Until August 15, the Small Market will be filled with the smell and taste of various dumplings. And all this as part of the 19th Pierogi Festival.
You will never know what Krakow tastes like, until you will take part of the Pierogi Festival!
If you never tasted a pirogi before, you are in for a treat! Pierogi are made from dough and they come in various shapes and sizes and with different fillings: from meat to vegetables to seasonal fruits (those are always served with sour cream, and sometimes with sugar on top).
During the festival, it is great to join in as the restaurants compete for the best pierogi and they experiment with the tastes. They don’t just do the regular ones (like pierogi ruskie) but come up with combinations that blow your mind away! One of the most successful editions was the 2007 Pierogi Festival when around 30,000 pierogies were consumed daily.
Pierogi Festival in Krakow was first organized in August 2003 and lasted 2 days!
During this year’s edition of the festival, there will be many competitions. For the best Russian dumplings (pierogi ruskie), the winners will receive a statuette of St. Jack. The second statuette – King Casimir the Great – will go to the hands of those who will make the one and only – the best dumplings! This time, the winners in both categories will be selected by the jury, and not by the audience.
Gourmets will be awaited by 12 exhibitors – dumplings and restaurants, which will serve their signature dishes in various forms.
When is the Festival running?
It started yesterday, 11th August, and will run until the 15th of August 2021. The stands will be open from 10.00-24.00. The organizer of the festival is the Krakow Merchant Congregation.
I do hope you will get to check it out and eat some fine pierogi!
My darlings, it is so nice to have you again dropping over to listen to my rantings. Today I wanted to continue the series of Things You Should Know About Krakow as it seems you have rather enjoyed the first post on this topic. So without any further ado, let me share with you my knowledge. I have lived in Krakow for over 10 years now, so… as I like to point out: SHARING IS CARING! 🙂
1. Save money with Krakow Card
Not only in Krakow but the City Cards can also be found in any of the big cities around the world. I have used them in Paris, in Vienna and London and they always come in handy. They come paired with a free map that holds all the hot spots that you should go to + discounts for the museums and specific shops + free public transport. Depending on your stay in this fair city, you can select a 1-day card at 25 dollars or a 2 day for 40 dollars or a 3 day for 45 dollars. The longer the stay the cheaper the card gets and the more discounts 😉 You can buy the card online or from any of the Info Points in Krakow. There are several Krakow Museums for free with it, so do make sure you look into this offer before you book your trip here!
2. Enjoy Krakow by Walking
There is no method better to really feel the beating heart of a city than by walking it and mingling with the locals! The Krakow Old Town – Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter – Podgorze… they are all within walking distance. The pavements are good and the only problem you might encounter is if you will take high heels, as the streets in Old Town Krakow are cobblestoned. Wear flats or some sports shoes that you are comfy in and you are set up for the day. When I first came here – 10 years ago – I would roam the streets all day long, looking for new nooks and corners that brought up the magic of this city. I still do that… when time permits 🙂 If you are too tired, you can always grab a tram. They are fast and almost always on time (exception: when we have heavy rain/rainstorm and the streets tend to get flooded).
3. Experience Street Food
Street food in Krakow is not the regular street food you would think of. There are plenty of food trucks spread around the city that provide healthy snack options for everyone. Some offer meals in a jar – from local market products – some even offer hand-rolled fresh sushi! But the more traditional options include maczanka krakowska (kinda like a hamburger on a bun), zapiekanka (kinda like pizza, but on a half of a baguette, with loads of toppings), obwarzanek (kinda like a pretzel but… not quite), or paczki (kinda like donuts but without the whole in the middle).
4. The devil is in the small details
You need to be prepared in detail for this trip, before heading out to Krakow. We have here cobbled streets – so no high heels for you! We have the electricity supply at 220 V – so the visitors from the US/UK will need adaptors for their electronic devices! We have a pretty strict rule about medicine and most of it is sold on a recipe – make sure you bring your own, or else you will probably need a doctor to prescribe you something and there is a possibility that the drug you use might not be on the market here!
5. You must try the local cuisine
Obwarzanek Krakowski – Protected by the EU Traditional Foods list. It is kinda like a pretzel or a bagel but a different process to it and taste. To learn more about its history and significance, I encourage you to go to the Obwarzanek Muzeum in Krakow.
