Krakow - The Magical City
As the old capital of Poland, Krakow has a special place in the national consciousness. For the casual tourist this may not be vitally important or discernable, but this special role as the "spiritual" capital of Poland imbues Krakow with an added ambiance. The city is a vibrant university town that boasts the largest Medieval market square in Europe, plus exquisitely preserved Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural monuments of the highest order. If you get bored of traditional sightseeing, the glorious architecture creates a great backdrop for just sipping a coffee or glass of beer in the outdoor cafes that line practically every street from April-Oct. And at night there are hundreds of bars to suit all tastes, many of them housed in atmospheric cellars. Browse, read and check things out!
South of the Vistula River is the neighborhood of Podgorze, an area not often explored by tourists except for the former Nazi ghetto area and Oskar Schindler's factory, though the area is becoming more popular with new cafes and restaurants popping up all the time.
Rynek Podgorski is our starting point. This is the main square of Podgorze, which until 1915 was an independent town. This area across the river from Krakow and Kazimierz was already settled in pagan times, as the pagan Krakus mound attests to, and villages existed here in early medieval times, though the area was sparsely populated. The turning point in the history and development of this area was after the first partition of Poland in 1772. The territory south of the Vistula River was taken over by the Austrians, and in 1784 it was decided to establish a new town that could compete with Krakow, which at that time was still in free Poland. But in 1795 the third partition of Poland took place and Krakow also fell to the Austrians, which meant that main inspiration for developing Podgorze disappeared. The town continued developing in the 19th C, but not to the extent that was originally planned by the Austrians.
Standing on Rynek Podgorski we see the main parish church, St. Joseph's. If you've spent anytime in Krakow you can't help but notice the inspiration for the steeple of the church: the Gothic spires of the taller tower of St. Mary's on Krakow's main square were copied here in this neo-Gothic church from the beginning of the 20th C. This church replaced an earlier, smaller church that stood in this same spot: the bell tower from the old St. Joseph's was preserved and is located behind the church on the side of the hill.
During the Second World War this square was located just outside of the Jewish ghetto created by the Germans in March 1941. The famous filmmaker Roman Polanski was imprisoned in the ghetto as a small child, but sometimes he managed to sneak out of the ghetto to watch German propaganda films which were shown outdoors on this square. This was Polanski's first contact with cinema and it made a lasting impression on him.
If we stand with our backs to the church, the building on the far right, at the end of the square, is the old Podgorze town hall from the 1850s. If we walk to this building and then turn right at the corner and stand on the sidewalk, we can see a bit of a curiosity: on the facade of the building is an long, narrow, empty niche. This is where the municipal thermometer used to be located...
Walk a little bit further on and then turn right onto ul. Wegierska. At the end of the street on the left hand side is a red brick facade with large window panes: this is the former Zucher Synagogue from 1881. Because Podgorze was a separate town, it also had a separate Jewish community with its own governing body and prayer houses. The synagogue was closed during WWII and since 1997 has housed the Starmach Gallery. The building is open to the public for exhibitions, though nothing remains of the prayer house furnishings.
From here retrace your steps and head back to ul. Limanowskiego (the main road with tram tracks). Turn right on ul. Limanowskiego and walk to the busy intersection with traffic lights. Turn left here on ul. Zjezdzie. This leads to Pl. Bohaterow Getta (Heroes of the Ghetto Square). You cannot mistake this square, it contains a few rows of metal chairs that create a memorial to the Jews that were imprisoned here during WWII. This is not a particularly attractive part of town, but because of it place in history it is an important sight.
This square was the main gathering area in the Jewish ghetto that the Nazis created in March 1941 and which existed until March 1943. Selections for deportations were made here, and many people were executed in the backyards of the buildings surrounding the square when the ghetto was liquidated on March 13 and 14 1943. On the corner of the square and ul. Targowa is a museum dedicated to Taduesz Pankiewicz and his pharmacy (called “Under the Eagle”. Pankiewicz was a Polish Catholic who ran a pharmacy here before the War, and when the Nazis relocated Jews here in a ghetto he petitioned to be allowed to stay in the neighborhood and keep his business open. This was the only case of a non-Jew being allowed to stay in wartime ghetto in occupied Poland. Pankiewicz and his staff were able to smuggle information, identification papers, valuables, and money in and out of the ghetto, and turned the pharmacy into a kind of refuge for the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto. Because he was a witness to the brutality and crimes of the Nazis he could have been killed at any moment, but Pankiewicz in fact survived the war and wrote memoires about life in the ghetto. The pharmacy has been a museum since 1983.
