Selected
Archive News Stories of 2006 from Krakow Info
Year
2006
Krakow
Is Credit Worthy, BBB+
Standard and Poor’s has sustained its’ current
BBB+ rating of Krakow’s municipality debt for 2006.
In their assessment the S&P have stressed the city
hall managed to stabilize its finances. They think the cons are
limited budget flexibility and restricted ability to
borrow more.
New
Krakow Monument Commemorates Holocaust
After the 2005 overhaul Krakow’s Plac Bohaterow Getta square on the
Wisla right bank has been turned into a monument to
the holocaust victims. 70 bronze chairs, 33 oversized
and 37 sitable, commemorate some 15,000 Krakow Jews
who perished during the German occupation. Between
March 3, 1941 and March 13, 1943 the square was part
of the Nazi-created Jewish ghetto and place where its
inhabitants were being gathered for transports to
death camps.
Star SF Author Has
Left Spaceship Earth
Stanislaw Lem, Krakow’s science-fiction writer of a
worldwide renown, died on March 27. At 84, he
succumbed to heart disease after having been
hospitalized with circulatory problems for several
weeks. His best-known work is probably ‘Solaris’,
a novel published in 1961, that has been made into
films twice–first by Russia’s eminent auteur
Andrei Tarkovsky in 1971 and recently in 2002 by
Hollywood’s famed Steven Sodebergh with starring
George Clooney. Mr. Lem’s rich and diverse output
has been published in more than forty different
languages to date.
Over Half Million
Cases. Speedy Justice, Considering
Krakow’s courts of law completed 565,148 judicial
proceedings in 2005. Thus, on average, each of their
465 judges and assistant judges wrapped up four cases
per working day. Median duration of a lawsuit in
Krakow has been roughly three months for mercantile
litigation and even less before the district criminal
court.
Cracovia, the Ice
Champ
Krakow’s ice hockey team, Cracovia, has won
Poland’s championship for 2006. Previously the club
held the title in 1949. This year Cracovia celebrates
its centenary as the club’s football team played its
first match in 1906.
A
Pilgrim’s Vehicle of Choice: Pope-train
Special train service has linked the most popular
places of pilgrimage in the Krakow region, all of them
particularly related to John Paul II. The
purpose-built, state-of-the-art train shuttles three
times a day between Krakow and Wadowice,
the late Pope’s birthplace, via
Krakow’s Lagiewniki district and the town of
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, famous for the Sanctuary
of Divine Mercy and for Europe’s largest Calvary
sanctuary respectively. Air-conditioned
cars with facilities for the disabled take 160
passengers who may enjoy multimedia presentations in
Polish, English, and German about John Paul II and
their travel destinations. Tickets cost an equivalent
of about 3 euro one way and roughly 4.5 euro return,
and they stay valid throughout the day so a single
ticket suffice for a day-trip to all of the
above-mentioned sites. The so-called ‘Papal Train’
(Paciag Papieski) leaves from Krakow’s central
station at 8:55 a.m., 12:55, and 16:55, arrives to
Wadowice at 10:08 a.m., 14:08, and 18:08, and it’s
back to Krakow Glowny main station at 11:43 a.m.,
15:43, and 19:43.
Same
Boroughs, New-Old Names
Krakow’s current eighteen administrative districts,
dzielnica, have been given names in addition to the
Roman numbers that previously served as their
denotations. The city council toiled for a year over
its resolution that tries to adjust historical
designations to fairly new entities that rarely match
borders of traditional neighborhoods. Anyway, Krakow
officially divides now into the following boroughs:
Dzielnica I Stare Miasto (i.e. the Old Town),
Dzielnica II Grzegorzki, Dzielnica III Pradnik
Czerwony, Dzielnica IV Pradnik Bialy, Dzielnica V
Krowodrza, Dzielnica VI Bronowice, Dzielnica VII
Zwierzyniec, Dzielnica VIII Debniki, Dzielnica IX
Lagiewniki-Borek Falecki, Dzielnica X Swoszowice,
Dzielnica XI Podgorze Duchackie, Dzielnica XII
Biezanow-Prokocim, Dzielnica XIII Podgorze, Dzielnica
XIV Czyzyny, Dzielnica XV Mistrzejowice, Dzielnica XVI
Bienczyce, Dzielnica XVII Wzgorza Krzeslawickie,
Dzielnica XVIII Nowa Huta.