Oscypek – Highlanders Cheese, straight from the mountains. It can be smoked as well. Paired with zurawina (cranberry) jam is marvelous! You can find it at any of the fairs around Krakow and it is a #mustEat when in the area. Usually brought in from the Zakopane region.
Kremówka papieska – This classic dessert was a childhood favorite of Pope John Paul II – and when the people of Poland found out, they renamed it ‘Papal cream cake’ in his honor. It is a typical, traditional Polish dessert – very old-school. Everybody loves it!
Maczanka krakowska – crusty bun to be loaded with the tender, juicy pork, and soaked until dripping in delicious onion gravy. One of the best “hamburgers” you will have 😉
An open-air exhibition “The Museum does not have to be in a museum” (“Muzeum nie musi być w muzeum”)has been put up at Wolnica Square. “Again we wanted the items from the museum’s collection to go out onto the streets and change a small piece of the world” invites you to visit the exhibition of the Ethnographic Museum in Krakow. Exhibits in the public space can be viewed from dawn to dusk until the end of the summer holidays.
If you don’t go to the museum, the museum comes to you!
“Open-air, interactive and open to the public, the exhibition is both an exercise of imagination and an attempt to transform a” piece of the world “, in this case, Wolnica Square in Krakow. Thanks to this intervention, the empty space of the former liberum forum become filled with installations, among which everyone can find a place for themselves The arrangement draws on the rich collections of the Museum, including the heritage of the Krakow Workshops, as well as traditional culture patterns (cut-outs, coloring books, costumes, decorations). It tells about the unwavering will to create, about the need to leave a trace, about relations with matter and form “. – we read in the description of the exhibition.
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of Saturday workshops for children 6-10 years old organized in the space of the open-air exhibition “Museum does not have to be in a museum” (“Muzeum nie musi być w muzeum”) at Wolnica Square. Each of the three meetings is a story about the three stages of creating a simple toy: shaping it using simple materials, making it move, and defining its features with color.
It will be a unique opportunity to see the panorama of Kraków and Małopolska from the top of the Kościuszko Mound at sunset. On June 21, Kościuszko Mound will be open to visitors longer. This is a special action organized on the occasion of Kupala Night, on the longest day of the year.
Kościuszko Mound is a unique place with a beautiful panorama of the city and its surroundings. We know that there are people who would like to stay longer at the Mound, watch the sunset, and Krakow at night. That is why we decided to make it possible.
Leszek Cierpiałowski, director of the office of the Kosciuszko Mound Committee in Krakow
Kupała Night & the special ticket from Kościuszko Mound
On Monday, June 21, the sun will set at 8:53 pm. The mound will then be open to tourists until 21.30. During this time, it will also be possible to visit the Kościuszko Museum and the multimedia permanent exhibition “Kościuszko – a hero still needed”. On this day, from 7 p.m., a promotional ticket price will apply – tourists will visit the Mound on the basis of reduced tickets (PLN 14).
We encourage you to come to the Mound earlier and take advantage of all the attractions available in the ticket.
Leszek Cierpiałowski, director of the office of the Kosciuszko Mound Committee in Krakow
In addition to the modern exhibition, you can also visit an educational route devoted to the private life of Kościuszko and an exhibition of wax figures, see a model of the Kościuszko Mound and the Kościuszko garden and take a walk along charming alleys on the way to the Mound. Children can enjoy the playground with a miniature of the Kościuszko Tower and a special sightseeing path at the core exhibition.
My darlings, it is so nice to have you again dropping over to listen to my rantings. Today I wanted to continue the series of Things You Should Know About Krakow as it seems you have rather enjoyed the first post on this topic. So without any further ado, let me share with you my knowledge. I have lived in Krakow for over 10 years now, so… as I like to point out: SHARING IS CARING! 🙂
1. Validating public transport tickets
In order to use public transport in Krakow – be it a tram or bus – you must first buy a ticket. Small kiosks sell them, but your quickest and safest option is buying them from the MPK vendor machines. You will be able to spot them right away as they are present next to the tram/bus stops and they have the colors of the city: white and blue. The nice thing about them is that you can pay either by cash or card (even PayPass/contactless or BLIK). The menu is in several languages: Polish (main, of course…), English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
The MPK (Public Transport Authority of Krakow) tickets can be for single usage – 20 min, 40 min, 60 min – but there are also weekend tickets (or week-long or even monthly ones) that you can use on your stay in the city. However, if you will look at point #3 below, and if you plan to really get to know Krakow… you can always walk it and get a tram only if you are tired or if it rains. But when you do take a tram/bus, make sure you do these 2 basic steps: 1) Buy a ticket; 2) When entering the bus/tram make sure you validate it by using the yellow boxes on the bars inside. Without validation your ticket means nothing, and if you will get caught you will have to pay a big fine!
