Krakow | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

St Mary’s Basilica is located on the corner of the large main square in Krakow. We decided to take a self-guided tour of the Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven also known as Saint Mary’s Basilica.

St Mary Basilica with twin towers in Krakow

The basilica was built-in the 14th century and unique with a very interesting past. There are two towers in the church and the northern tower was designed to serve as the watch tower for the entire city.

Northern tower of St Mary Basilica in Krakow

The northern watchtower has a trumpeter who plays a tune at the top of every hour.

This tune is called the Hejnał mariacki and is played every hour of every day of the year. The tune stops in mid note, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city.

Hejnał player in Kraków, photo from guide “Ulicami Krakowa”, 1968 Source: Polish wikipedia (upload by Topory)

We went inside the church and we were amazed at the brightness of the ornate designs of the walls and ceiling.

View of the walls and ceiling in St Mary’s Church.

It was very colourful and bright in the church and everywhere we looked there were ornate features.

Ceiling and columns in St Mary’s Basilica

We came across an interesting head in an arch framing a doorway.

Life like head carved in arch in St Mary’s Basilica

We went through the church looking at the feature of the different areas.

One of the many ornate feautes of St Mary’s Basilica

The Gothic main altar piece of the church was very stunning and interesting. It was carved in wood by Veit Stoss a German sculptor in 1489, and was the largest triptych (3 wooden panels hinged together) at the time.

The details of the altar were incredible but what was more incredible was the history of the altar.

The wooden carved Alter in St Mary’s Basilica created by Veit Stoss

In 1941, during the German occupation, the dismantled altarpiece was shipped to the Third Reich. It was recovered after the war in 1946 in Bavaria, hidden in the basement of the heavily bombed Nuremberg Castle. The altar was put back in its place at the Basilica 10 years later.

The tour of St Mary’s Basilica was quite enjoyable and interesting. We discovered that the Main square in the Krakow was a former cemetery. At the beginning of the 19th century, the cemetery was shut down and replaced with the main square.

“Do widzenia i dobry dzień”

We went to a great authentic Polish restaurant in the old city center of Krakow. The restaurant was called “Gościnna Chata” which translates to “Guest Cottage”. The restaurant was located on a side street in the town center of Krakow.

Entrance to Gościnna Chata restaurant in Krakow

What attracted us to the restaurant was the unique decorations and the authentic Polish menu. We went into the restaurant entrance area and could see a quaint waiting area. There was a genuine fur draped over a bench for people to sit and wait for a table.

The main area of the restaurant was decorated with some unique items. There were wooden carvings of different faces throughout the restaurant.

We sat down at our table and looked around the room. There were so many unique things to see. There was hanging wooden baskets with candles in them and holes in the ceiling and straw on the rafters.

There were sculptures throughout the restaurant and the staff was also dressed in traditional Polish attire.

Ray with a carved wooden statue looking over his shoulder

We ordered some traditional polish food and enjoyed the great atmosphere of the restaurant. The waitress brought over a complimentary polish appetizer which consisted of bread, butter, and a lightly flavored lard.

Lard as part of the appetizer at the restaurant.

We tried the lard and it was quite tasty although we did not eat much of it. The waitress also lit a candle on the table which was a little concerning for Ray. He felt the candle was a bit too unprotected to be used in a restaurant.

Bev at the restaurant with a candle lit on the table.

We had some polish soup and assorted polish styled dishes which were very tasty and enjoyable. After our meal, we went downstairs to check out the decor.