On our way to Wawel Castle, we stopped to take pictures of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. It is known for its statues of the 12 disciplines in front, and the fact that the statues and facade cost so much money, the rest of the church had to be finished in brick.
We noticed a poster at the church for a classical orchestra concert later in the evening, so we decided to get tickets on our way back from the day's excursion.
Wawel Castle has become a symbol of the survival of the Polish nation and has great significance within Poland. The ancient castle and former capital was the home of Polish royalty for more than five centuries. The castle fell into disrepair when the capital was moved to Warsaw at the end of the 16th century but has recently been restored. It escaped the war relatively unscathed because it was occupied by Hans Frank, the Nazi governor of the wartime Polish state.
The chapels and royal tombs of the Cathedral hold the remains of all but four of Poland's 45 rulers, including those of President Lech Kazynski who died in 2010 in a plane crash.
Wawel Hill is an impressive vantage point, with great views of the river and the surrounding city. We toured the Castle, the Cathedral, an armor exhibit, one of the castle's guard towers and some very old caves in the side of the hill.
Here is a view of the entrance gate and one of the guard towers.
Frank in the enormous courtyard of the castle:
View of the Wisła River from the Castle:
View of Wawel Castle and the Cathedral from one of the guard towers:
After our tour, we strolled through the Jewish Quarter which is called Kazimierz. It's known for being more gritty and less cleaned up for tourists. It had the vibe of the Village - grungy but in an artsy, fun way with lots of restaurants and bars.
We found a pierogi restaurant (Pieroźki U Vincenta) that was recommended in the guidebook and each had a large plate of pierogis. Frank had the house specialty, which invovled salami and ground beef, and I had one of the sweet ones with cottage cheese and walnuts.
Here is Frank at our small table overlooking the street:
A decorated car parked on the street in Kazimierz:
A plaza with restaurants:
There was a small grassy area on one end of the plaza wth a monument that says "Place of meditation upon the martyrdom of 65 thousand Polish citizens of Jewish nationality from Cracow and its environs killed by the Nazis during World War II". Many people had put small stones in commemoration, and I added my own.
History lesson: Jews first started living in Kazimierz beginning in 1500, first by choice and then by edict. The original Jewish Ghetto was in the northern half of modern-day Kazimierz surrounded by a stone wall, but in the 19th century, the Jews won the right of abode and the walls were eventually torn down. After the Nazis invaded, they forced everyone across the river to a newly constructed ghetto at Podgorze. By 1943, with the liquidation of the Podgorze ghetto, nearly all of Kazimierz's prewar Jewish population of 60,000 were dead.
On that happy note, We wandered back to a restaurant we had passed called Starka that I had seen recommended online as having good homemade vodkas. Frank tried pear and I had some kind of berry I had never heard of - both of them were excellent.
We bought our concert tickets on our walk back to the hotel, and then sat at Coffee Heaven using their free wifi and reading until it was time for the concert.
A small 5-piece orchestra was set up in front of the choir area of the church and we sat in folding chairs that were set up in front of the regular pews. It lasted an hour and mostly included music we recognized from a variety of composers. The acoustics were excellent, and it was one of the those travel moments to realize we were sitting in a church in Kraków with gorgeous classical music reverberating...
Another great day!
ILM
Wspanialy!!!!! Przyjemnego dnia. Bawcie sie. Kochac wy. Mom
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