2. Drinking in public
It is illegal to drink in Public in Poland! Don’t even try it as you will get a fine! Public spaces – including parks, benches, and everywhere else you may try to open a beer to cool yourself on a hot day – are off-limits!
You can, however, choose to go to a pub or lay down and enjoy the sun from a terrace, while sipping on your Aperol Spritz or your beer. Outdoor seating areas that are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages do not count 😉 However, if you take your drink and step outside of the premises to have a smoke… you’re up for a fine!
Drinking alcohol in public places can land you in a dry-out cell for the night and you may get also a hefty fine. The legal blood-alcohol limit for driving is just 0.02 percent! The fines can get up to 300 euros + the “prison” sentence for the night, so you can sober up.
3. Book a hotel in Old Town or very near it
If you wish to have a nice stay in Kraków, not be touristy and actually experience the city like a local, then you should book an Airbnb or apartment in the Old Town. Or if you wish to splurge, take a hotel – there are plenty to choose from! Why Old Town, you may ask, rightly so… well… everything is within walking distance. You need not get a cab, or even public transport, as all the most notable places can be reached and discovered on foot.
It is true, the streets in the Old Town are cobbled stoned so high heels would definitely not be a good fit. Think sports shoes and flats and you’ll be fine 😉 plus, by walking you will truly learn and feel the heartbeat of the city. Make sure you check the side streets, the small shops, the old-school architecture of the “Kamienicca” – most buildings in the Old Town are from the 18-1900s. Unlike Warsaw (which was heavily bombed during the Second World War and destroyed almost 90%), Kraków has managed to keep its historic buildings.
4. If visiting avoid June-August (High Season)
I know everybody loves taking time off for holidays during summertime, but if you will choose the months of June, July and August to come visit Kraków, than be prepared for loads of tourists. Those 3 months consist of the High Season here.
Instead of summer, I highly recommend you to try the Polish Autumn. It’s not as hot, the trees are changing their leaves and they look marvelous, you can taste the famous fresh “szarlotka” (PL: apple pie) and local ciders (which are absolutely yummy!). Also, if you are a fan of skiing, winter may be a good time to come over too. The Tatra mountains are near (Zakopane is just a few hours away) and you can enjoy the lovely views.
5. Pre-book tickets for the museums online
Museums in Kraków are definitely worth being put on the list. Everyone will be able to see something interesting: from 19th century paintings as big as an entire wall, by the local artist Jan Matejko, to the Stained Glass windows; from modern art at MOCAK to Spitfires at the Aviation Museum; from real mummies (including a cat mummy!) to pages of the original Book of Death. You name it, Kraków has it!
The best way to experience the museums is without the queues though. For that, you can always go online and reserve and even pay for the tickets. Print them or download them to your phone and just get to the museum at the designated time. There are multiple branches that you can choose from, so just click here for the full list.
To be fair to my dear readers, I was not born in Poland. Nor raised. This country happened upon me! I did not know much about Poland before my first visit here, about 11 years ago. All I knew was that it was a post-communist country (like my homeland: Romania), that the capital was in Warsaw, that Helena Rubinstein lived here and made amazing cosmetics, that the Schindler’s List was filmed here and that Auschwitz was just a stone throw away from Krakow. You could say… quite limited knowledge!
I moved here 10 years ago, during summertime, and I never regret that step since. Of course, as we live we learn and we absorb information from around us, so I thought I might share with you 10 Interesting Facts about Poland – my adoptive Homeland.
1. Poland Constitution is the 1st in Europe and 2nd in the World
Date Ratified: May 3, 1791 Last Amended: October 21, 2009 Author(s): Historical – Ignacy Potocki, Hugo Kołłątaj, King Stanisław August Poniatowski, Stanisław Małachowski, Stanisław Staszic, and Scipione Piattoli; Modern – Komisja Konstytucyjna and Zgromadzenia Narodowego Government Type: Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
Although the Constitution of San Marino is technically older, Poland’s Constitution of 3 May 1791 is generally considered the world’s 2nd-oldest modern constitution and the oldest in Europe.
