Once upon a travelogue...: Six Days in Poland

October, 2016

Krakow is one of the oldest cities in Poland with the settlement of its Old Town dating from the 8th century which, by then, thanks to a busy amber trade, had grown into a bustling commercial center. In 1038, Krakow became Poland’s capital, although, over the next few hundred years, it experienced Mongol invasions that caused the city to be rebuilt twice, the second time resulting in the construction of a series of defensive walls, towers, and gates that could then fully protect Wawel Royal Castle, the home of the Polish kings. During the Renaissance, artists and scientists arrived from Italy and Germany to create buildings, sculptures, and frescoes and the castle, itself, became known as a “Pearl of Renaissance Architecture.” With Sigmund III’s decision to move the Polish capital to Warsaw at the end of the 16th century, the city lost its political clout; later to experience a Swedish invasion, the "Black Death" that took 25,000 lives, and then control by the Austrians, Prussians, and Russians, the latter besieging the city with troops during the First World War.

Post-war, the city enjoyed twenty years of being the first sovereign Polish state only to end with the arrival of the Nazi army in 1939. Wawel Castle became the “seat” of the ‘General Government’ (“the Nazi term for the occupied Polish lands slated to be purified and incorporated into the Rhineland”) and the roundup and shipping of university professors to concentration camps began, continuing with the systematic murder of the Jewish population. The Jewish Ghetto with a population of anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000 was to be liquidated in 1943 with its occupants killed then and there, sent to labor camps, or sent to their deaths in Auschwitz.

Almost 45 years of Soviet rule following World War II ended with free elections in 1989 and, thus, the crumbling of Communist rule. Krakow was designated a UNESCO ‘City of Literature’ in 2013 and, because it has withstood the tests of time and remained well preserved, it is Poland’s most important historical and cultural “artifact.” Visited by millions of tourists annually, it combines a long significant history, old town charm, physical beauty, musical and artistic culture galore, and, of course, offers traditional Polish food and international cuisine for every palette. Three days in this delightful city was just a taste…