"Magic City Krakow" a Krakow Travel Page by Alicja1

I put Krakow as my home town, because thats a place where i was born and where my heart is. Currently I live in UK, but I hope to come back home one day.

Cracow is my favourite city in Poland and it is not because i ive here. Thats like a connection between polish history and modern life. It is very difficult to describe unique character of Krakow to those who have never visited this city. This uniqueness is due to the rare cultural heritage embodied in the city's wall. In the year 1000 a Roman Catholic bishopric was founded. We have royal castle built here on the Wawel Hill, which was becoming the coronation and burial place of kings. Krakow was the capital of Poland from the 11th - 17th century. Also in 1364, the Krakow Academy was established, the first Polish university (today renamed the Jagiellonian University were I was study on ).

The city is changing all the time. In the Middle Ages it was safe, rich fortified city surrounded by walls with 55 towers (fragments of the city fortification have been preserved to this day). During the Renaissance, Krakow became the centre of new ideas and culture that attracted the most outstanding humanists, writers, architects and musicians. Few later, while the city was going through economic decline during the period of Modernism, the whole of the Polish artistic elite found the safe haven. City life is always focused around the Market Square, which is the second largest in Europe after St. Mark's Square in Venice.

Every place here has his own history. We have here lots of architectural monuments estimated at 6 thousand buildings and other types and forms of structures.Also you can find here approximately 2.5 million artefacts collected and displayed in museums, churches and archives. Krakow is one of the places listed on UNESCO World
Heritage List.

It is impossible to describe all the tourist attractions in Krakow. Very often we call this city "magical". Everybody will find here simething interesting... While somebody will follow the footsteps of Nicholas Copernicus, others will be interested in sites linked with John Paul II. Someone will be fascinated by the world-wide unique Wieliczka salt mine and others will wander round the Kazimierz Jewish district. See increlible Wit Stwosz altar in Mariacki Church or Wawel casttle.

Krakow is becoming the meeting place of many cultures and nations and can be described as a city of culture, art and science.

Many young people coming here because we have plenty universities here as well as disco clubs, restaurants ect. Night life here is finishing in the morning!