One day in KrakowKings, memory and dragons
Start early at the Barbican with "The Royal Road: from the Barbican to Wawel Castle", which takes you through St Florian's Gate, across the Rynek and down Kanonicza Street to the hill. On the way down, have pierogi for lunch at a milk bar on Grodzka Street. In the afternoon, a fifteen-minute walk brings you to Kazimierz for "Kazimierz and Podgórze: the Jewish town and its destruction", from the Remuh Synagogue to Ghetto Heroes Square. Head back to the Rynek at dusk for "Kraków of dragons and sorcerers", then warm up with a bowl of żurek.
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Morning
The Royal Road: from the Barbican to Wawel Castle
- Barbican and St Florian's GateA round brick bastion from 1499 and the Gothic gate through which kings and ambassadors entered: this is where the Royal Road begins.
- St Mary's BasilicaThe burghers' church of Kraków holds one of the largest Gothic altarpieces in the world, carved by Veit Stoss between 1477 and 1489.
- Rynek Główny and the Cloth HallOne of Europe's largest medieval squares, laid out in 1257, where a duke paid homage to the king and Kościuszko swore to lead an uprising.
- Church of Saints Peter and PaulKraków's first great Baroque church, with twelve stone apostles standing guard over Grodzka Street.
- Kanonicza StreetThe street of the cathedral canons: Gothic and Renaissance houses, the chronicler Długosz and a young priest called Karol Wojtyła.
- Wawel Hill: castle and cathedralFor centuries the centre of Polish power: kings were crowned and buried here, and the nation's heroes rest here too.
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Lunch
Try Pierogi at Bar Mleczny Pod Temidą. ul. Grodzka 43, Cracovia
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Afternoon
Kazimierz and Podgórze: the Jewish town and its destruction
- Wolnica Square and Kazimierz Town HallThe main square of a town that once rivalled Kraków: this is where the story of Kazimierz begins, founded by a king in 1335.
- Plac Nowy and the OkrąglakA brick rotunda from 1900 where poultry was once slaughtered according to Jewish ritual, and where people now queue for zapiekanka.
- Remuh Synagogue and CemeteryA small 16th-century synagogue still in use and, beside it, the grave of one of the great sages of Ashkenazi Judaism.
- Old SynagoguePoland's oldest surviving synagogue: a fortress-like building that heard Kościuszko speak and was used as a warehouse under the occupation.
- Ghetto Heroes SquareSeventy empty chairs mark the square where the Jews of the Kraków Ghetto were gathered before deportation.
- Oskar Schindler's FactoryThe enamelware factory where a German businessman and Nazi Party member ended up protecting more than a thousand Jews.
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Early evening
Kraków of dragons and sorcerers
- St Mary's: the broken-off bugle callEvery hour a trumpet sounds from the tallest tower and stops dead. The explanation everyone repeats dates from the 20th century.
- Cloth Hall: the knife and the pigeonsAn iron knife hangs under the arches of the Cloth Hall. Legend links it to a murder between brothers; history, to market justice.
- Collegium Maius: magic at the universityCopernicus studied in the Jagiellonian University's oldest building; according to a 16th-century text, magic was taught here too.
- St Andrew's: the church that held out against the MongolsAn 11th-century Romanesque church built like a fortress: according to Jan Długosz, locals held out here when the Mongols sacked Kraków in 1241.
- Wawel Cathedral: dragon bones and a cursed tombHuge bones hang beside the door of the cathedral of Poland's kings. Tradition says that if they ever fall, the world will end.
- Smocza Jama and the Wawel DragonAt the foot of the hill, a cave and a fire-breathing bronze dragon recall Kraków's oldest legend.
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Dinner
Try Żurek at Wierzynek. Rynek Główny 16, Cracovia