Monuments to visit Little Poland

The first floor boasts a magnificent collection of Orthodox art from the Czech Republic, including icons and cult objects from the ^16th-17th centuries and an ^18th-century iconostasis. The collections on the second floor are devoted to Polish art from the ^12th to the ^18th centuries. Enthusiasts can really spend hours in this museum, while the more layperson will come away impressed. A must-see in Krakow.

This artillery tower was built around 1460, during the reign of Casimir IV Jagellon, to reinforce the castle's defenses. In times of peace, it was used as a prison. From its summit, you can enjoy a magnificent panoramic view of the city.

The Plaszów camp was built in 1942 on top of two Jewish cemeteries whose gravestones(matzevahs) were used by the Nazis to make roads. In 1944 it became an extermination camp and more than 50,000 prisoners are believed to have disappeared there. At ul. Jerozolimska n. 3, you can see the house that housed a prison and torture rooms. In ul. Heltmana n. 22, was the residence of Amon Goeth, the SS officer in charge of the camp, known for his cruelty and executed in 1946.

You will certainly have noticed the building of the theater. Built by the Cracow architect Jan Zawiejski, between 1891 and 1893, it reminds by its shape the Opera Garnier of Paris. Its facade, rather eclectic, combines Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque elements. Its construction caused a lot of controversy at the time, since it led to the demolition of the medieval complex of the monastery and the church of the Holy Spirit. In protest, the painter Jan Matejko renounced his title of honorary citizen of Krakow.

The former Krakow ghetto extended between Lwowska Street, Rękawka Street and Podgórski Square, covering 20 hectares. Established by a decree of March 3, 1941, from March 20, 1941 all non-Jews residing in this area were forced to move to the other side of the Vistula River, while nearly 20,000 Jews were crowded here. The liquidation of the ghetto took place on March 13 and 14, 1943. Its population was deported to Auschwitz or the nearby Plaszów labor camp. In the central square, renamed Heroes' Square, was the Eagle Pharmacy. At that time, a streetcar passed through the ghetto without stopping. Passengers were not allowed to look out the window. There are still some fragments of the ghetto wall, one of which is located between Lwowska Street 25 and 29. It has a commemorative plaque and it is easy to recognize the shape of the arches, which are reminiscent of the Torah scrolls and Jewish tombstones.

Józefińska Street : it is in the main artery of the ghetto that the "path of memory" begins. At No. 10, the agency of the German Employment Office, where Jews were given a "job" without pay. At number 12, the orphanage. No. 14 was the hospital, from which all the wounded who were unable to reach the rally in the central square were shot dead one by one in March 1943. No. 18 was the welfare center for Jews, with a school for 6-14 year olds. Again, all the children were killed during the liquidation of the ghetto.

Located north of the Rynek, it is a beautiful building set in a park, built between 1510 and 1526 and then remodeled in the 17th century. It has not been modified since then. The interiors have also remained intact. Today it houses a museum of folk music instruments, whose superb collection is of interest to both the curious and the initiated. Take the opportunity to eat at the Zamek café and restaurant. It serves unpretentious but good Polish cuisine.

This gate is the only remaining remnant of the old fortress built by Casimir the Great in the 14th century. The original system consisted of four gates along the roads leading to the cities of Opatów, Zawichost, Lublin and Kraków. They were integrated into a system of two revolving gates, as well as 21 defensive towers. Today, the Opatówska Gate marks the entrance to the Old Town and the Rynek. You can climb to the top of the tower and enjoy the view.

While it stands in the center of the Rynek, with its beautifully renovated facade, this beautiful town hall copies the opulent town halls of Krakow's cities founded during the Renaissance, Kazimierz being the first. The similarity between this building, built between 1602 and 1626, and the present-day Museum of Ethnography in Kraków, also rebuilt between the 16th and 17th centuries, is striking: they both share a crenellated attic and a clock tower in the pure Italian tradition popularized by the Polish king Sigismund Iᵉʳ the Old and his wife Bonne Sforza.