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Rynek Glowny market and meeting place Sukkienice Rynek's Renaissance building Church of Mary symbol of town Planty the green belt of Krakow Wawel where kings and queens resided Kazimierz the Jewish quarter

Church of Mary The Church of Mary with its two towers of unequal height is a symbol of Krakow. Inside, you will find the largest gothic altar in Europe. From 1477 to 1489 this altar was carved from wood by the Nurmberg artst Veit Stoß. Its size is 13 meter in height and 11 meters in width. The middle part of the altar that comprehends some 200 coloured figures the death of Mary is depicted. During the Second World War the Nazis brough the altar to Nurmberg, in 1946 it returned to Krakow.   Every full hour, the so called Hejnal can be heard, coming from the top of the spires of the church. This is a trumpet melody that suddenly stops - conmemorating the attacks of the mongoles that captured the city in the 13th century. When the top tower guard discovered the mongoles and blew his horn to warn the inhabitants an arrow shot from a mongol rider cut through his throat stopping the blow and throttling the the trumpet melody. Another legend refers to the different height of the two church towers which are 80 meters and 69 meters in size. The construction of the smaller one is said to have been stopped because it was covered by blood: twin brothers were responsible for the erection of the towers, one of the brothers allegedly killed his brother in a mood of jealousy.   weiter

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