Krakow
Looks Forward To Pope’s Visit
Pope Benedict XVI is going to spend the second half of
his four-day pilgrimage to Poland, May 25-28, in
Krakow and its vicinity. The highlights of his Krakow
itinerary include a huge open-air High Mass at the
Blonia common, an elite one in the Wawel
Cathedral,
and meeting the young in the Lagiewniki Sanctuary of
Divine Mercy. The Holy Father will also see three
sites in the Krakow region, i.e. the former Auschwitz
death camp in Oswiecim, John Paul II’s birthplace in
Wadowice, and the Calvary sanctuary in Kalwaria
Zebrzydowska. As regards the first half of his
Poland’s pilgrimage, Benedict XVI plans to spend May
25 and May 26 in Warsaw and in the
Jasna Gora
sanctuary in Czestochowa.
Krakow
Goes Dry May 27-28
Polish government banned selling any alcohol anywhere
in Krakow during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the
city on May 27 and May 28. The temporary prohibition
was extended also to some other powiats (counties) in
the Krakow region on the Holy Father’s itinerary:
chrzanowski, krakowski, myslenicki, oswiecimski where
the Auschwitz site is situated, and wadowicki with
Wadowice and nearby Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.
Concurrently a two-day ban on selling any beverages
with alcohol content above 4.5 percent was announced
for the entire Malopolska province whose capital city
is Krakow.
John Paul II’s
Trusted Assistant Appointed a Cardinal
Krakow’s archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, 67, has been
appointed a cardinal. Before having taken over the
Krakow archdiocese last August, he had been John Paul
II’s private secretary for 27 years. As the late
Pontiff’s closes associate for over a quarter of
century, don Stanislao, as the prelate is widely known
in Vatican, became the Holy Sees’ eminence grise.
Then Krakow’s archbishop Karol Wojtyla, future pope
John Paul II, made 27-year-old Father Dziwisz his
chaplain in 1966 and would take him to Vatican in 1978
as his most trusted aide till death last April.
Ten Million Euros
for Renovation of Krakow’s Monuments This Year
In 2006 public funds to the tune of 10 million euro,
nearly two million more than the previous year, have
been earmarked for renovation of Krakow’s historical
buildings. Largest grants, roughly 790,000
euro each, were allotted for the refurbishment of the
16th-century Cloth Hall
and the
Wawel Hill’s
improvements, namely fortifications repairs and the
restoration of one of the cathedral’s chapels. The
rest of this year’s renovation donations are
disbursed among 101 other landmarks in need of
renewal.
Crime
Keeps Going Down in the Krakow Region
Police data for the Malopolska
Province – population 3.3 million of
which some 800,000 living in Krakow
proper – shows criminality on decrease in
the first half of 2006. The total of 43,182 instances
of lawbreaking, mostly petty crimes such as minor
burglaries or wallet-pinching, have been reported over
the six months till June 30 against 46,349 offenses in
the corresponding period of 2005 and 52,943 in the
first half of 2004. Most noticeable are the 50-percent
decline in robberies and the 25-percent one in car
theft. The sharpest fall in the number of reported
transgressions, misdemeanors and felonies occurred in
Krakow itself. The police connect the ebbing crime
with the emigration of the young unemployed, potential
troublemakers in that number, to the Western Europe
after Poland joined the European Union in 2004.
Krakow’s
Bullish Economy
Recently published stats paint bright picture of
Krakow economy in the first half of the year with the
year on year productivity growth of 13.1 percent
throughout the entire Malopolska
province. Sales
volume has risen by 11.8 percent in industry and 14.1
percent in construction while retailers have sold 12.3
percent more in money terms and wholesalers have
managed to increase their turnover by massive 36.3
percent. Employment is up 1.9 percent and the average
monthly pay has risen by almost five percent to 2,539
zlotys but it still slightly lags behind the
country’s 2,624 zlotys.
