Today was our last day in Poland. We woke up at 6:45 pm, got ready and had breakfast at our hotel and then left at 9:15 am for our day of sightseeing Kraków. If the largest city and the current capital of Poland, Warsaw, is the economic hub of country, then Kraków is its cultural and academic hub. Kraków dates back to the 8th century and for most years of its existence, it served as the capital of the region of Poland.
Our first stop of the day was Wawel Royal Castle and Wawel Cathedral, both situated on the Wawel hill, 5 minutes walk from our hotel and situated on the banks of the Vistula river. The castle is a huge medieval complex of buildings with high towers and hugs gardens. We walked through the cathedral which also houses crypts of some kings from Polish history including Kazimierz the great. He was a very forward thinking and progressive King who reformed the criminal and civil law, reformed the Polish army, built many buildings including Wawel Castle, founded the University of Kraków (now known as Jagiellonian University) and also doubled the size of Poland during his reign. Kraków has a district named Kazimierz which eventually became the district where Jews primarily lived. The medieval towers and gardens are impressive but perhaps the most interesting thing about the Wawel Castle is the statue of the dragon that's located at the base of the hill. The legend goes that the Wawel dragon used to live on this hill before the city was founded. The statue not only looks like a black dragon rearing to fly away into the sky but also breathes fire from time to time. Then we walked along the Vistula river to get back to our hotel where we took a quick break to freshen up. Then we got a map and directions to the old town square.
Our walking tour started in front of Saint Mary's Basilica located in the oldest medieval town square of Europe, the Rynek Glowny. The tour was about the Jewish history of Kraków. Our first stop was the Jewish district of Kazimierz which was about a 15 minutes walk from the old town square. It used to be a separate city that neighbored Kraków but later became a district of Kraków as the city expanded. After a fire in the late 15th century burnt down a large part of Kraków, the Jewish inhabitants of Kraków were moved to Kazimierz. The fortress synagogue called Old Synagogue was also built around this time. After a quick stop at the Old Synagogue, we walked a little farther ahead to the New Synagogue (officially the Remuh Synagogue that was built by a banker for his Rabi son). Then we saw a street that features in a scene in the famous Hollywood movie "Schindler's List". We also saw another building and a set of stairs that were also used in the movie. We stopped by another synagogue that was built was someone who allegedly found a treasure hidden under a tree in his backyard after he had a dream about it. To thank God, he built the synagogue. Then we took a quick break at a circular row of stalls that used to be a kosher slaughterhouse but now sells Zapiekanki, a pseudo-pizza or open sandwich on top of a baguette. We regret not having tried it since it looked delicious.
Our first stop of the day was Wawel Royal Castle and Wawel Cathedral, both situated on the Wawel hill, 5 minutes walk from our hotel and situated on the banks of the Vistula river. The castle is a huge medieval complex of buildings with high towers and hugs gardens. We walked through the cathedral which also houses crypts of some kings from Polish history including Kazimierz the great. He was a very forward thinking and progressive King who reformed the criminal and civil law, reformed the Polish army, built many buildings including Wawel Castle, founded the University of Kraków (now known as Jagiellonian University) and also doubled the size of Poland during his reign. Kraków has a district named Kazimierz which eventually became the district where Jews primarily lived. The medieval towers and gardens are impressive but perhaps the most interesting thing about the Wawel Castle is the statue of the dragon that's located at the base of the hill. The legend goes that the Wawel dragon used to live on this hill before the city was founded. The statue not only looks like a black dragon rearing to fly away into the sky but also breathes fire from time to time. Then we walked along the Vistula river to get back to our hotel where we took a quick break to freshen up. Then we got a map and directions to the old town square.
Our walking tour started in front of Saint Mary's Basilica located in the oldest medieval town square of Europe, the Rynek Glowny. The tour was about the Jewish history of Kraków. Our first stop was the Jewish district of Kazimierz which was about a 15 minutes walk from the old town square. It used to be a separate city that neighbored Kraków but later became a district of Kraków as the city expanded. After a fire in the late 15th century burnt down a large part of Kraków, the Jewish inhabitants of Kraków were moved to Kazimierz. The fortress synagogue called Old Synagogue was also built around this time. After a quick stop at the Old Synagogue, we walked a little farther ahead to the New Synagogue (officially the Remuh Synagogue that was built by a banker for his Rabi son). Then we saw a street that features in a scene in the famous Hollywood movie "Schindler's List". We also saw another building and a set of stairs that were also used in the movie. We stopped by another synagogue that was built was someone who allegedly found a treasure hidden under a tree in his backyard after he had a dream about it. To thank God, he built the synagogue. Then we took a quick break at a circular row of stalls that used to be a kosher slaughterhouse but now sells Zapiekanki, a pseudo-pizza or open sandwich on top of a baguette. We regret not having tried it since it looked delicious.
