothic chapel located on the first floor of the gate.
The Town Hall Tower is the only remnant of the city hall that was erected here around 1300. In the 15th century, the seat of Krakow's authorities reached the height of Szewska Street, along with the adjacent tower symbolising the power and prestige of the city. The city treasury was located on the ground floor of the Gothic tower, and the basement of the tower hid two completely different places. One of them was the famous Świdnica Cellar, where numerous types of beer and wine were served. This cellar was referred to as the "rogue's cave" for centuries. Why? Because its reputation was not the best. The place became a meeting spot for people from the dark side, local villains, often accompanied by ladies of dubious reputation.
The second sanctuary, separated only by a wall, was the most terrifying place in all of Krakow: a prison and torture chamber, where the executioner and his assistants extracted confessions from criminals. Their horrifying tools of trade can be viewed today in the House of Jan Matejko (a branch of the National Museum in Krakow). A convict who survived an encounter with the executioner was led to the Chapel of Criminals in St. Mary's Church, where he would spend the night reconciling with God. Executions by beheading and the hanging of the condemned took place in the Main Square, along its streets.
Pozostałe atrakcje
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