Bus
Your Bike
Krakow’s municipal transport corporation,
MPK, has
equipped 17 of its buses with outside cycle racks,
secured with safety locks. They run on lines
connecting the downtown with parklands west of it as
well as those that link the city with some green outer
suburbs. The runs are denoted with letter R in the
timetables of the following bus lines – 109, 134,
155, 210, 248, 268 (weeklong), 147, 218, 255
(weekdays), and 209, 226, 230, 258 (weekends and
holidays). The service is available to bicycle owners
solely on the first and last stops as mounting bikes
on the racks requires assistance of the driver.
Estonia Joins Other
Nations with Consular Service in Krakow
The Estonian honorary consulate
has opened in Krakow’s central Old
Town historic district at 15 Florianska
street. It’s Estonia’s third such outpost. Nine
other nations have honorary consuls in Krakow in
addition to eight regular, fully-fledged consular
posts (see the list).
By
Train to Krakow’s Airport
Long-awaited shuttle train has linked Krakow’s John
Paul II International Airport in Balice with the
Krakow Glowny main rail station in the city center. It
supplements bus services and taxi cabs as the means of
transportation to and from the airport, now busiest
than ever. On average, trains run every thirty minutes
between 4 a.m. and midnight and the 15-kilometer
journey lasts about 15 minutes. A single ticket costs
an equivalent of roughly one euro. Tickets are being
sold on the train.
Municipality
Gives the Thumbs-up to Krakow’s Hostels
Krakow’s municipality has inspected the city’s
mushrooming hostels,
finding – surprise, surprise – no significant
faults. A special task force examined the standard of
accommodation, condition of bathrooms and other
facilities, cleanliness, and whether price lists and
other information published online are accurate.
Hostels and the like lodgings account for about 11,000
of Krakow’s 26,000+ tourist accommodation options,
the rest being mostly hotel rooms.
Police Help Line for
Foreigners Is Back
Poland’s police headquarters has launched a summer
hotline for foreign tourists. Over a fixed line, one
may dial free number 0 800200300 to get safety
advice in English or German or Russian.
Over a cell phone the same is available at number
608599999 and then the connection costs whatever your
telecom charge for a normal call. The service is
available through September 30 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
35,000
Freshmen Are Heading for Krakow
This October the record number of almost 35,000 new
students are to begin their studies in Krakow
universities and the city’s other institutions of
higher education, while some 45,000 other applicants
have been rejected. Curriculums most popular with the
freshmen are law and psychology at the Jagiellonian
University, sociology and computer science at the AGH
University of Science and Technology, and finances
with banking at the Academy of Economics.
Developers,
Keep Your Hands Off
Krakow’s City Council has created the 1,107-hectare
Zwierzyniec Culture Park (Zwierzyniecki Park Kulturowy)
just west of the downtown, a mile or so from the
central Old
Town historical district. It comprises
parklands, notably the Las Wolski forest, as well as a
good deal of Wola Justowska inner suburb, the city’s
most prized residential area. And it boasts such
landmarks as the 17th-century Bielany
monastery, the
Kosciszko Mound and the Pilsudski Mound.
The new entity is meant to protect the bucolic area
from excessive development.
Readers
of a US Travel Magazine: Krakow Ahead of Paris,
Prague, and Barcelona
The Readers of the ‘Travel+Leisure’ magazine, a US
monthly with ties to the American Express company and
the estimated readership of 4.5 million, have voted
Krakow the world’s fifth most attractive city this
year. Florence, Rome, Venice, and Istanbul rank higher
than Krakow on the list of ‘The World’s Best
Cities’, while Paris, Prague, Siena, Seville, and
Barcelona occupy slots 5-10 respectively. Last year
Krakow was placed tenth on the same list.
Shopping
Mall to Start With
Giant new shopping
mall has opened next to Krakow’s
central Old Town historic district. The
strategically situated 123,000-sq-meter Galeria
Krakowska adjoins the city’s Krakow Glowny principal
rail station that itself abuts the main bus depot. The
immense shopping center boasts 270 shops
and department stores, 14 eateries,
and 9 coffeehouses.
