Main Market Square, Kraków

Why visit?

The Main Market Square has been the heart of Kraków for over 750 years — a square laid out in 1257 when the city was chartered, measuring roughly 200 by 200 metres and regarded as the largest medieval market square in Europe. The regular grid of streets radiating from it is one of the best-preserved medieval town plans on the continent, and the townhouses around the square remember the city's golden Renaissance age. For centuries the square hosted markets, fairs and great ceremonies, and the Royal Road passed through it. Around it stands the best of Kraków: the Gothic St Mary's Basilica with its two towers and Veit Stoss altarpiece, the Renaissance Cloth Hall — former merchants' pavilions rebuilt after the fire of 1555, today filled with amber and craft stalls — the lone Town Hall Tower, the only surviving part of the medieval town hall, the tiny church of St Adalbert and the Adam Mickiewicz monument of 1898. Beneath the paving lies the multimedia Rynek Underground museum, where the exhibition reveals traces of medieval settlement. Every hour a bugle call is played from the taller tower of St Mary's — the melody breaks off abruptly, following the legend of a trumpeter hit by a Tatar arrow mid-sign. The square itself is open around the clock and free of charge; an hour or two is enough for a stroll and a coffee, although the Underground museum and the Town Hall Tower require tickets. Crowds are huge all year round, and in December the square fills with one of Europe's most popular Christmas markets. It is the natural starting point for sightseeing: Floriańska street leads to St Florian's Gate and the Barbican, while Grodzka runs all the way to Wawel.

What you’ll see

• Ok. 200×200 m — uchodzi za największy średniowieczny plac Europy
• Hejnał z wieży Mariackiej grany co pełną godzinę
• Renesansowe Sukiennice i Wieża Ratuszowa
• Ołtarz Wita Stwosza w bazylice Mariackiej
• Podziemia Rynku — multimedialne muzeum pod płytą placu
• Jarmark bożonarodzeniowy wśród najpiękniejszych w Europie

Map