The metal chairs arranged around the square were placed here in 2006 as a memorial, though the symbolism needs to be explained. The architects who designed the memorial and were responsible for the square's renovation searched for inspiration in period photographs of the ghetto from WWII and were moved by photos showing Jewish schoolchildren carrying school chairs over their heads as they were expelled from Kazimierz and sent to the ghetto in 1941. The arrangement of the chairs is important: most are turned away from Kazimierz and are facing south, which is the direction of the local concentration camp Plaszow, where many of the Jews of Krakow would be imprisoned and killed. But a few chairs face in other directions: a couple face east and point in the direction of Oskar Schindler's factory; one faces west to a small courtyard between buildings on the square. This is where the old and sick were massacred during the liquidation fo the ghetto on March 14th, 1943. Across the street with the tram tracks is one solitary chair that points off diagonally to the south: this points to a preserved section of the ghetto walls.
Use the underpass and cross under the street and tram line. When back up at street level go to that one chair. This is the beginning of ul. Lwowska. Follow this street for about 300m, on your right is the preserved section of ghetto walls, located between two buildings. The the three meter high walls have tops shaped like Jewish tombstones. There is a commemorative plaque in Polish and Hebrew dedicated to the victims of the ghetto.
With your back to the wall and looking back in the direction you just came, you can see another street off to the right, behind ul Lwowska. This is ul. Traugutta. From here it is possible to walk to Oskar Schindler's factory in about 5-10min. Follow ul. Traugutta until the end, then turn right, you will now have to walk through a tunnel under some train tracks. Once on the other side of the tracks you'll be on ul. Lipowa. Follow this for about 300m. On your right is a long, three-story building. This is the former Schindler Factory. This is an area in flux, with many old factories and warehouses, but you will probably find people milling about and taking photos in front of the Schindler Factory. In 2010 a museum dedicated to the history of Krakow during the German occupation was opened in the former factory and has become very popular. If you've seen Schindler's List, you should recognize the building, though most interior scenes were filmed elsewhere. The museum has a section about Schinder and his activities during the war, but this is not a museum dedicated solely to him. Expect to spend a couple of hours here if you'd like to visit the entire museum.
If you haven't had your fill of museums, right next door to the former factory is the brand new Krakow Museum of Modern Art.
A couple of other places worth visiting in Podgorze require quite a bit of walking, and/or the use of public transportation or a taxi, plus a good map!
According to legend, the Krakus mound is the burial mound of Prince Krak, the mythical founder of Krakow (His daughter Wanda also has a burial mound located in the Nowa Huta neighborhood of Krakow). Researchers believe the mound dates back to the 7th C and perhaps was used for religious purposes or for observing the stars. The mound was partially excavated before WWII and no buried prince was found, though that possibility hasn't been disproved. The mound has a walking path that leads to its top, from where you can admire one of the best views in Krakow. From the top of the mound you will notice off to your left an abandoned stone quarry. Jewish and Polish prisoners were there as slaves during WWII and Steven Spielberg recreated the local concentration camp there. The quarry is off-limits, though if you do manage to wander in you'll find some of the old movies sets, including watch towers and tombstones used as paving stones.
Located further south from the ghetto area and the Krakus Mound is Plaszow, the former German Nazi concentration camp. Nothing actual remains from the camp which existed from the end of 1942 until January 1945. Today, the terrain of the former camp is quite neglected. In typical cynical Nazi fashion, the camp was built on the site of two Jewish cemeteries. The camp eventually was enlarged beyond the area of the cemeteries and could hold as many as 10,000 prisoners. The most prominent monument dedicated to camp prisoners stands on a raised area on the edge of the former camp, above ul Kamienskiego. The monument was raised in the 1960s and is known as the “severed heart” monument because it portrays five prisoner carrying a terrible weight, and there is a large crack that runs through the monument at the level of the prisoners' chest. This was part of the design and not a result of vandalism! This location for the monument was chosen not only for its raised level, but because this is one of the areas where executions were carried out during the existence of the camp.