2. Marie Curie was NOT French, but Polish!
Her original name was Maria Salomea Sklodowska before she married a Frenchman named Pierre Curie. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different fields.
Born in Warsaw (7th November 1867), at the age of 16 she won a gold medal on the completion of her secondary education at the Russian lyceum. Due to the fact that at that time women could not join the University in Poland, she moved in 1891 to Paris. Married Pierre Curie in July 1895 and they started their partnership – discovering polonium (Maria calling it after her native homeland).
3. Holds the biggest castle in the world: Malbork Castle
UNESCO designated the “Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork” and the Malbork Castle Museum a World Heritage Site in December 1997. The Malbork Castle is the largest castle in the world measured by land area. Build some time in the 13th century, it was meant to be a fortress for the Teutonic Order. The purpose was to strengthen the Order’s control of the area, following the Order’s suppression of the Great Prussian Uprising of 1274 (of the Baltic tribes). The castle is now a museum and can be visited – it is also a stone’s throw away from the Tri-City (Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot).
4. Nicolaus Copernicus was Polish too!
Yes, you read that right! Like Marie Curie, Nicolaus Copernicus was Polish too! Copernicus was born and died in Royal Prussia, a region that had been part of the Kingdom of Poland since 1466. Born on the 19th of February 1473 in the city of Torun, he attended the University of Krakow (now Jagiellonian University).
Copernicus’ 4 years at Kraków played an important role in the development of his critical faculties and initiated his analysis of logical contradictions in the two “official” systems of astronomy—Aristotle’s theory of homocentric spheres, and Ptolemy‘s mechanism of eccentrics and epicycles—the surmounting and discarding of which would be the first step toward the creation of Copernicus’ own doctrine of the structure of the universe.
5. Poland has the second oldest University in Europe
The Jagiellonian University was founded by King Casimir III the Great in 1364. It means that it’s the second University in Europe as the first one was created in Prague sixteen years before. Founded in 1364 by the King of Poland Casimir III the Great, the Jagiellonian University is the oldest university in Poland, the oldest Slavic university, the second oldest university in Central Europe, and one of the oldest surviving universities in the world.
Notable alumni of the Jagiellonian University
Notable alumni include astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, poet Jan Kochanowski, Polish King John III Sobieski, constitutional reformer Hugo Kołłątaj, chemist Karol Olszewski, anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, writer Stanisław Lem, and President of Poland Andrzej Duda. Students at the University who did not earn diplomas included Nobel laureates Ivo Andrić and Wisława Szymborska. Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) enrolled in the Jagiellonian University of Krakow in 1938 to study Polish Studies at the JU Faculty of Philosophy, but shortly after enrollment, his studies were interrupted by Sonderaktion Krakau. In 1953, Father Wojtyła presented a dissertation at the Jagiellonian University of Krakow on the possibility of grounding a Christian ethic on the ethical system developed by Max Scheler.
6. Auschwitz – the largest Holocaust tool
#LestWeForget I will always remind myself and my readers of the horrors of the Second World War and the destruction that Nazi Germany brought. Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi death camps and it was comprised of actually 3 camps (closely connected to each other): Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III. It was originally created to be a prison for Polish prisoners but then Auschwitz II was built in the vicinity and… well… it’s all history! Auschwitz II became the mass killing site for Jews, gypsies, and unwanted human beings.
Auschwitz II was created specifically to be part of the “Final Solution” – Nazi Germany’s plan to annihilate all European Jews. The older people, women that were weak, and the children were immediately taken from the cattle carts and killed in the immense gas chambers (multiple) built there. Men were used for hard labor until they dropped dead on the spot. Even with the gas chambers, they were evil… disguising them as shower houses so that the prisoners would not try and fight their way out of it.
More than 1.1 million people were killed in Auschwitz! Overall estimates state that around 6 million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
7. Warsaw was not the first Polish capital
Everyone knows that nowadays the capital of Poland is Warsaw, however… did you know that Gniezno was the first Polish capital? Gniezno is a town in central-western Poland which was among the earliest Polish settlements. Alongside places like Poznań and Ostrów Lednicki, it was one of the primary places of residence of Poland’s first historical ruler, Mieszko I, who lived in the 10th century (his birthdate is unknown, but he passed away in the year 992).
