Jama Michalica

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Entrance to Jama Michalica

The Jama Michalika (German Michaliks Höhle ) is one of the oldest Cracow cafes and was opened in 1895 by Jan Apolinary Michalik, at that time still under the name Cukiernia Lwowska (Lviv pastry shop). The current name came about because Michalik could initially only afford a single room without any windows. The excellent location at Ulica Floriańska 45 as well as the excellent range of pastry shops and the invitation to students from the nearby Academy of Fine Arts to eat here for free in exchange for small works of art made the cave very popular. Soon painters, draftsmen, writers, poets and sculptors were among his most frequent guests.

Mask (to the right of the entrance)

In 1905 the cabaret Zielony Balonik (Green Ballon) started performing here. The cabaret owes its name to an unimportant fact: on the day it opened, a boy dropped a green balloon in front of the café. The cabaret became a meeting point for the Krakow bohemians and the texts of Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and other Krakow writers have found a place in Polish literary history. The highlight of every cabaret evening was the appearance of a puppet theater. The puppets - works of Krakow artists - depicted people from Krakow prominence. The cabaret puppets can still be seen in a showcase and the extraordinarily beautiful Art Nouveau furniture is covered with green fabric. The works of former art students adorn the walls. Elegant mirrors, glass windows, lamps, showcases invite you to marvel. In contrast to normal cafés, you have to pay for the cloakroom and toilet, whereas admission to this art museum is free.

Web links

Commons : Jama Michalika  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 50.9 ″  N , 19 ° 56 ′ 27.4 ″  E