Being located in the middle of Europe, Krakow was great location for trade, but also made it a target of conquest over recorded history.
Poland disappeared entirely at the beginning of WW II when Germany and Russia conspired to each take half of Poland. Following WW 2 Poland was a Communist country as part of the Soviet Union. 1991 was the first free democratic election and the last of the Soviet troops left in 1993. Turning their back on Russia and Communism, Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004.
Krakow
Krakow was our first stop in Poland. Our Airbnb overlooked Planty Park. This park is a unique current-day feature of Krakow, as it rings the old medieval city. The park was created in the early 19th century when the old outer wall was taken down and the moat was filled in. Today it is full of trees and walkways, fountains, sculptures etc. Krakow is truly a beautiful city, spared much of the destruction that occurred in Poland during Nazi occupation and WWII bombing by the Allies.
Click on the photos below to see them as a slide show.
Krakow is the former capital of Poland, so there are some important Polish things here such as Wawel Castle. It contains the church where leaders were crowned, the state treasury and a palace with living quarters and rooms of state for receiving important visitors.
Krakow Main Square
Krakow has the biggest medieval market square in Europe, measuring about 200m x 200m. The old cloth guild building still stands in the square, which is full of various kinds of shops today. The tower from the old town hall is also still there, along with a small church built in the 11th century (green dome at left of photo below). It felt like a city that Disney would try to make, except this is a real place with actual history. For example, the Copernicus Hotel is located in the building where Copernicus actually lived as a university student in the 1400’s.
We were there over a weekend and there was a market and performances going on in the square. It was fun to see everyone out enjoying the traditional music and dancing and eating traditional foods. We tried some fried goat cheese (chewy, fairly good), dumplings (so so) and kielbasa (awesome).
Leave a Reply