Poland in photo riddles

Urghhh!! I would imagine the stench would have been enough to keep any potential invaders at bay!


Inside the Barbican? That looks to be a scale model of Kraków's Barbican minus the turrets. Is that how it originally looked when it was built?

Those pics at the bottom are the ruins of Krzyżtopór Castle?

Invaders weren`t scared off by the stench coz they smelled awful themselves. :)

Yes, Krzyżtopór Castle.

Yes, Barbican. Minus the turrets? No, they are there on the model, but the pic quality is bad.

See a closer view. .

And a riddle after it:

What is the function of this building?

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I will have to think about this. I don't have a photo of it and it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Are those angels/cherubs at the top of the building?

No, they are other allegorical figures which represent the main "pillars" of the institution located there.

Hint: Mind the perspective. Where was I taking the pic of that building?

In the meantime

What is this bay window tower attached to?

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Somewhere almost as high up, adjacent building? It's not another scale model is it? I am stumped I'm afraid.


The Sukiennice. The clock in the background is on the town hall tower.

Yes, the adjacent building from the previous photo. :)

Yes, Cloths Hall, the oldest shopping centre in Krakow. :)

Why such a queue?

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I should've known.......
I found the building and looked at it on Google street view. It's on Basztowa and goes round the corner on Zacisze. I can't find out what it is though! Google keeps giving me stupid information.......

As for the queue, I will need to think some more......

It is NBP - National Bank of Poland. :)

Hints: The Old Town. May. Night. :):)

Meanwhile:

What casts that shadow?

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I forgot to add: those figures on top are allegorical representations of two pillars of the bank - industry and farming. The building was erected in 1920s.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmach_Narodowego_Banku_Polskiego_w_Krakowie

Arrgh! One of the first things I did was to google banks and financial institutions and it didn't come up so I moved onto museums etc.....


It looks like a dog when I turn the screen round.....I'll have to think about it and the queue, my brain is packing up now!!


Ok, thanks for that :)

I do admire your industrious zeal. Unremittant. If all or at least most of my students were like that, they would need to drag me out of school with a tractor .:):)


You are close with this animal. But the shadow was cast by another mammal.

Isn't that where Joker was recently?

Yes, Milo. Crossaxe was a defensive palace with very rich interiors. E.g, horses were kept in stables tiled with marble and giant mirrors on the walls.

I'm just stubborn :)


I'm still not sure after looking at it on my mobile. Is it a cartoon character animal?

I read that.
Polish history is quite beyond belief sometimes :-)

Nope. It is a very serious mammal, which enabled people do great things in history. And the shadow isn`t a joke, either. It is a serious shadow in Krakow.


Unfortunately, such things as marbled stables contributed to the fall of Poland.

It slightly resembles a boar, but that is not exactly close to a dog.

When I said close, I meant you guessed there is an animal in the shadow. But it doesn`t mean they are so similar/alike.

Besides, boars haven`t enabled people to do great things in history. Even if they did, they were uncomparably surpassed by other mammals.

It's not the Night of Museums is it?

Yes, of course. Why such a queue? People are queuing to get sth for free. :)

Not really. Horses were extremely prized in Polish culture as indeed they have been in many cultures, including England. Have you ever seen the Prince Regent's stables at Brighton Pavillion?

Ok, round 2. Is it a bison or now extinct Auroch?

I haven't, but point taken.
But I meant that Polish history in general is quite beyond belief sometimes, not just those stables.

I don't think Polish history is that extraordinary, not much more so than any other European country anyway. In what way do you find it beyond belief?

1.The Szlachta.
2.Royal elections.
3.The number of times Poland has been partitioned and returned.
4.The Battle of Vienna.

That's just off the top of my head.

All pretty unusual.

The six wives of Henry VIII and the fact that he ordered to murder them all (or nearly all - I don't remember exactly) was also beyond belief.

He only executed two.

"Only" is a very improper word here. It was two too many, don't you think so? [Let those two unfortunate women rest in peace.]


The Polish forces coming to rescue Vienna was Poland's big mistake. We should have left the Habsburgs to their own fate as these were the Habsburgs who almost 100 years later forgot about it and de facto initiated partitions of Poland by taking over some lands south of Nowy Targ in 1768. It would have been much better for Poland if the Austrians had yelled under Ottoman yoke since 1683 onwards.

1. How are the szlachta unusual??
2. Elected monarchies are not peculiar to Poland.
3. Well, rather than the number of times it was partitioned, it would be more true to say that it's highly unusual for a country to disappear completely from the map and cease to be known even by its own name anymore. That is most unusual I agree - and it happened partly because of Poland's unique geographical location right in the centre of Europe between three very powerful neighbours.

4. The Battle of Vienna - what about it??

Executed for adultery.Not so unusual in those brutal times.