Travel Destinations for this August – Krakow, Poland
When you put it all together is comes as no surprise why Krakow is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the European continent.
First of all Krakow is the second largest city in Poland [ Poland car hire services ], after the capital, and is one of the oldest cities in the country and amongst the oldest main cities on the continent being established sometime around the 8th century. This means that the city has been around for more than a thousand years and has seen many historic events happen and has been at the center of some of those events. In fact the city is home to around six thousand historic sites and proudly numbers more than two million works of art in its many museums and art galleries.
Photo by: Status-Q
Both visitors and locals have unofficially named Krakow as the cultural capital of the country and this is understandable when you consider that the city has around a hundred and forty monasteries and churches, around fifty museums and a hundred art galleries, a total of six hundred monuments and eleven universities and academies.
However this appeal doesn’t limits itself to those of you who would consider themselves culture-vultures in fact the city plays host to a wide range of cultural events such as rock concerts, cabaret shows, folk art fairs and theater festivals.
As far as sights or attractions go one of the main Krakow attractions is its Old Town district. This is a place that time hasn’t touched very much and as such it offers some of the most fascinating views in all of Poland not just Krakow. The density of landmarks in the Old Town as well as the many museums, churches and squares make this region the main tourist draw to the city.
The Old Town has maintained the original grid of streets which is a great example of medieval urban planning with the Main Square at its center. The square was the continent’s largest when it was first laid out back in 1257 and it is interesting to note that all the streets leave the square at right angles thus making finding your way rather easily.
What is now the Old Town used to be the entire city of Krakow a couple of centuries ago, used to be encircled by a deep moat and a right ring of city walls which were meant to make the city a virtual fortress, very hard to penetrate. While only three of the almost forty towers which used to protect the city still remain – the rest were disassembled in the 19th century in an effort to open up the city – you can still get a fairly good idea of how it would’ve looked in their prime. Also in place of the city wall there is now a green ring called Planty Park which is a great place to sit and rest while visiting the Old Town.