Rynek Podgorski is our starting point. This is the main square of Podgorze, which until 1915 was an independent town. This area across the river from Krakow and Kazimierz was already settled in pagan times, as the pagan Krakus mound attests to, and villages existed here in early medieval times, though the area was sparsely populated. The turning point in the history and development of this area was after the first partition of Poland in 1772. The territory south of the Vistula River was taken over by the Austrians, and in 1784 it was decided to establish a new town that could compete with Krakow, which at that time was still in free Poland. But in 1795 the third partition of Poland took place and Krakow also fell to the Austrians, which meant that main inspiration for developing Podgorze disappeared. The town continued developing in the 19th C, but not to the extent that was originally planned by the Austrians.
Standing on Rynek Podgorski we see the main parish church, St. Joseph's. If you've spent anytime in Krakow you can't help but notice the inspiration for the steeple of the church: the Gothic spires of the taller tower of St. Mary's on Krakow's main square were copied here in this neo-Gothic church from the beginning of the 20th C. This church replaced an earlier, smaller church that stood in this same spot: the bell tower from the old St. Joseph's was preserved and is located behind the church on the side of the hill.
During the Second World War this square was located just outside of the Jewish ghetto created by the Germans in March 1941. The famous filmmaker Roman Polanski was imprisoned in the ghetto as a small child, but sometimes he managed to sneak out of the ghetto to watch German propaganda films which were shown outdoors on this square. This was Polanski's first contact with cinema and it made a lasting impression on him.
If we stand with our backs to the church, the building on the far right, at the end of the square, is the old Podgorze town hall from the 1850s. If we walk to this building and then turn right at the corner and stand on the sidewalk, we can see a bit of a curiosity: on the facade of the building is an long, narrow, empty niche. This is where the municipal thermometer used to be located...
Walk a little bit further on and then turn right onto ul. Wegierska. At the end of the street on the left hand side is a red brick facade with large window panes: this is the former Zucher Synagogue from 1881. Because Podgorze was a separate town, it also had a separate Jewish community with its own governing body and prayer houses. The synagogue was closed during WWII and since 1997 has housed the Starmach Gallery. The building is open to the public for exhibitions, though nothing remains of the prayer house furnishings.
From here retrace your steps and head back to ul. Limanowskiego (the main road with tram tracks). Turn right on ul. Limanowskiego and walk to the busy intersection with traffic lights. Turn left here on ul. Zjezdzie. This leads to Pl. Bohaterow Getta (Heroes of the Ghetto Square). You cannot mistake this square, it contains a few rows of metal chairs that create a memorial to the Jews that were imprisoned here during WWII. This is not a particularly attractive part of town, but because of it place in history it is an important sight.
This square was the main gathering area in the Jewish ghetto that the Nazis created in March 1941 and which existed until March 1943. Selections for deportations were made here, and many people were executed in the backyards of the buildings surrounding the square when the ghetto was liquidated on March 13 and 14 1943. On the corner of the square and ul. Targowa is a museum dedicated to Taduesz Pankiewicz and his pharmacy (called “Under the Eagle”. Pankiewicz was a Polish Catholic who ran a pharmacy here before the War, and when the Nazis relocated Jews here in a ghetto he petitioned to be allowed to stay in the neighborhood and keep his business open. This was the only case of a non-Jew being allowed to stay in wartime ghetto in occupied Poland. Pankiewicz and his staff were able to smuggle information, identification papers, valuables, and money in and out of the ghetto, and turned the pharmacy into a kind of refuge for the Jews imprisoned in the ghetto. Because he was a witness to the brutality and crimes of the Nazis he could have been killed at any moment, but Pankiewicz in fact survived the war and wrote memoires about life in the ghetto. The pharmacy has been a museum since 1983.
