Cracow
Thousand year old Kraków for five centuries was Poland's capital city and is for sure one of the most beautiful European cities. In 1978 it was placed on the first UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the 12 most precious premises from the whole world. It was awarded to Old Town, Wawel and Kaziemierz - altogether 3,000 monuments of architecture.
Even today the most important part of the Old Town is the Market - the greatest square in medieval Europe. Here is the heart of city so beloved by artists and students. Over 100,000 students learn there, majority of them attends the oldest university in the country - The Jagiellonian University (the students of which were e.g. Nicolaus Copernicus and John Paul II). The Sukiennice are for centuries the distinctive feature of the market, the Gothic Kościół Mariacki with the Wit Stwosz altar, the biggest wooden Gothic altar in Europe. Every hour a 400 year old bugle call sounds from the tower of St Mary’s Church to the four parts of the world. The Old Town is surrounded by Plants - the belt of greenery in the place of moat and defensive walls.
Apart from the Old Town the Wawel Royal Castle, the seat of Polish kings from 10th to 16th centuries, is on the List. In the premises, rebuilt many times, there are traces of the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles. In Wawel there is world's most precious collection of tapestry. Next to the Castle there is Royal Cathedral - the place of coronation of Polish kings and their necropolis. The oldest part of the church is the St. Leonardo crypt - housing the remnants of the most outstanding Poles - e.g. Tadeusz Kościuszko and Józef Piłsudski.
St. Mary Church, Wawel or Sukiennice are the mandatory positions on the list of each tourist. And this is just a small part of Kraków's monuments. Its greatest pearl are the churches - among then St. Wojciech Romanesque church - one of the oldest monuments in Kraków, St. Anna Church - the biggest Baroque church in the town, The Franciscans Church - with the stained glass windows by Stanisław Wyspiański, St. Peter and Paul Church - with the architecture resembling the first Rome Baroque church called Il Gesù. Kraków is said to be the city of churches - there are almost 120 active.
The unique place is the Jewish district Kazimierz, in the past being separate town. Next to Prague's Józefów, it is the biggest complex of Jewish monuments, among which there are synagogues and cemetery. In the scenery of Kazimierz the famous Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List was made.The stay in Kraków is important for food lovers. In the city's historical centre there is unmatched number of restaurants and cafes, where you can taste dishes from the whole world. Each premise is characterized with thematic interiors, often unique and surprising. Pubs made in cellars are very popular. In the market's closest vicinity there are over 100 of them taking total of 75,000 m2. Double of that waits to be developed.
Nowa Huta becomes more popular. Designed from scratches, model Socialist city was the biggest undertaking of the 6-Year Plan. The works started in 1949 and two years later it became the district of Kraków.
There are recreational areas as well. Apart from Plants, there are Błonia which are said to be the biggest field in Europe (48 ha) located in city centre. There are 4 mounds present in the city's landscape - of Krakus, Wanda, Kościuszko and Piłsudski. Recently you can visit the Experiment Garden, where on 60 experimental stands you learn nature with own senses. Such number of recreational areas can be compared only with Bydgoszcz's Leśny Park Kultury i Wypoczynku (it is one of the biggest in Poland, with the surface of 820 ha).
National uniqueness of Krakowski Technical Route -the municipal industrial heritage route. There are 16 premises selected as key for the development of the city's industrial age. Among them there is the oldest Kraków railway station, gasworks, tram depot, power house, fire brigade watchtower, plants from machine and metal sector, engineering buildings. Part of them still fulfils their primary functions, some are adapted to new ones - including public ones. Therefore not all premises are freely accessible for visitors.
The main attraction of the route is the tram depot and the Municipal Engineering Museum located there, where the information point on the Krakowski Technical Route and city's industrial heritage is located. The Kraków route can be compared to unique complex of hydro technical units (also monumental) on the Bydgoski Channel.
The popular destination apart from Kraków are picturesque Jurassic valleys in Ojców or Pieskowa Skała, Benedictines' cloister in Tynies, salt mine in Wieliczka or places known to other reasons - Museum in Auschwitz - Oświęcim.
