Krakow, in the southern part of the country, is Poland’s third largest city. Founded as a fortress in 700 AD, it became the capitol in the 12th century and remained so until 1596. Today a city of 800,000 it houses a university and ten colleges with a total student enrollment of 120,000. This cultural, educational, and industrial city, located on the Wisla (Vistula) River, is an architecturally and historically rich city compact within an area of Old Town that is only 800 by 1200 meters in size.
Old
Old Town, or the inner city, was surrounded by a wall in medieval times, as were
most European cities. The Barbican built in the 15th century
protected the walled city, and is one of the largest and oldest left in
Europe. Only one of the original seven
gates remains. Originally the wall had 47 towers. The moat was twenty meters
wide and seven meters deep.
The 13th century market square is
literally square measuring 200 meters on each side, and is the largest such
square in Europe. St. Andrews, an 11th century church, is the oldest
in the square. There are 130 churches in Krakow, 75 of them are in Old Town.
On one corner of the square stands St. Mary’s
gothic church, 1359, the common people’s church. Its two towers are uneven. The
tallest tower served as a lookout tower. Today every hour, on the hour, one can
hear a trumpet call from the tower recalling the 13th century
trumpeter who was killed by a Tarter arrow in the middle of sounding a warning.
To maintain tradition, a live person, not a modern day recording, plays the
trumpet call. The main altar of St Mary’s consists of five panels, 350
carvings, and measures eleven by seven meters. This 1489 altarpiece is the
finest and largest sculptural work of Gothic art in Poland.
Canon
Street is the oldest in the city and is where the church clergy lived.
Jagiellonian University, the first university in Poland founded in 1364, was
the alma mater of the astronomer, Copernicus. The building where he studied is still in
use, and has a rather pretty inner courtyard.
A
brief history includes: In 1241 Tater
invaders sacked the city. The city was revived later by German colonists. In
1795 Austria seized the city. Napoleon incorporated the city into the duchy of
Warsaw. 1815 saw Krakow as the capitol of an independent republic of Krakow,
which was incorporated, into Austria 1846. During WW I the city was the scene
of fighting between Austro-German and Russian forces. After the war Krakow was
once again a Polish city. Germans occupied the city from 1939-1945 until it was
taken by Soviet troops.
The
royal cathedral and castle sit on Wawel Hill. For centuries, since the first
king crowned in 1320, Wawel Cathedral has been the site for coronations and
burials of Polish royalty. A hundred kings are interred in the crypt. Wawel Castle, most famous now for its
collection of Flemish tapestries is located behind the cathedral; 136 of the
original 156 are preserved, and it is the largest such collection in the world.
During WWII the tapestries were sent to Canada for safekeeping and were returned
in 1961. The work is so fine that it would take a worker one year to complete a
square meter! They were specially ordered, and reach from floor to ceiling.
Little
furniture is in the castle; the ceilings are beautiful, as are the wall
frescos.
The courtyard
of the castle had recently been refurbished. The first floor of the castle
served as servants’ quarters, the second floor as reception rooms, and the
third floor was royal living quarters. Originally built as a fortress, it then
became a summer home, and now is a museum.
Warsaw
is the political capitol of Poland, Krakow, the cultural capitol, and
Czestochowa the religious capitol.
In Krakow we visited the
Jewish District, Kazimierz, which
before the 1820s was an independent town.
In the late 15th century Jews, after being expelled from
Krakow, migrated to the northeast area of the town. A wall separated the Jewish
sector from the Christian sector. The Jewish Quarter grew rapidly as Jews fled
from all over Europe.
At the outbreak of WWII
70,000 Jews lived there. In 2000 the Jewish population was about 100. There
were six synagogues in the area. The 15th century Old Synagogue is
the oldest Jewish religious building in Poland, and today is a museum. Two
other synagogues remain today, but only one is functional.
In 1993 the Center for
Jewish Culture and History, opened in the area, and is run by non-Jews. Because
it cannot be state run, it is run by a private foundation.
Kazimierz is one of the
best preserved pre WWII areas of Jewish religious, learning, and culture, a
life no longer possible in Poland because of the lack of facilities.
Prior to the opening of
the Center, there was no research or books to teach Jewish culture. In 1986 the
US Congress sent two million dollars to help create the project, which paid for
90% of it with the remaining 10% coming from local contributions. The project
is on going.
About 160 Jews live in
Krakow, but only three Jews currently live in Kazimierz, and only 5-12,000 in
all of Poland. The count is difficult to establish as most of the children
orphaned by the war were raised by and as gentiles.
The area was again coming
alive with many of the apartments occupied and stores and restaurants opening.
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