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Kazimierz
Town
In 1335 King Casimir (Kazimierz in Polish) the
Great founded a city at Krakow's doorstep, near
the ancient shrine of Skalka, and gave it his
own name. He also endowed the city of Kazimierz
with immense acreage and trade privileges, and
dignified it with two imposing churches– of St. Katherine's in the west and of Corpus Christi in the east. The
former is famous for its Gothic high and slender
nave with excellent acoustics and for the grand
cloister of the adjacent abbey with fine Gothic
and Renaissance frescos. The 15th-century Town
Hall amid Kazimierz's central square was turned
in the 16th century into a Renaissance edifice
which now houses the Museum of
Ethnography. Whatever was its king-founder's
intention, the town of Kazimierz remained dwarfed
by the nearby capital city and became Krakow's
part in 1800. The transfer of Krakow Jews to
Kazimierz in 1495 gave rise to its once bustling Jewish quarter which proved to be
one of the most important centers of the Diaspora
in Eastern Europe for the next three centuries.
See
map of Krakow's Kazimierz historic district.
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Stroll through
Krakow's Kazimierz District
Skalka
Sanctuary
Poland’s second holiest shrine at the
site of St. Stanislav’s 1079 martyrdom.
Splendid Baroque church and fine monastery
modeled on a Renaissance castle
Jewish
Quarter
The Kazimierz Jewish quarter was the
safe haven for Jews from every corner of Europe
till the 20th c. and a major center of the
Diaspora.
Synagogues
in the Kazimierz historic district
Krakow
Poland's prime tourist attraction and a
must in Central Europe boasts numerous
world-class monuments, charming vistas,
delightful atmosphere, and the best restaurants.
City
of Krakow map
In
the proximity of Krakow
Krakow is Poland's tourist mecca, and
also a gateway to many other must-see sites in
the region.
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