Floriańska Street – The Pathway of Kings
Floriańska Street has always been one of the most important streets of Krakow. Marked out during the Great Location of the city in the second half of the 13th century, it was an important fragment of the representative route, the Royal Road (or how I like to call it: The Pathway of Kings), leading from the church of St. Floriana (hence the name of the street) in Wawel. As one of the first in the city, the street gained solid pavements. At the end of the 15th century, most of the houses at Florianska Street were already bricked.
Wikipedia: “Floriańska appears on the 1257 plan of the extended city. It marks the beginning of the Royal Road in Kraków and stretches from the north-western end of the main square, Rynek Główny, to the landmark St. Florian’s Gate, a distance of 335 meters (1,099 ft). There are currently 51 numbered buildings on the street (up to no 44 even and no 57 odd). It is named after Saint Florian. In 1882, the first horse tram line started. In 1901 it was transformed into the electricity line (now defunct).”
Saint Florian – Patron Saint of Krakow
#DidYouKnow that St. Florian, usually portrayed as a Roman legion officer carrying water, has been revered in Poland as the patron saint of firefighters and chimneysweeps. He is also the Patron Saint of Krakow and you can see him on the tower over the Brama Florianska (Florianska Gate) or on St. Anne’s Church in the Old Town.
Floriańska Street – Some History
Although most of the houses were rebuilt (especially at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), many details of their old, often medieval origin have been preserved. Particularly noteworthy here are houses: No. 3 with an interesting Renaissance portal, No. 5 and No. 8 with late-Gothic portals, No. 7 with an early Renaissance figure of the Virgin Mary and portals in the same style (you can see that in the pictures above), No. 9 and No. 26 with Renaissance portals, and No. 17 with a fragment of a chain on the facade that once closed the street at night.
Floriańska Street – “Pod Różą”
House No. 14 houses the oldest hotel in the city, founded around 1800, “Pod Różą”, initially called “de Russie”, or Ruski, to commemorate the visit of Grand Duke Konstanty and Tsar Alexander I. During his stay in Krakow, Francis also lived here Liszt. However, the information on the commemorative plaque claiming that Honoriusz Balzac lived here is untrue. The great French writer really stayed in one of the cheaper inns in Stradom. The building housing the hotel dates from the 14th century, but it underwent numerous reconstructions. The facade is decorated with a rare beauty late-Renaissance portal with a beautiful Latin inscription that wishes the house to stand until the ant drinks seawater and the turtle does not go around the world.
Floriańska Street – #DidYouKnow
- In 2007, the Polish magazine Wprost ranked Floriańska Street as the 3rd most prestigious street in Poland, and the most prestigious in Kraków, following Warsaw’s Nowy Świat (New World Street) and Krakowskie Przedmieście Street.
- In 2011 and 2013, rents at Floriańska Street was the second-highest in Poland, 2nd only to that for Nowy Świat Street.
Yours sincerly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug That Loves To Share Krakow’s History 🙂
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