The second one was Krakow. Kraków was the capital of Poland from 1039 until 1079 + from the year 1138, the city once more enjoyed the status of the capital of Poland until the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Kraków became the capital of a monarchy that extended over natively Polish lands as well as vast Lithuanian-Ruthenian areas. The royal court played an important part in the shaping of cultural and artistic life. (…) The Wawel Castle became a pearl of Renaissance architecture; (…) it proudly served as the residence of the rulers of a modern and strong state. At the end of the 16th century, the capital was moved to Warsaw, Kraków lost its importance, retaining only its representative role as the city of royal coronations and funerals.
From ‘Historia Krakowa’ (Kraków’s History), www.krakow.pl, trans. MK
8. Pope John Paul the 2nd was also Polish 😉
Pope John Paul the 2nd was born Karol Józef Wojtyła – John Paul II was the second-longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the 16th-century Pope Adrian VI. To be fair, he lived a pretty amazing life!
Born in Wadowice, moved to Krakow, enrolled at the Jagiellonian University. He volunteered there as a librarian and did the compulsory military training in the Academic Legion – where he always refused to fire a weapon. He had a talent with languages – learning as many as 15! Karol worked as a messenger for a restaurant, manual labourer in the limestone quarry in Krakow. He also was the very first pope to visit a mosque AND the White House!
9. Polish King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk is the “Father of Europe”
Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; Polish: Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.
Of his 9 children, one became a cardinal, 4 became kings, one was canonized, and the 3 daughters were married off to become mothers of the heirs of the greatest dynasties in Western Europe (Sophie (6 May 1464 – 5 October 1512); married to Margrave Frederick V of Brandenburg-Ansbach + Anna Jagiellon (12 March 1476 – 12 August 1503); married Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania; they had eight children, including Sophie of Pomerania, who became queen of Denmark + Barbara (15 July 1478 – 15 February 1534); married Duke Georg dem Bärtigen of the Saxony )
10. The last Polish monarch died in prison 🙁
Stanisław Poniatowski was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. A controversial figure in Poland’s history, he is criticized primarily for his failure to resolutely stand against and prevent the partitions, which led to the destruction of the Polish state. On the other hand, he is remembered as a great patron of the arts and sciences who laid the foundation for the Commission of National Education, the first institution of its kind in the world and sponsored many architectural landmarks. To be noted that during his rule the famous Polish Constitution of the 3rd of May was written!
He died in semi-captivity in 1798 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Well… I do hope you enjoyed my facts about Poland 🙂 Do let me know how many you knew before and what surprised you the most from what was written here. And don’t forget: Sharing is Caring!
Today I just wanted to share with you a piece of history about Krakow.
Did You Know that on this very day, 764 years ago, on the 5th of June 1257, Krakow was established officially as a city and acquired the Magdeburg Laws? Did You Know that Krakow still holds the record for the longest time of serving as the capital city of Poland – it would perform the function 3 times in its history, loosely between 1040 and 1609.
However, Krakow was marked in history as an important town, and frequently visited trading center, as early as the 9th century! Archeologists date the oldest material evidence of human settlements excavated in the city to circa 200,000 BC. In the year 1038 Krakow became the capital of Poland.
Duke Bolesław V the Chaste proclaimed the establishment on the 5th of June 1257
The establishment of a new town under Magdeburg law, proclaimed on 5 June 1257 by Duke Bolesław V the Chaste (whose reign spanned 1243–1279), was a foundational event for Kraków/Cracow in the true sense of the word. Notwithstanding the primarily legal and planning-based character of the endeavor, the city’s foundation generated significant momentum for societal change. Within a relatively short space of time, Kraków, originally consisting of a ducal castle and a settlement at its foot, grew into a European metropolis, one of the contemporary continent‘s premier mercantile centers and the seat of a noteworthy political self-administration.
Krakow was not built in a day!