The Jewish population of Kazimierz at its peak used to be about 68,000. After the holocaust, the population that survived the Second World War was about 18,000 but most of them started emigrating from Kazimierz and now the Jewish population here is less than a thousand. After it started becoming a ghost town, the government started moving ex-convicts to the area so it became a no-go zone because of the high incidence of crime. In the 1980s, students started moving here because of cheap rent which resulted in the gradual revival of the area as a hip and young nightlife district of Kraków.
Then we crossed the bridge over the Vistula river to the area which used to have the Jewish ghetto. This ghetto was the area where the Nazi regime relocated the Jews of Kraków before they were transported to concentration camps. Our guide told us the story of a pharmacist who had a pharmacy in the ghetto and who saved hundreds of Jews by letting them escape the ghetto through a secret exit in his pharmacy. He maintained good working relations with the Nazi party by bribing their officials. Our guide mentioned his story to highlight the point that Oscar Schindler is not the only Polish person who saved Jews during the holocaust but there were others as well. In fact, the government of Israel has recognized about 6400 Polish people for saving lives of Jews during the holocaust. We also saw a memorial park with many empty chairs to signify those who could never come back here. The area has nice buildings now so it's hard to imagine that it ever was a ghetto and the memorial park is the only visual hint. Then we walked to Schindler's factory which was what enabled Oscar Schindler to save the lives of 1098 Jews by putting their names on the so called Schindler's list and giving it to Nazi party officials and telling them that these are all people that he will need to relocate as he is opening a new factory. That way, he saved the lives of those 1098 Jews who would've otherwise perished in Nazi concentration camps. Our guide did tell us about the ways in which the Hollywood movie simplifies the story, the most important of which was the fact that the list was actually compiled by someone else and not by Oscar Schindler.
After the tour, we took a taxi back to the old town square and had lunch at a traditional Polish cuisine restaurant that had a very nice garden in the back with lots of shade. Having walked in the scorching heat of July for the third straight day, we really appreciated the shade. We tried pierogis (stuffed dumplings) with cabbage and mushrooms and a goat cheese salad. We also had a traditional Polish apple pie. We've had the dumplings in North America (called pirogies there) but the Polish version was way better.
Lunch and a break from the sun had energized us and we were ready for our next walking tour of the old town area. It also started from the same point, in front of Saint Mary's Basilica. Our guide told us that this was the oldest medieval gothic church of Europe that hasn't required reconstruction. The church has two spires, both different in height and appearance. The taller one is for the city's fire department that was used to keep a look out on the city in medieval times to spot fires and the slightly shorter one is for the church bell. In keeping with tradition, to this day, a trumpeter plays his trumpet in the city spire of this church on all 4 sides and you can see him through the windows. We waved at him and he waved back. Then we walked outside the main square area after passing through a perfectly preserved medieval gate tower to the remnants of the fortification system or the Barbican. The Barbican was a building based on a simple concept - a walled structure with misaligned gates so that when the enemy had broken down the outer gate, they needed to change the direction of the battering ram and this gave the defenders the time to shoot them down. Then we saw the museum that houses Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "Lady with an Ermine" but the museum is closed for renovation. Then we walked back to the old town square. We stopped in front of the old cloth hall building which is a long building with about 70 souvenir stalls inside, essentially a smaller version of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. Our guide told us that in medieval times, there used to be many more buildings like this but only the cloth hall survived after all the others were taken down gradually when economic decline hit the rich city of Kraków after the capital was moved to Warsaw and the country went through a series of partitions. Then we walked to another building just outside the old town square, the old building of what used to be called the University of Kraków. We found out that Copernicus was first a student and then a teacher there. We also saw the university clock's hourly show. Then we saw the window of late Pope John Paul the second's old residence that he used to open to address people whenever he came back to Kraków after becoming Pope. It now bears a picture of him smiling down at the city. Then the walking tour was headed to Wawel Castle and Cathedral but since we had already seen it in the morning, we headed back to the old town square. We walked around for a little bit and then had an early dinner before our overnight train. We tried a different variation of the pierogis, this time with a potato filling. We also had eggplant salad and then I had coffee and Samia had mint tea. Then we did some souvenir shopping in the cloth hall and walked back to our hotel. We freshened up, collected our bags and took a taxi to the train station.
Kraków is a hidden gem and has exceeded our expectations. We wished we had more time in the city so that we could have enjoyed some additional experiences from another time, for instance the horse carriage ride across the old town or a cruise on the Vistula river or maybe even a tour of the Royal rooms inside the Wawel castle.
We reached the train station at about 9:15 pm. We had a little difficulty in ensuring that we were at the right platform since it didn't say that anywhere on the ticket or the giant information screens. The overnight train departed on time at 10 pm and after a short but wonderful stay of Poland, we were on our way to our next city, Prague. Till the next update, take care and goodbye!
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