Krakow City Hall Tower

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The Krakow City Hall Tower
The location of the town hall tower on Kraków's main market square

The town hall tower (Wieża Ratuszowa) is the remainder of the Kraków town hall, which was built in the 13th century and demolished in the 19th century because of its dilapidation . It stands diagonally across from St. Mary's Church on the edge of the square, approximately 40,000 m² main market Rynek Główny in the middle of Krakow's old town .

The tower

The 70 m high tower was built from brick and stone blocks and is inclined by half a meter as a result of a storm in 1703. The tower is crowned by a baroque dome. The entrance to the tower, from the side of the Cloth Hall , is through a Gothic portal with the coats of arms of Krakow and Poland. Two stone lions, added in the 19th century, line the entrance.

In 2003, for the first time after World War II, tourists were given access to the 4th, the highest floor of the tower. Clocks from the 16th century are exhibited there. From the three balconies one can see with a telescope to the south, east and west and has a wide view of the main square and the cloth hall.

  • Town hall tower with cloth halls in the foreground

  • At night

  • Lion at the entrance

  • View from the town hall tower

history

Painting by Michał Stachowicz - Wieża Ratuszowa in 1804
Town hall tower 1930

The town hall was built at the end of the 13th century.

The building ran parallel to the Cloth Hall; the tower, which contained the prison, torture chamber and gallows, was separated from the market by a wall. In 1562 a granary was added to the town hall. A fire destroyed the Gothic spire in 1680, which was replaced by the royal architect Piotr Beber from 1683–1686 with a newly designed baroque spire, but began to crumble as early as 1783 and was in turn replaced by a smaller spire donated by Archbishop Kajetan Sołtyk.

The free-standing tower is a relic of the town hall, the seat of the town council, which was demolished in 1820 due to dilapidation.

Tourism

Opening times: The tower can be climbed up to the top platform daily from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. via steep steps.

Culture

The city history branch of the Kraków Historical Museum housed in the tower is Wed., Fri. – Sun. open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

In the basement there is a branch of the People's Theater ( Teatr Ludowy ), the stage under the town hall ( Scenie Pod Ratuszem ).,

Web links

Commons : Krakow City Hall Tower  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wieża Ratuszowa (Internet Archive from June 25, 2006) ( Memento from June 25, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Krakowportal ( Memento from August 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ DUMONTdirekt, Cracow, DuMont Reiseverlag, 2nd act. Edition 2007, p. 90, ISBN 3-7701-6520-9 , ISBN 978-3-7701-6520-9
  4. ↑ HB Bildatlas Südpolen, Breslau, Krakau, HB Verlag, Ostfildern, January 2002, ISBN 3-616-06147-4 , ISBN 978-3-616-06147-4
  5. ↑ Krakow VIS-À-VIS, DK Verlag, Munich, act. New edition 2007/2008, p. 93, ISBN 3-8310-0151-0 , ISBN 978-3-8310-0151-4

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 41 ″  N , 19 ° 56 ′ 11 ″  E