Krakow, Poland

Here are some interesting things about some of the places I visited in Krakow,the ancient capital of Poland.

Pope John Paul II was from Krakow. This is where he used to study.

This is the huge St Zygmunt Bell in the tower of the ancient cathedral on Wawel Hill. We had to climb up very steep stairs to get to the top where the bell hung. It takes at least 12 people to pull the ropes to ring the bell. It is rung on national and religious holidays.It was also rung when the Polish Archbishop Karol Wojtyla became the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years.The bell weighs 11 tons and is the largest of five bells hanging in the tower.

This is a view of Krakow taken from Wawel Hill where there is a castle and the cathedral where all the Polish kings were crowned and buried.This cathedral has 18 chapels inside it.

The oldest church is St Mary's Basilica where a bugle player will play a short melodious bugle call known as The Hejnal, meaning "Wake up" on the hour at every hour from the left tower, 54 meters above the city but the melody he plays is always cut short. This is to commemorate the person who blew the bugle to warn the town folks of an attack by Tartars in 1241. He played a warning song to arouse the inhabitants to arms but he was killed by a Tartar arrow piercing his throat so his music was abruptly cut off mid-melody. I feel that this is a very touching tribute to the unknown hero and that it is still being paid today says much about a country that honors the death of its son who aroused the city to defence, thus saving it.
Another interesting place is the Cloth Hall in Market square, the centre of trade for Krakow's merchants. Today it houses myriad small stalls hawking souvenirs and lovely amber jewelry.