It forms the first part of the New
City (Nowe Miasto) project to be
supplemented with hotels, office buildings, and blocks
of flats in three to four years.
The
World’s Capital of Graphic Arts, for Now
Krakow’s 18th International Triennial of Graphic
Arts consists of 30-plus exhibitions in the city’s
various galleries and museums. The flagship show in
the Bunkier Sztuki gallery, 3a Plac Szczepanski square
at the Planty gardens, features 300 best works of the
total of 4,500 entries for this year’s competition
sent by nearly 2,000 artists from all continents save
the Antarctic. The Grand Prix award has been bestowed
on Belgium’s Ingrid Ledent. The triennial lasts
through mid-October.
Bookish
Over 20,000 visitors bought tickets for an equivalent
of 1.8 euro each to see the 10th Krakow Book Fair,
October 19-22. At the same time 412 publishers and
other exhibitors tried to woo them to their stands and
a couple of hundred authors turned up to sign their
books. The bestseller was this year’s Nobel Prize
Winner Orhan Pamuk’s ‘The Snow’,
published in Polish by Krakow’s Wydawnictwo
Literackie publishing house, that sold 450 copies or
so. Also, nearly 500 fringe events, such as readings,
took place all over the city.
Krakow’s
Voters Have Chosen More of the Same
Krakow’s incumbent mayor Jacek Majchrowski, a
university professor by profession, has won his second
four-year term in the office in this year’s local
elections. In the runoff on November 26 Mr.
Majchrowski, a leftist running on an independent
ticket, has got 60 percent of the vote against an
opponent from Poland’s ruling right-wing PiS party,
Ryszard Terlecki, also a university professor. Two
weeks earlier in the local elections centrist PO party
has won a slim majority of 22 seats in the 43-member city
council, trailed by PiS with 19
seats.
New
Coalition Government for the Malopolska Province
The local elections on November 12 has produced new
government of the Malopolska
Province (Wojwodztwo Malopolskie) whose
metropolis and capital city is Krakow. In its
aftermath the right-wing PiS party has dropped its
erstwhile coalition partners of the centrist PO party
and teamed up with smaller factions, the far-right LPR
and the PSL peasant party. In the 39-member provincial
parliament (sejmik) PiS enjoys plurality of 16 seats
against 13 in the hands of PO, while LPR and PSL have
4 each, with the remaining two seats taken by
leftists.
Enter
Zoo Heavyweights
Krakow rejoices at the arrival of two Asian cow
elephants to the city zoo. 40-year-old Baby and her
friend Citta, 30, have been purchased from Spain’s
Terra Natura Park in Valencia for euro 30,000 plus
euro 17,000 transport costs. Krakow
zoo’s previous single elephant died last
July and ever since various local politicos have vied
to find the replacement.
The
Festive Shopping Season
Krakow’s Christmas market takes place on the Old
Town’s Rynek Glowny central square till December 26.
From 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. wooden stands sell an
assortment of the season’s decorations and sweets as
well as other wares, from jewelry to ceramics. Special
attractions include folk dances,
concerts of carols, various shows, etc. And
outdoor food joints offer hearty meals
and mulled wine.
Long
Live Christmas!
52-foot-tall Christmas
tree has shot up on Krakow’s
central Rynek Glowny square overnight, a
sure sign that the festive season engulfs in the city.
Over 400 decorations bedeck the grand spruce,
illuminated by 8,000 lights. At the same time it looks
like more streets than ever, including almost all in
the Old Town historic district, have got Yuletide
finery this year. The festive glitter will last in
Krakow till early February, courtesy of Poland’s
long Christmas
season.
Christmas
Charity Meal
100,000 dumplings, six tons of sauerkraut with
mushrooms, and 6,000 helpings of wild-mushroom
soup–traditional Polish dishes for Chrismas Eve’s
wigilia dinner–featured in the free meal for the
poor on Krakow’s central Rynek Glowny square on
December 17, the last Sunday before Christmas. The
well-publicized yearly open-air feast, courtesy of two
local food companies, has gathered thousands of the
city’s needy residents as well as the homeless from
other parts of Poland for the last nine years.
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