Publisher's Synopsis
Capital of the voivodeship of the same name since 1308, Krakow is a city in southern Poland, on the banks of the Vistula River, in a valley at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, known for its well-preserved medieval center and Jewish quarter.
The old town is centered on the majestic Rynek Glówny (Market Square). Here are the Mercato dei Tessuti, a large trading center built during the Renaissance, and the Basilica of Santa Maria, a 14th-century Gothic church.
An archiepiscopal see since the 10th century, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was bishop from 1964 to 1978.
Kraków achieved considerable interest in 1364, when Casimir the Great founded the Jagiellonian University and continued its expansion to become the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League, attracting a substantial number of craftsmen and merchants.
In 1609 the capital was moved to Warsaw by Sigismund III and from that moment the decline of Krakow began.
The Basilica of Santa Maria is the best-known church in the city for the grandeur of its two towers, from which the famous Hejnal is intoned every hour, the traditional "gathering call" never interrupted by the invasion of the Tartars.
Since the summer of 2017, Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "Lady with an Ermine" has been kept in the National Museum of Krakow.