Like Rome, Kraków was not built in a day; preparations for the city’s establishment had begun many years before it became a reality. The plan for the city came into being at the court of Bolesław V’s father, Duke Leszek the White (d. 1227), and it continued under the auspices of Henry the Bearded (d. 1238) and of his son. These dukes, whose reign occurred in the turbulent period of the struggle for ducal ascendancy at Wawel Castle, perceived Kraków as possessing the capacity to secure their position throughout Poland. Isolated, yet unambiguous sources bear witness to the emergence between 1220 and 1241 of Kraków’s first, short-lived civic community, whose demise is associated with the political catastrophe that befell the Silesian Piast dynasty with the Mongol invasion of Poland in 1241.
Wawel Cathedral records from 1257
The annals kept by the Kraków chapter of what was known as the Wawel cathedral record that in 1257, ‘Cracoviensis civitas iuri Theutonico traditur et situs fori per advocatos et domorum et curiarum immutatur’ (The city of Kraków was placed under German law and the reeves altered the positions of squares, houses, and lordly residences). The chronicler, installed upon the Wawel Hill as the symbol representing the Kraków chapter’s seat, had clearly deemed these events worthy of recording for posterity. What he could not have known, and we know from our temporal vantage point of several centuries, is the extent of the changes, in terms of urban planning, demography, the economic and political sphere, and indeed of society, which were emerging in Kraków.
The connection to Vienna returns to the airport in Krakow-Balice after 14 months, from where you can fly further – to over two hundred locations around the world. After the pandemic, Austrian Airlines is rebuilding its network of connections, which will accelerate the return of Kraków Airport to normalcy. By the end of June, we will fly from Krakow to the Austrian capital (and back) four times a week, from July – seven times a week, and from August – twice a day.
Brand news from Krakow Airport!
Today we are happy to welcome the Austrian Airlines plane that flew to Krakow from Vienna. Vienna – Krakow – Vienna is one of the favorite connections of our passengers. Before the 2019 pandemic, they traveled through the Austrian capital to more than 200 different airports around the world.
Radosław Włoszek, president of Kraków Airport
He adds that Vienna is not only one of the top cities where Krakow and Małopolska residents like to spend their free time, even at the weekend, but is also the 5th popular transfer port from which you can go further into the world. The long common history and tradition of social, cultural, and economic contacts additionally increase the importance of this connection.
“We also hope that tourists from Austria will gladly return to visit Kraków and Małopolska, he added” – says Radosław Włoszek.
Austrian Airlines – a key player
Austrian Airlines offers not only the routes it operates (110 connections from Vienna in 2021), but also the option of using connections from other airlines as part of the STAR ALLIANCE cooperation. This gives Kraków Airport passengers great opportunities to plan a quick and comfortable journey.
The authorities of Małopolska see the return of further connections to Kraków Airport as an opportunity for tourists to return to the region and its capital; In recent years, the development of the airport near Krakow has driven numerous sectors of the economy of our region, and vice versa: the increasing interest of tourists in Krakow and Lesser Poland attractions has led to a record-breaking boom in Krakow-Balice airport. The pandemic has dramatically disrupted this, but thanks to the close and harmonious cooperation of all interested parties, there is a chance for a swift reconstruction of battered businesses.
The vaccination encouraged people to look for vacations abroad again
The vaccination campaign, which is developing at its best in Kraków and Małopolska, in conjunction with the decline in the number of cases and deaths, allows accelerating the thawing of critical sectors of the economy. Krakow hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, museums, tourist, entertainment, and cultural facilities are ready for full opening, and tourists in Poland and around the world are hungry for expeditions and rest, thanks to which Krakow and Lesser Poland appear more and more in travel plans.
New releases that could be seen on the big screen when the cinemas resumed their activity, and films that had their premiere some time ago, but still enjoy great popularity, have been included in the repertoires of the Summer Stop Kijów Cinema, Krakow’s open-air cinema in Strefa Błonia and Paradox cinemas, which will start on Saturday, May 15.
Kiev Summer Stop Cinema
Before the cinemas start for good, being able to invite viewers to their halls, which will be possible from May 29, from next Saturday (May 15), the Kijów cinema invites you to open-air screenings in its garden. The Kiev Summer Stop cinema will invite viewers of longing films on the big screen to one screening a day. The screenings will take place at 8.30 pm, and tickets (PLN 14) can be purchased stationary and online.
What can you watch?
What’s in the summer cinema repertoire? Some novelties that have recently appeared in cinemas and classics from recent years.
