The
Sheraton Krakow is a wonderful hotel --- breakfast has an array of local and
traditional foods to get us fueled up for the next couple of busy days
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| Dragon Spewing Fire! |
Katarina,
our Guide, takes us on a walking tour beginning with Wawel Hill with its Castle and Cathedral. Our first stop, the Dragon of Krakow Sculpture
spews fire periodically -- we are lucky enough to witness one of those
moments. Legend has it that a Dragon
lived in a cave at the base of Wawel Hill before the founding of the city when
all of this was farmland. Bad luck
prevailed if the Dragon was awakened!
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| Bob and Pat Bringing up the Rear! |
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| View from Wawel Hill of Wisla River! |
Moving
along we climb up the hill winding our way by the many buildings that make up
this complex including the Rotunda of the Virgin Mary dating to 970 --- the Wawel Cathedral consecrated in 1142 --
and Wawel Castle, residence to the
Polish Kings, built during the reign of
Casmir III (1333 - 1370). Since 1930 Wawel Castle has been one of
Poland's premier art museums. In addition
to collections of world-wide note this museum has ten curatorial departments
and seven specialized conservation studios.
Standing in the middle of the plaza on top of Wawel Hill gives one pause
when imagining all the people who have lived and worked in these buildings over
the past 1,000 years.
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| Phil with Wawel Cathedral in Background! |
On
our way to Krakow's Market Square -- we stop at Jagiellonian University (JU)
--- founded by King Casimir III in 1364 -- because
he felt Poland needed an educated class of people to manage the country's administration
and laws. Casimir asked for and received
permission to do this from Pope Urban V and subsequently the King funded
several chairs: one in liberal arts, two
in medicine, three in canon law and five in roman law using money from proceeds
the royal family received from Wieliczka salt mines. All was going well until Casimir's death in
1370 -- when education stalled. In the
1390's King Wladyslaw Jagiello and his wife, Saint Jadwiga decided to restore the
University. They acquired a building to
house the school -- then the Queen
donated all of her personal jewelry to raise the funds which allowed the enrollment
of just over 2000 students.
 | |
| St. Mary's Basilica |
The 1939
Nazi invasion of Poland brought the arrest of 184 professors causing the
university to shut its doors until after World War II. Although open, JU did not thrive under
Communism, however after 1991 there was a drastic improvement. By 2008 enrollment was at more than 52, 000
students with an academic staff of 3600.
Current programs of study are offered in forty-eight disciplines,
ninety-three specializations and exchange programs with several universities in
the United States.
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| Veit Stoss Altar Piece-- |
Leaving
the JU campus, we arrive at St. Mary's
Basilica in Market Square in time to see the three panel --- three story high altarpiece
carved by the German Sculptor, Veit Stoss between 1477 and 1489. Every day around Noon -- a nun appears and
manually opens the Altar piece for viewing --- then we move out to the plaza to
hear the trumpeter who plays hourly from one of the Basilica's towers. It is all about tradition here -- the Polish people have had a tough time over
the last century which is what makes these traditions all the more important.
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| Chapel of St. Kinga at Weiliczka Salt Mine -- |
In
our group we scatter to grab lunch or do a little shopping before meeting at
the hotel for our tour of the Weiliczka Salt Mine -- about a twenty drive from
Krakow.
This
salt mine is 700 years old -- it closed for commercial salt mining in 1996. I had no idea what to expect -- but found
these statistics astounding: 180 miles
of tunnels, 2,040 separate chambers, we travel down 450 feet -- which is not
the bottom. In 1921 there were 2,000
miners and 400 years ago 128 horses lived in the mines to move the salt around
-- don't even want to think about having horses down there.
Today
-- 200 miners produce about 15,000 tons of salt from salty water -- and 500
guides give tours to an average of 7,000 visitors a day.
 |
| Altar in Chapel of St. Kinga |
There
were several creative souls working in the mines over the years -- the
sculptures are amazing and everything we see is made from salt -- even
chandeliers. We visit the Holy Cross
Chapel -- built in 1860 -- but the St. Kinga Chapel is truly unique. Accommodating up to 400 guests -- it is used
for weddings and a weekly Sunday Mass.
There is a carving of the Last Supper, a statue of Pope John Paul II, a Pulpit with staircase as well as altars and
other statues.
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| Pope John Paul II -- Poland's Favorite Son |
This
was one of the most surprising attractions that we have seen on this or any
trip.
I
still cannot get over the fact that everything one sees is made from salt.
Back
to the hotel --- we split up for dinner.
Beth, Jack, Phil and I go to a local restaurant -- Restauracya Jarema --
which was a bit of a hike on the other side of the Market Square. The restaurant is full of locals and some
tourists --- the food and service is excellent and reasonable. We've noticed that Poland is considerably cheaper
than Germany and the Czech Republic.
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| Pat, Jack and Beth -- outside Restauracya Jarema -- full and happy! |
This
has been a very busy but wonderful day -- we love Krakow -- it has lots to
offer.
Thanks
for Reading.
Pat
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