St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków

Why visit?

St. Mary's Basilica is Kraków's most recognisable church after Wawel Cathedral: a brick Gothic body with two towers of different heights (the taller measures 81 metres) that has overlooked the Main Market Square since the 14th century. Every hour the higher tower sounds the hejnał — a trumpet call that breaks off mid-note, commemorating a trumpeter killed by a Tatar arrow while warning the city of a raid. Since 1927 the same signal has been broadcast nationwide by Polish Radio at noon. Inside awaits Veit Stoss's altarpiece, the largest Gothic wooden altar in Europe: carved from oak and lime wood between 1477 and 1489, with close to two hundred figures and a span of many metres when the wings are opened. Its wartime story reads like a novel — dismantled and shipped to Nuremberg by the Germans, recovered after the war and reinstalled in the presbytery in 1957. Look also for the star vaulting and the wall paintings created under the eye of Jan Matejko. Tourist entry is paid: a standard ticket costs 20 zl, a reduced one 10 zl (pupils 7–18, students 19–26, seniors 65+), sold only at the visitor point at Plac Mariacki 7. The church can be visited Monday to Saturday from 11:30 to 18:00, and on Sundays and holidays from 14:00; the altar opens about 20 minutes after visiting begins. Access may be limited on special days and during services, and the ticket point closes 15 minutes before the end — 45 to 60 minutes is enough to take the interior in calmly, ideally combined with the Market Square and the Cloth Hall.

What you’ll see

• Ołtarz Wita Stwosza — największy gotycki ołtarz drewniany Europy
• Hejnał grany co godzinę z 81-metrowej wieży
• Dwie wieże o różnych wysokościach — znak rozpoznawczy Krakowa
• Polichromie z okresu pracy Jana Matejki nad wnętrzem
• Wstęp płatny, bilety w punkcie przy pl. Mariackim 7

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