May 15, Sat – “Charlatan”, dir. Agnieszka Holland May 16, Sun – “Palm Springs”, dir. Max Barbakow May 17, Mon. – “Babyteeth”, dir. Shannon Murphy May 18, Tue – “Parasite”, dir. Joon-ho Bong May 19 Wed – “Pain and Glow”, dir. Pedro Almodóvar May 20, Thurs. – “Duel for Voices”, dir. Peter Cattaneo May 21, Fri. – “Babyteeth”, dir. Shannon Murphy May 22, Sat – “Palm Springs”, dir. Max Barbakow May 23, Sun – “Scandal. Molesta’s Ewenement”, dir. Bartosz Paduch May 24, Mon. – “Helmut Newton. Beauty and the Beast”, dir. Gero von Boehm May 25, Tue – “Charlatan”, dir. Agnieszka Holland May 26 Wed – “Parasite”, dir. Joon-ho Bong May 27, Thurs. – “Pain and Glow”, dir. Pedro Almodóvar May 28, Fri. – “Palm Springs”, dir. Max Barbakow
Krakow open-air cinema in the Błonia zone
Movies, delicious food, and wine in the open air with friends are, in addition to movies on the big screen, the offer of Strefa Błonia. If you are looking for an idea of how to spend summer evenings in Krakow, be sure to go to Kinożerców – Krakow open-air cinema in Strefa Błonia, the repertoire will be taken care of by the Mikro cinema. Travels and comedies will be shown on the screen in May.
What can you watch?
May 16, Sun – “The Italian Vacation”, dir. James D’Arcy May 18, Tue – “Korpoludki”, dir. Patrick Brice May 23, Sun – “Ibiza”, dir. Arnaud Lemort May 25, Tue – “Swinging Holidays”, dir. Stephan Elliott May 30, Sun – “Falcon with Peanut Butter”, dir. Tyler Nilson / Michael Schwartz Film screenings will take place in a tent in the Zone every Tuesday and Sunday from 19:00. And if rain clouds come over the city, the screening will be shown under a roofed tent. Tickets (PLN 12) can be purchased online.
Paradox outdoors
The Paradox cinema will also start open-air screenings on May 15, all screenings will take place at the cinema on ul. Krupnicza 38 (entrance through the cinema hall). Follow the weather forecasts, as the organizer reserves the right to cancel the event in case of bad weather.
What can you watch?
May 15, Sat. 21:00 – “Sound of Metal”, dir. Darius Marder May 16, 21:00 – “Palm Springs”, dir. Max Barbakow May 19, Wed. 21:00 – “Arab Blues”, dir. Manele Labidi May 20, Thurs. 21:00 – “The Nest”, dir. Sean Durkin
The first weekend of museums and galleries after lockdown is ahead of us. Krakow institutions invite you to their branches, extend temporary exhibitions and tempt you with cheaper tickets.
We invite you to permanent galleries and to ongoing temporary exhibitions. In May, we will open to the public the new Permanent Gallery of Ancient Art at the Arsenal, which has just been completed.
director of the National Museum in Krakow, prof. Andrzej Szczerski
The MNK (National Museum of Krakow) extends 2 temporary exhibitions
Until May 16, the experimental exhibition “The Power of the Museum” will be available in the Main Building. There, in only one of the exhibition rooms, 104 objects from several eras have been collected. Most importantly, you can smell, touch, watch in a different light or to the sounds of music and see how the perception of works of art changes under the influence of stimuli and information.
Without going far, you can once again visit the exhibition “Architecture as Music of Space”. This is the 2nd temporary exhibition extended by the MNK, open in winter at the former Cracovia Hotel. The exhibition presents large-format photos showing five unique concert halls in Europe. The nature of their interiors can be seen in the photos printed in 3D technology.
Cheaper tickets between 7th and 9th of May!!!
It is also worth visiting the Szołayski House at Szczepański Square, where the exhibition ‘Aleksander Kotsis. Shades of realism‘ reside. This is a story about one of the most important Polish painters of the mid-nineteenth century. The exhibition covers 2 floors, where we can admire landscapes and portraits by Kotsis as well as photographs of the artist’s lost works and works of socialist realists inspired by the painter’s work. The exhibition will be open until June 13.
The museum also encourages visitors with promotions. On the first weekend after opening, between May 7 and 9, tickets to all branches will be cheaper by half.
