Friday 3rd December 2021

Krakow – St. Florian’s Gate: Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi : Rynek Glówny : Saint Mary’s Basilica : Saints Peter and Paul Church : Church of St. Andrew : Wawel Castle and Cathedral

After our breakfast, again at 8am, we headed out.  The temperature was zero degrees, 8 degrees colder than yesterday and we all felt it!

Our hotel was situated within easy walking distance to Krakow’s main sights.  It appears wherever you wander in this city, there is impressive architecture, the type that sadly isn’t built anymore.  Directly across the road from the hotel is the city’s theatre.  It is a grand old building, its stonework recently cleaned.

Walking through Matejko Square we came to St. Florian’s Church which is the starting point of the ‘Royal Route’. The so called ‘Royal Route’ (Droga Królewska) follows the footsteps of monarchs and Royal Processions.

It would lead us to Wawel Castle and Poland’s most revered church, Wawel Cathedral.

The walk would also take in many of the city’s historical landmarks.

A service was taking place in St. Florian’s so we didn’t go inside. Standing in the foyer for a couple of minutes, we could see and hear the two Catholic priests chanting.

The Barbican, one of the last fortifications that once surrounded the royal city was closed for the winter. Naturally, we stopped to look at its exterior and to take one or two photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued on the now familiar route through St. Florian’s Gate, down Florianska Street and into the huge square – Rynok Glówny.

St. Florian’s Gate was built in the 14th century.  The gothic tower had a bas relief of St. Florian added in the 18th century.  The revered saint is the patron saint of Poland. Once a high ranking Roman officer, he is also the patron saint to fire fighters, chimney sweeps and soap makers.

This wooden carving caught my eye, it is situated above one of the shops in Florianska Street.

Apparently the building is known as the Ethiopian House or Negro House.

In the 16th century the owner of the apothecary  had the relief carving made as some sort of advertisement for his business.

 

 

As we needed to be in the huge square later in the morning we decided to bypass the buildings and walk further along the royal route to the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

So we walked directly through the square, gazing at the magnificent building which is the Cloth Hall.

 

The Basilica was high on my ‘must see’ list; research had told of art nouveau décor.

 

In 1895 a young Kracovian, Stanislaw Wyspiañski was commissioned to design the wall paintings.

 

This was 45 years after a fire had damaged the church.

St. Francis of Assisi’s love of nature influenced the artist’s flower designs.

A couple of years later he was asked to design some stained glass windows for the basilica.  Again the saint’s love of nature featured in some of the designs.

However, the basilica’s most famous stained glass masterpiece is the one entitled ‘God the Father’ and depicts God creating the world.  The vibrant coloured window is over 8 metres tall and almost 4 metres wide.

Many visitors will also visit the religious building to see the framed certified copy of the ‘Shroud of Turin’

I loved the place, its artwork is stunning.  Unfortunately the interior was dark and I desperately wanted someone to put some lights on to illuminate the unusually painted walls.

We were back in Rynek Glówny to listen to the trumpet call which occurs every hour.

The trumpeter stands on the highest tower of Saint Mary’s Basilica and plays the short tune in each of the four cardinal directions. Each time the tune comes to an abrupt end.

Legend says that the ritual is a tribute to the trumpeter who warned the city of an invasion by Mongols. Although the city’s gates were closed immediately preventing an attack, the musician was killed by an arrow, bringing his tune to a sudden end.

After purchasing tickets to give us close up access to view the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world we stood outside the side door of the imposing church.

A while later, the door opened and we were allowed in and led through to see the huge triptych, often referred to as ‘a miracle in wood’.

Veit Stoss, a German sculptor created the work of art in the 15th century.  The triptych measures 13 metre by 11 metre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the time stated for the opening of the triptych, some music started playing and a nun appeared.  After she had said a few words, she proceeded to open the colourful carved panels with the help of a long metal hooked rod. The magnificent 2.7 metre high carved figures from linden wood (lime) was then revealed.

It is an incredible sight!

The plan to go up St. Mary’s tower didn’t happen as it is closed until next April.

So, we continued along the Royal Route and popped into Saints Peter and Paul church.

Inside a young man was selling tickets to that evening’s classical concert that would take place in the church.

He pointed out a plaque and explained that it stated that in 1906 the parents of the Polish Pope, Pope John Paul II were married in the church.  He added “Of course Poland didn’t exist then, it was still part of the Austro Hungarian Empire”.

 

Next door is the Church of St. Andrew with its fabulous gold and silver pulpit fabricated in the shape of a boat.

It was time for lunch and we soon found a tented area with mobile heaters. The tiny place was named ‘A Winter Garden’ and we ordered huge bowls of tasty soup and hot mulled wine to warm us.

 

Wawel Castle and Cathedral were of course the final place on the Royal Route.

The place where in the past, monarchs would have been crowned, married and of course buried after the slow processions along the Royal Route.

 

Firstly, we visited the castle which was once the residence of monarchs. Unfortunately none of us were impressed by the state rooms and we all agreed that they were rather disappointing.

Wawel Cathedral is the most revered church in Poland.  In one of the side chapels I spotted a small triptych that opens. I’ve never seen one before and now I’ve seen two in one day!

Polish mythology tells of a dragon that lived close to the castle.  Today a bronze dragon has been created that ‘breathes fire’ every ten minutes or so.  There are also a couple of drainpipes in the shapes of dragons in the grounds of Wawel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave & I set off back to the hotel, leaving our friends to wander some more along the banks of the River Vistula. On our way back a coffee and cake  shop beckoned us in.

A couple of hours later, the guys went to check how long it would take to walk to the railway station. They also needed to find the main entrance as we had read that the station was in a big shopping mall.

We girls had other ideas, we decided to have another hour or so wandering around the Christmas Market.

Both of us purchased some handmade Christmas decorations. One of mine was a smiling angel delicately cut into a thin circle of wood. Its wings were filled with tiny fragments of amber.

This time we noticed the stall with hundreds of differently patterned rolling pins. A printer was selling a huge assortment of ink stamps with various pictures, words and slogans.  One stall had Christmas table centrepieces; different shaped brightly coloured lollies and sweets filled two others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guys were a little late, and Anne and I joked that perhaps a young woman had enticed them into Kandyland! Their excuse – the slow service in a bar.

After a quick look at some menus, the four of us decided to return to the traditional Polish restaurant where we had eaten on our first night. This evening we ordered three cherry vodkas and one original vodka to drink while we were perusing the menu. They were so tasty!

Once again the food was full of flavours and the atmosphere was relaxing.

Lingering for a while after our meal as we usually do, we were (as occurred on the first night) presented with the bill and told that they would be closing shortly.

 

Krakow is an easy city to explore, most of its main sights being within walking distance from the city centre.

All of us are extremely pleased that we managed to do everything on our ‘wish list’ and at a fairly leisurely pace too.

Tomorrow we will leave Krakow. For me, I will hold many special memories… Kazmierz, Father Bernatek’s Bridge, Wieliczka Salt Mine…

And of course, the friendship, fun and laughter.

 

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