Old Town (Polish: Stare Miasto) is the historic part of the city of Kraków within the Planty Park, Poland.
It is one of the most famous old areas in Poland today and was the centre of Poland's political life from 1038 until King Sigismund III Vasa relocated his court to Warsaw in 1596.
Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Kraków reaffirmed its role as the nucleus of a national spirit. After the invasion of Poland, at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the seat of Nazi Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into the Kraków Ghetto, a walled zone from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
The Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world. The university grounds form part of the Kraków Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university has been viewed as a vanguard of Polish culture as well as a significant contributor to the intellectual heritage of Europe.
The campus of the Jagiellonian University is centrally located within the city of Kraków. The university consists of thirteen main faculties, in addition to three faculties composing the Collegium Medicum. It employs roughly 4,000 academics and provides education to more than 35,000 students who study in 166 fields. The main language of instruction is Polish, although around 30 degrees are offered in English and some in German. The university library and Collegium Novium house a significant number of medieval and Renaissance art pieces and manuscripts, including the landmark De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by the university alumnus Nicolaus Copernicus.
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Polish: Kościół Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny), known colloquially as the St. Mary's Church (Polish: Kościół Mariacki), is a historic Roman Catholic parish church located at Mariacki Square at the north-eastern corner of the Main Market Square in the Old Town of Kraków, Poland.
It is a Brick Gothic church. Built in the 14th century, its foundations date back to the early 13th century and serve as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz). Some of its monumental polychrome murals were designed by Poland's leading history painter, Jan Matejko (1838–1893). In 1978, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Historic Centre of Kraków.
Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Kraków reaffirmed its role as the nucleus of a national spirit. After the invasion of Poland, at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the seat of Nazi Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into the Kraków Ghetto, a walled zone from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
The Wawel Royal Castle (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvavɛl] ; Zamek Królewski na Wawelu) and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on the orders of King Casimir III the Great and enlarged over the centuries into a number of structures around a Polish Renaissance courtyard. It represents nearly all European architectural styles of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The castle is part of a fortified architectural complex erected atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River, at an altitude of 228 metres (748 ft) above sea level. The complex consists of numerous buildings of great historical and national importance, including the Wawel Cathedral where Polish monarchs were crowned and buried. Some of Wawel's oldest stone buildings can be traced back to 970 CE, in addition to the earliest examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Poland. The current castle was built in the 14th century, and expanded over the next hundreds of years. In 1978, Wawel was declared the first World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Kraków.
Krakus Mound or Kopiec Krakusa in Polish, also called the Krak Mound, is a tumulus located in the Podgórze district of Kraków, Poland; it is thought to be the resting place of Kraków's mythical founder, the legendary king Krakus. It is located on Lasota Hill, approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of Kraków's city centre, at an altitude of 271 metres (889 ft), with a base diameter of 60 m (197 ft) and a height of 16 m (52 ft). Together with nearby Wanda Mound, it is one of Kraków's two prehistoric mounds as well as the oldest man-made structure in Kraków. Nearby are two modern, man-made mounds, Kościuszko Mound, constructed in 1823, and Piłsudski's Mound, completed in 1937. These four make up Kraków's four memorial mounds.
Planty is a historic urban park around the Old Town in Kraków, Poland. It was built on the site of the destroyed the Medieval defensive walls of the city.
The park has an area of 21 ha (52 acres) and a length of 4 km (2.5 mi). It consists of a chain of thirty smaller gardens designed in varied styles and adorned with numerous monuments and fountains. There are over twenty statues of noble historical figures in the park including monuments to Nicolaus Copernicus, Jan Matejko, Queen Jadwiga and King Wladyslaw II Jagiello. There are also several plaques in the park commemorating, among others, Jan Dlugosz and Stanislaw Wyspianski. And of famous Polish Mathematician Hugo Steinhaus, Stefan Banach and Otto Nikodym.