MOCAK: exhibitions and tours
The MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow has also prepared a gift for visitors. Together with the Przekrój quarterly, it prepared a brochure, a reprint of a fragment of Szpilki from 1976, a crossword puzzle, drawings by Marian Eile, and a poster with a reproduction of the artist’s work. The gift can be collected with each purchased ticket.
Tickets can be purchased for permanent and temporary exhibitions, among which the “Final Song” by Paweł Althamer and Artur Żmijewski will be available for the shortest time – until May 23. Until 30 May, you will also be able to see the exhibitions “Artists from Krakow. Generation 1950-1969” and “Marian Eile Artist and Editor”, “Dialogue with space” and “Contemporary models of realism” will remain for longer.
Additionally, MOCAK invites you to mini-guided tours every Wednesday at 12 noon. You can join these short meetings around selected works of art at the exhibition or watch a live broadcast on MOCAK’s Facebook. On the other hand, every Friday, between 15:00 and 16:00, the representatives of the Museum will talk about the activities of the institution and will visit people asking questions.
Krzysztof Penderecki’s score and garden
Meanwhile, the second Krakow facility presenting contemporary art offers an exhibition devoted to the memory of Krzysztof Penderecki. In Bunkier Sztuki, temporarily located at 20 Rynek Główny, the exhibition “Score and garden. Music against the image, garden against music” was opened on 4 May. Visitors to the Gallery will see, among other things, private sketches – called by Maria Anna Potocka as prepartures – and drawing concepts for the garden, portraits of Krzysztof Penderecki by Beata Stankiewicz, Marcin Maciejowski, and Bartek Materka, and photographs of Marian Eili.
New exhibitions at the Krakow Museum
Also new after the reopening of museums and galleries in the open-air exhibition “Museum in the neighborhood – Prądnik Biały”. From 5 to 30 May, in the green surroundings of Dworek Białoprądnicki, you can see an exhibition about Prądnik Biały and the identity of its inhabitants. “The exhibition is to be an opportunity to reflect on the identity of the inhabitants of Prądnik and whether the rich history of this space is a sufficient bond for the creation of a contemporary local community” – the organizers explain.
Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory has a new temporary exhibition!
The Krakow Museum has opened yet another completely new temporary exhibition – “Separation – Search. The wartime fate of Krakow citizens”. It is available from May 5, 2021, in the Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory. The exhibition consists of six parts and tells from the individual perspective of the inhabitants of Krakow about the tragic events of World War II. Both those who left the city when the war broke out and those who moved there later tell about the war experiences. Their journey to Krakow sometimes took years and led across several continents.
In turn, in the House under the Cross at ul. Szpitalna, the exhibition “In Chocholim Taniec” is available again, presenting a synthesis of the history of subsequent directors’ interpretations of the drama and social reactions to the performances, at the same time proposing a reflection on how Poles saw and showed themselves in the mirror of this drama.
Exhibitions on both sides of the Vistula
On the occasion of weekend walks, it is worth visiting Wawel, where you can see the Wawel tapestries again. “All tapestries of the king. Returns 2021–1961–1921″ is the only display in the history of the Jagiellonian residence of the entire preserved collection in the interiors for which the tapestries were created. Permanent exhibitions, including Representative Royal Chambers, are also open to visitors. As the director of the Wawel museum announces, the official and ceremonial opening of the Wawel has also been planned and it is to take place between 20 and 23 May.
Wawel misses its visitors and waits for them every day. We are ready to accept them with the WAWEL program. RENEWAL – it is a ceremonial re-opening of the Castle after lockdown in a truly Renaissance style
prof. Andrzej Betlej, director of the Wawel Royal Castle
As part of this event, in addition to exhibitions, meetings with visitors in a unique setting, a publishing fair, as well as meetings for families with children are planned. On the occasion of 20 and 21, the exhibition “All tapestries of the king” can be visited with a ticket for only 1zloty!
Manggha Museum has also something up their sleeve 😉
On the other side of the Vistula, the exhibition “Botanical Searches” at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, which runs until September, features works by contemporary artists presenting the phenomenon of contemporary European and Japanese botanical art. An exhibition devoted to the work of Maria Sibylla Merian, the entomologist who first formulated, illustrated, and documented the appearance of living insects and their four-stage development cycle, is open until June. The Museum now also houses the exhibitions “Paradise 101” and “The End of the World 2011”, movingly referring to the tragedy in Japan 10 years ago.
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