Kraków
The old royal capital. Wawel Hill and the cathedral, the Rynek and the Cloth Hall, Kazimierz, the Jagiellonian University, and the city that survived the war intact.
Part of Poland
6 moments in this segment.
- - Kraków Becomes Capital. c. 1040. Casimir the Restorer moves the royal seat from Gniezno to Kraków on the Wisła River. Kraków remains the capital for 556 years (until 1596).
- - Kraków Receives Magdeburg Rights. June 5, 1257. Bolesław V the Chaste grants Kraków the Magdeburg charter, German urban law that established the city's self-governance, market layout, and merchant rights. The Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) dates from this grant.
- - Wawel Royal Castle. Built atop Wawel Hill in Kraków by successive Polish kings. The seat of the Polish crown from the 11th to the 17th century. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- - Jagiellonian University Founded. May 12, 1364. Casimir the Great founds Kraków Academy. After Charles University in Prague (1348), the second-oldest university in Central Europe. Renamed Jagiellonian University 1817. Among its later students: Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II).
- - Veit Stoss Altar in Kraków. 1477-1489. Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) completes the linden-wood altarpiece of St Mary's Basilica, Kraków, Europe's largest Gothic altarpiece. 13m tall; one of the masterworks of late-medieval European sculpture.
- - Zygmunt Bell Cast. 1521. The Zygmunt Bell, 13 tonnes, cast for King Sigismund I, rung only on major national occasions. The aural soul of Wawel Cathedral; rings on every major Polish national event for 500 years.
