
Everything you need to know about Kraków before your trip, from currency to language, local festivals, time zones & safety of the water. Plus great ideas about what to see, do and eat while there!
Ruler of the Wiślanie/ Vistulans, a Slavic Lechitian tribe,† he is said to have built the city above a cave occupied by a dragon, Smok Wawelski, (i.e. the Wawel Dragon.) which he slew.
Krakus/ Krak may be related to pre-Slavic krakula = judge's staff/ scepter, evoking authority, kruk = crow / raven evoking intelligence or even dąb = oak tree, a sacred tree in Slavic paganism associated with strength, genealogy, & authority.
† Though this is disputed; the 1st recorded Prince Krakus (Grakch) was in 1190, but the town had already existed ~400 years. Alternatively the city's name could be derived directly from kruk = crow / raven with the legendery fouding figure attached later.

@ a glance essentials:

Language:
Polish
_

Polish Zloty


Water safety
Generally Safe to Drink, taste varies by region.
Many Locals can speak English
Currency:
PLN
Local Transport
Bus, Tram & Trains mostly sufficient
The 2nd largest Polish city🔍, (and most visited) Kraków tracies back to the West Slavic🔍 Wiślanie (or Vistulan) tribe that settled in the area by the 7c AD, establishing a fortified city in the 8c, but humans had been living continuously in/ on the Wawel Hill region of Kraków since the Neolithic period,
Before being incorporated into the 1st unified Polish state🔍 ~990 AD the city was a significant commercial hub under Moravian control, then captured by the Bohemians🔍. But after unification it soon became the de facto capital of the new Kingdom🔍 in 1038, when the king moved his royal court there.
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
MY FAVORITE SPOTS TO...
................ Commemorating a trumpeter 🎺 who warned the city of a Mongol invasion in 1240, a traditional five-note Polish tune is played every hour on the hour for centuries from St. Mary's Basilica🔍. (Only 5 🎶, because the trumpeter was killed, and his original tune stopped short)
The tune is so famous the noon playing is broadcast globally on via radio for Poles around the world.
FUN FACT:
It was largely burned in 13c Mongol invasions and had to be rebuilt. In 1596 the royal court was moved away from Kraków to Warsaw, more centrally located capital within the new, expanded, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, diminishing Kraków's prominence (though the city is still used as Polands coronation site)
At the 1st Partition of Poland in 1772, when the Commonwealth🔍 dissolved, Kraków came under the control of the Habsburgs in the Austrian Empire. It was the epicenter of the 1794 failed uprising against Russian & Prussian forces, (where scythe-wielding peasants famously routed a larger Russian contingent, just outside the city.)
The city briefly joined the Duchy of Warsaw in 1809, (then a client state of Napoleonic France) until it was declared the Free City of Kraków (an independent republic🔍) in 1815 (when Napoleon was defeated in the 100 day war.)
In the 19c it was a refuge for Polish patriots fleeing repression, until insurgents seized parts the city in 1846, which triggered the Austrians to mobilize against the rebels and annex the city, re-absorbing it into the empire🔍, as the capitol of the simultaneously formed Grand Duchy of Kraków.
During WWI Kraków functioned as a fortress city for (now) Austria-Hungary, repelling the Russian advances. After the war, with the seperation of Austria & Hungary, the city was finally reunited with the rest of Poland..
Must Try Local Cuisine:




