Okół

Wawel, Okół and the surrounding area before the city of Krakow was established in 1257

Grodzka Street - the axis of the district

Marie-Magdalene-Platz with the Piotr Skarga statue and Peter and Paul Church and Andreas Church in the background

Okół (also Okoł ) is a historic district of the city of Kraków in Poland , along today's Grodzka Street between the Wawel Castle and the city under German law, which was established in 1257. It was annexed to the city around the middle of the 14th century, is considered part of Kraków's Old Town and is now part of District 1 Old Town .

history

Under Casimir I the Renewer , Krakow became the capital of Poland in 1038. Casimir left Gniezno , which was destroyed by the Czech ruler Břetislav I , and which had previously been the capital of Poland, and chose Krakow, which was more conveniently located, as the royal seat. Okol developed at the foot of Wawel hill to the square in front of the built in 1080 St. Andrew's Church , on the island, which from the castle by the creek or ditch Rudawka (now Podzamcze Street) and to the north by an artificial moat ( today Poselska Street) was limited. The island quickly became too small and development continued further north, on the site of today's main market, while Okół became the link to the castle.

At the beginning of the 12th century Krakow again secured the position of the Polish capital. In the 13th century Krakow was besieged several times by the Tatars . The first onslaught of the Mongols of the Golden Horde in 1241, which only the Wawelburg and the Okół district survived, was particularly devastating in the course of the Battle of Wahlstatt . The citizens could find shelter in the St. Andrew's Church and in the castle. After this destruction, Krakow was rebuilt in the Gothic style according to a plan according to a checkerboard pattern.

The place was often mentioned as Okol in the years 1336-1346 . The name referred to a place surrounded by a circle / ring ( okół - circle, wheel, circle, also stable). It is possible that Okół received a separate town charter from King Władysław I. Ellenlang after about 1312 because Fundo sitam in Noua Civitate was mentioned in Okol in 1338 , but shortly after the name was last mentioned in 1346, he was included directly attached to the castle hill at Kraków and surrounded by common city walls (today's Planty parks ). This increased the area of the city from 0.5 km² to 0.89 km². At this time, the suburb of Stradom developed in the south and the city of Kazimierz further south , thus increasing the importance of Grodzka Street.

Architectural monuments (selection)

Aegidius Church
Jesuit Church
Collegium Iuridicum of the Jagiellonian University

Individual evidence

^ Kazimierz Rymut : Nazwy miejscowe północnej części dawnego województwa krakowskiego . Polska Akademia Nauk . Instytut Języka Polskiego, Wrocław 1967, p. 117 (Polish, online ).

literature

Leszek Grabowski: Podglądanie starego Krakowa Część II. Zabytkowe Śródmieście. Dawny Okół i jego przedpole. Kwiecień 2009 - lipiec 2011 , Kraków, 2013 (Polish)

50.057349 19.938132Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ' N , 19 ° 56' E

[rymut-1] Kazimierz Rymut : Nazwy miejscowe północnej części dawnego województwa krakowskiego . Polska Akademia Nauk . Instytut Języka Polskiego, Wrocław 1967, p. 117 (Polish, online ).