Tuesday 5th July 2016
Today we explored Krakow, what a fantastic city. We walked up Wawel hill from the river Vistular and the Wawel Castle and Cathedral made our jaws drop. Krakow was the capital of Poland for almost 500 years and surely has the most spectacular collection of buildings in Poland, how could another city possibly top this?
The architecture is a blend of Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance. The Wawel Cathedral above is over 900 years old and many VIPs from throughout Polish history are buried here.
The Wawel Castle dates back to the 10th century and was the royal residence for many years.
The dragon is the 'mascot' of the area, legend goes Polish Prince Krakus defeated a dragon that lived under Wawel hill and then he built a palace on top of the hill. In place of gargoyles, you often see in other places, Wawel castle buildings has dragons.
The beautiful Church of St Peter and St Paul is the smallest church in Krakow (which gives you an idea of the scale of the other churches) and as such the apostles were placed outside in the entrance .
The market square, the old town streets and the beautiful Planty Park (green park with enormous trees that wrap around the old town and castle walls) are just scratching the surface, you could easily spend a week here and not get through all the sites and museums, it's a gorgeous city and the people are just lovely.
There is a big student population and along with fantastic antique shops there are new emerging designers and artists and there is a really relaxed feel as you wander about in the old town.
Every corner you turn you find another building that makes you pause as you take it all in.The Church of St Mary is in the picture below on the left.
Sculpture of the day is Eros Bendato , the head of the love God
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