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Key Attractions

Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square)
Dating from 1257, this was one of the largest market squares in medieval Europe. Occupying the centre of the square, the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) is filled with market stalls in its vaulted ground-floor passages. Along the sides of the building, pavement cafÉs draw locals and tourists alike. A branch of the National Museum (see below) is upstairs.

Surrounding the square are impressive period houses and two of the city's most important churches. Kosciol sw Wojciecha (St Adalbert's), dates from the tenth century and is the oldest extant church in Cracow, but it is the Gothic Kosciol Mariacki (St Mary's) with its twin spires that catches the eye. Within the church is the fifteenth-century Chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa, and Wit Stwosz's wooden polyptych and large stone crucifix, which is exemplary of this period of late Gothic art. St Mary's is open Mon-Sat 1150-1800 and Sun 1400-1800 and it costs Z3 to see the altar.

Also on the square are the Wieza ratuszowa (Town Tower) - the only surviving part of the town hall, it dates from the fourteenth century - and the restaurant Wierzynek, where monarchs came to dine during the council of 1364.

Zamek Krolewski (Royal Castle)
From the year 1000, when the bishopric of Cracow was established, Wawel has been at the heart of Poland's history. The seat of Poland's kings from the eleventh to the early seventeenth century, the majority of the castle is Renaissance in style (1504-35), although Romanesque and Gothic elements remain. Today, it is a museum, and among the treasures in the historic interior of the Royal Chambers is a collection of sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries, paintings and period furniture. The Crown Treasury and Armoury is open Tues-Sat 0930-1500 (Fri until 1600) and Sun 1000-1500. Also worth a look is The Lost Wawel exhibit, which showcases the excavated remains of Wawel's original buildings, including the foundations of the oldest known church in Poland, the early eleventh-century Rotunda of St Felix and St Adauctus. More whimsical is the Dragon's Den, a karstic cave reached by a spiral staircase. Extensive renovations in 2000 led to three floors of Wawel being closed to the public. Now that the work has been completed, the whole of the Royal Castle will open up once again, and, in addition to the permanent display, exhibitions on the Polish Royalty will be staged.

Wawel 5
Tel: (012) 422 5155, ext 291 or 422 1697 (group booking); or 422 0904 (guide booking). Fax: (012) 421 1697.
E-mail: zamek@wawel.krakow.pl
Website: www.wawel.krakow.pl
Transport: Tram 10; or a short walk from Rynek Glowny.
Opening hours: (Wawel Hill) daily Apr-Sep, 0600-2000; Oct-Mar 0600-1700; (attractions) Tues-Fri 0930-1530/1630 (except The Lost Wawel, which is open Mon and not Tues); Sat 0930-1500 and Sun 1000-1500.
Admission: Z12 (Royal Chambers or Treasury and Armoury), Z6 (The Lost Wawel or Oriental Art) and Z2 (Dragon's Den); concessions available; free Wed except Dragon's Den.

Katedra Wawelska (Wawel Cathedral)
Part of Wawel, this cathedral, also known as the Royal Cathedral, is the burial place of almost all of Poland's monarchs and was built in the early eleventh century by King Boleslaw the Brave after Cracow was made a bishopric. Although there are Romanesque elements, the overall impact is determined by the fourteenth-century Gothic structure. The relics of St Stanislaw, the patron saint of Cracow and Poland, are kept here. Of the many royal chapels, the Renaissance Chapel of King Zygmunt stands out. It is possible to climb the tower to see the 11-tonne Zygmunt Bell and enjoy the fine view.

Wawel 3
Tel: (012) 422 5155. Fax: (012) 421 1697.
Transport: Tram 10; or a short walk from Rynek Glowny.
Opening hours: May-Sep Mon-Sat 0900-1700, Sun 1215-1700; Nov-Mar Mon-Sat 0900-1500, Sun 1215-1500.
Admission: Z6 (concessions available).

Muzeum Narodowe (National Museum)
The museum's large collection is located in a number of separate buildings, including the Czartoryski Museum (see below). The Main Building houses a collection of decorative art, twentieth-century Polish art and Polish arms and national colours, in addition to temporary exhibitions. The Gallery in the Cloth Hall, Rynek Glowny 1/3 (tel: (012) 422 1166 or 423 2005) exhibits nineteenth-century Polish art and temporary exhibitions.

aleja 3 Maja 1
Tel: (012) 634 3377 or 634 3526. Fax: (012) 633 9767.
Transport: Tram 15.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1530 (Main Building Wed until 1800; Cloth Hall Thurs until 1800).
Admission: Z5 (concessions available); free Sun.

Muzeum Czartoryskich (Czartoryski Museum)
A large collection of ancient art from Greece and Egypt, as well as oriental artefacts, weapons and Turkish carpets can be found here. European paintings and sculpture cover the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries - the most famous works here are Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine and Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan.

ulica sw Jana 19
Tel: (012) 422 5566. Fax: (012) 422 6137.
Transport: A five-minute walk from the main train station.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1500 (Fri until 1800).
Admission: Z5 (concessions available);

Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa (History Museum of the City of Cracow)
The museum's collection is spread over a number of sites. The branch on the Main Market Square occupies three burgher houses and displays objects from Cracow's earliest times. Other galleries showcase a collection of portraiture and antique clocks.

Krzysztofory Palace
Rynek Glowny 35
Tel: (012) 422 9922. Fax: (012) 422 3264.
Transport: Tram 10.
Opening hours: Tues, Wed, Fri 0900-1530, Thurs 1100-1800.
Admission: Z4 (concessions available).

Stara Synagoga (Old Synagogue)
The memories of the Jewish community who lived in the Kazimierz district for centuries (up until the Holocaust) are collected in physical form here. Part of the Historical Museum of the City of Cracow, the Old Synagogue houses the permanent exhibit, Tradition and Culture of Polish Jews. The surrounding area had been largely ignored until Stephen Spielberg's film, Schindler's List, drew attention to the Kazimierz (there are also a number of sites around the former wartime ghetto, south of the river, which are included in tours). The only two functioning synagogues in Cracow - the Remuh Synagoga, ulica Szeroka 40, with cemetery attached, and the Isaak Synagoga, ulica Kupa 18, which shows documentary films - are located nearby.

ulica Szeroka 24
Tel/Fax: (012) 422 0962.
Transport: Tram 3, 9, 11 or 13.
Opening hours: Wed-Sun 0900-1600 (Fri 1100-1800).
Admission: Z5 (concessions available).



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