The metal chairs arranged around the square were placed here in 2006 as a memorial, though the symbolism needs to be explained. The architects who designed the memorial and were responsible for the square's renovation searched for inspiration in period photographs of the ghetto from WWII and were moved by photos showing Jewish schoolchildren carrying school chairs over their heads as they were expelled from Kazimierz and sent to the ghetto in 1941. The arrangement of the chairs is important: most are turned away from Kazimierz and are facing south, which is the direction of the local concentration camp Plaszow, where many of the Jews of Krakow would be imprisoned and killed. But a few chairs face in other directions: a couple face east and point in the direction of Oskar Schindler's factory; one faces west to a small courtyard between buildings on the square. This is where the old and sick were massacred during the liquidation fo the ghetto on March 14th, 1943. Across the street with the tram tracks is one solitary chair that points off diagonally to the south: this points to a preserved section of the ghetto walls.
Use the underpass and cross under the street and tram line. When back up at street level go to that one chair. This is the beginning of ul. Lwowska. Follow this street for about 300m, on your right is the preserved section of ghetto walls, located between two buildings. The the three meter high walls have tops shaped like Jewish tombstones. There is a commemorative plaque in Polish and Hebrew dedicated to the victims of the ghetto.
With your back to the wall and looking back in the direction you just came, you can see another street off to the right, behind ul Lwowska. This is ul. Traugutta. From here it is possible to walk to Oskar Schindler's factory in about 5-10min. Follow ul. Traugutta until the end, then turn right, you will now have to walk through a tunnel under some train tracks. Once on the other side of the tracks you'll be on ul. Lipowa. Follow this for about 300m. On your right is a long, three-story building. This is the former Schindler Factory. This is an area in flux, with many old factories and warehouses, but you will probably find people milling about and taking photos in front of the Schindler Factory. In 2010 a museum dedicated to the history of Krakow during the German occupation was opened in the former factory and has become very popular. If you've seen Schindler's List, you should recognize the building, though most interior scenes were filmed elsewhere. The museum has a section about Schinder and his activities during the war, but this is not a museum dedicated solely to him. Expect to spend a couple of hours here if you'd like to visit the entire museum.
If you haven't had your fill of museums, right next door to the former factory is the brand new Krakow Museum of Modern Art.
A couple of other places worth visiting in Podgorze require quite a bit of walking, and/or the use of public transportation or a taxi, plus a good map!
According to legend, the Krakus mound is the burial mound of Prince Krak, the mythical founder of Krakow (His daughter Wanda also has a burial mound located in the Nowa Huta neighborhood of Krakow). Researchers believe the mound dates back to the 7th C and perhaps was used for religious purposes or for observing the stars. The mound was partially excavated before WWII and no buried prince was found, though that possibility hasn't been disproved. The mound has a walking path that leads to its top, from where you can admire one of the best views in Krakow. From the top of the mound you will notice off to your left an abandoned stone quarry. Jewish and Polish prisoners were there as slaves during WWII and Steven Spielberg recreated the local concentration camp there. The quarry is off-limits, though if you do manage to wander in you'll find some of the old movies sets, including watch towers and tombstones used as paving stones.
Located further south from the ghetto area and the Krakus Mound is Plaszow, the former German Nazi concentration camp. Nothing actual remains from the camp which existed from the end of 1942 until January 1945. Today, the terrain of the former camp is quite neglected. In typical cynical Nazi fashion, the camp was built on the site of two Jewish cemeteries. The camp eventually was enlarged beyond the area of the cemeteries and could hold as many as 10,000 prisoners. The most prominent monument dedicated to camp prisoners stands on a raised area on the edge of the former camp, above ul Kamienskiego. The monument was raised in the 1960s and is known as the “severed heart” monument because it portrays five prisoner carrying a terrible weight, and there is a large crack that runs through the monument at the level of the prisoners' chest. This was part of the design and not a result of vandalism! This location for the monument was chosen not only for its raised level, but because this is one of the areas where executions were carried out during the existence of the camp.