Błonia Park is a vast

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

with an area of 48

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s directly adjacent to the historic centre of the city of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The history of the park began in 1162, when a wealthy nobleman Jaksa z Miechowa – founder of the Polish branch of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre – donated the land between

Zwierzyniec Zwierzyniec () is a town on the Wieprz river in the Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. It has 3,324 inhabitants (2004). Zwierzyniec is the northernmost town of the Roztocze National Park. The park comprises some of the last remaining s ...

and

Łobzów Łobzów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wolbrom, within Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. History As a result of the Partitions of Poland (1772–95), the Galicia area and Kraków ware attribu ...

Norbertine The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Church ...

Nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...

. His intention was to receive a blessing prior to his pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. For the next two centuries the meadow belonged to nuns, who in 1366 exchanged it with the city's authorities for a manor at Florianska Street. The meadow was used by peasants from neighboring villages to graze their cattle. Until the 19th century Błonia Park was largely neglected, and often flooded by the Rudawa river in the spring turning it into

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

with small islands, probably contributing to the spread of epidemics. After draining the swamps, Błonia became perfectly suitable to host large gatherings. In 1809, when the city was incorporated into the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

, Błonia was a place of salute of the troops of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, organized by Prince Jozef Poniatowski and General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski. Today Błonia is a recreation area, frequently hosting large events like concerts and exhibitions. The place is best known for great Masses celebrated by

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1997 and 2002. Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

also celebrated the Mass there during his journey to Poland in May 2006. The opening Mass of the 2016 World Youth Day was held at Błonia Park in July 2016, however the main events, including the Mass celebrated by Pope

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

, were held outside the city. Błonia Park is also used to host popular culture events, such as concerts organized by a local radio station or the Iuvenalia student festival. Pop star

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

's Taking Chances World Tour concert on June 28, 2008 performed to nearly 55,000 people The vast meadow was also used for politicized promotion of the

Małopolska Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

region farming industry by

PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

in 2011 with a herd of 150 sheep trucked in from hundreds of kilometres away for one month, and the city permit worth 3,200 złoty. The last cattle grazed at Błonia in the 1970s.Agnieszka Kliś
Niezwykli goście w Krakowie. "Niektórzy się boją"
Wiadomości: Kraków, 2014 Grupa Onet.pl

References

* Andrzej Kozioł, ''Wielka Łąka'', Jagiellonia Publishing, 2005.
Krakowskie Błonia
at www.krakow4you.com, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Blonia Park Parks in Kraków