THE KRAKOW NEWS 

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Currencies exchange rates in Krakow. 

/official median rate of exchange/

One euro buys 4.2 Polish zloties (PLN). 

One US dollar buys 3.2 Polish zloty (PLN). 

One Swiss franc buys 3,5  Polish zloties (PLN).

One British sterling buys 5 Polish zloties (PLN). 

One Japanese yen buys 0.035 Polish zloty (PLN).

Da Vinci's Masterpiece, Lady with an Ermine Soon Back in Krakow
One of the world’s finest portraits by Leonardo da Vinci, ‘Lady with an Ermine’, missing in Krakow for over two years, returns this February. In October 2009 Poland’s most famed and valued work of art left its home in Princes Czartoryski Museum for Budapest's exhibition ‘From Botticelli to Titian’ in the Museum of Fine Arts. Next da Vinci's masterpiece graced a show of items from the Czartoryskis Museum in the Warsaw Royal Castle. Now its current itinerary consist of Madrid, Berlin, and London.  

Schindler’s Factory, Reincarnation

Minimalist blueprint of two Italian architects, Florence’s Claudio Nardi and Leonardo Maria Proli, had won the tender for the design of the Museum of Contemporary Art on the grounds of the long defunct Emalia works also known as Schindler’s factory made famous by an Oscar-winning film by Steven, ‘Schindler’s List’. The construction of a brand-new museum was completed on November 16th, 2010 but it has opened May 19th, 2011. It cost some ten million euro to build. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow - MOCAK is to coexist with another next door, devoted to the history of Krakow during World War II, opened in June 2010 in the historical buildings of Schindler's factory (see its picture above). 

Old Town’s Piazza Tops the List of the World’s Marvels
Krakow’s Rynek Glowny central square has been voted the most beautiful place on earth by readers of the Polish edition of the National Geographic magazine. And according to them, the world’s second most attractive site is Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow while the city’s Kazimierz town district comes fourth. The highest-ranking foreign sight is Norway’s Geiranger Fjord at the fifth place, and Peru’s Machu Picchu has been chosen our planet’s must-see wonder number seven. 

Krakow Mourns Its Nobel-Winning Poet

Nobel literature winner, poetess Wislawa Szymborska, died of lung cancer in Krakow on February 1st, 2012. Born in 1923, she was permanently domiciled in Krakow since 1929 and later on worked for the city’s literary weekly. Ms Szymborska won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature as the forth Polish writer and the last one to date. In her last will and testament the famously shy and retiring poet wished to be cremated and laid to rest in her family tomb at Krakow’s Cmentarz Rakowicki cemetery without any religious ceremony.

Nearly 300 Monuments In Need of Repair
Committee supervising restoration of Krakow’s historic buildings expects some 300 of them to undergo extensive renovation in the years 2011 to 2015, at a cost of 513 million zloties (about 122 million euro). Besides the Wawel Royal Castle and Cathedral the list of historic buildings earmarked for renovation in the first half of the next decade includes such Krakow’s famous ancient monuments as St. Mary’s basilica, the Dominican monastery, the Franciscan monastery, Corpus Christi church, St. Catherine’s church, Skalka Sanctuary, High Synagogue and Remuh cemetery, Tyniec Abbey, Cistercian Abbey in Mogila, and Bielany monastery. Fortunately, none of the city’s top landmarks requires comprehensive restoration. 

Krakow's New Footbridge Over Wisla River. 
Pedestrians and cyclists can use a brand-new 145-meter-long bridge over the river Wisla. It connects two areas gaining in popularity - Kazimierz with its historic Jewish Quarter and trendy nightspots and Podgorze where Schindler’s Museum has recently opened. The footbridge cost some ten million euro to build, about a third of the sum covered by an EU fund.