Cracow for Tourists from a Different Perspective
The centre of Cracow is a highly attractive place offering a breathtaking architectural cityscape. In the city, there are plenty of vista points that let you see its panorama. The best known of them has for long been the Kościuszko Mound: the destination of numerous national and international excursions. As it commands a view of entire historical and contemporary Krakow, it may be a good idea to locate the places visited earlier from its top and then see them from afar and from a very different perspective.
The Mounds are among Cracow's major attractions. Two of them, the King Krakus in the District of Podgórze and Wanda in today's Nowa Huta are mysterious barrows dating back to pre-Christian times. What made the local tribes undertake such an enormous effort? Whether it was the eagerness to honor their departed chieftains, it is certain that the mounds had strategic importance and were used for vigil and observation.
In modern times, further mounds were raised in homage to national heroes. One of them is Kościuszko Mound mentioned earlier, the other - Józef Piłsudski Mound. Built after the territory of Poland had been partitioned among three neighboring powers, Kościuszko Mound was a symbol of the Polish struggle for independence. The buildings at its foot are remnants of a former fort. There are few who remember that in the Austro-Hungarian Empire Krakow was considered a fortress, yet among those few, there are a number of aficionados of military architecture who are strongly attracted to the remains of the city's fortifications.
Should we leave the very centre of the city and follow the Piłsudski street to the Main Building of the National Museum and the nearby Jagiellonian Library, we quickly reach another Cracow's peculiarity -- the Błonia: a gigantic common green not more than a few hundred meters away from the Grand Market. Its flat meadow-like plane provides an ideal recreation area and premises for most special events: each of the Holy Masses celebrated here by Pope John Paul II gathered over a million people. In other times, Błonia lend its expanse to a variety of festivities and even to ballooning championships. Next to Błonia, there are the city's two major sports stadiums, Wisła and Cracovia, and Jordana Park. Towering in a distance over the Błonia is Kościuszko Mound, on whose other side lays Wolski Forest: another highly picturesque recreational area. Situated in the forest are Cracow's zoological garden and Piłsudski Mound, and in its vicinity - the famous renaissance Villa of Decius with its charming park.
The road on the other side of the Vistula river (Wisła) takes us to the ancient hamlet of Tyniec with its imposing Benedictine Abbey overlooking the river - worth visiting in summer during one of the series of magnificent organ concerts. Walking near the city is a great idea for the warmer days. From May to September the city can be admired from yet another perspective: the river face is available from decks of pleasure boats cruising the Vistula. Entirely different experience is an excursion to Nowa Huta, the district that grew in 1950s around the daunting metallurgical plant. The Centre of Nowa Huta is credited for being a model example of socialist realism in architecture.
Anja
