Play

Kraków

City in PolandThe Vistula River flows through Kraków in southern Poland, a city at about 220 m above sea level with the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains to its south.

What it's known for

Kraków was the seat of Polish kings, with their royal castle on Wawel Hill above the Vistula, and it is a leading centre of Polish culture, art and learning. Its Old Town, which came through World War II largely undamaged, was on UNESCO's first World Heritage list in 1978.

Fun facts

  1. Legend says the city was founded by a ruler named Krakus, who built it above a cave where a dragon called Smok Wawelski lived.
  2. Every hour a trumpeter plays the Hejnał from the highest tower of St. Mary's Church and stops in the middle of the tune; a legend says a guard was shot by an arrow while playing it.
  3. The Main Market Square, Rynek Główny, is the largest medieval market square in Europe.

Finding it on the globe

Follow the Vistula upstream from Warsaw into the south of Poland: Kraków is the big city on the river south-west of Warsaw, north of the Tatra Mountains.

Easy to mix up

Kraków was Poland's capital until 1596, when King Sigismund III moved the government to Warsaw, which is the capital of Poland.

Sources: Wikipedia: Kraków, Wikipedia: Hejnał mariacki