Town Hall Tower in

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 ...

() is one of the main focal points of the Main Market Square in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

district of Kraków. The Tower is the only remaining part of the old

Kraków Town Hall The historic Town Hall of Kraków, known as Ratusz in Polish, was demolished in 1820. It was constructed of brick and mortar for the first time in 1316 as one of its subsequent several versions built over the following centuries. It was the city' ...

(''

Ratusz A ''Ratusz'' (; ; ) is a historic administrative building in countries that adopted the Magdeburg rights such as the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and others. It was distinguished with a bell tower ( lookout or a clock tow ...

, see painting, below'') demolished in 1820 as part of the city plan to open up the Main Square. Its cellars once housed a city prison with a

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

torture chamber. In 1967, after a complex conservation which underlined its gothic ancestry, the tower was put under the management of the

Historical Museum of Kraków The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków () in Kraków, Lesser Poland, was granted the status of an independent institution in 1945. Originally, it was a branch of the Old Records Office of Kraków, in operation from 1899. The museum holdings ...

History

Built of stone and brick at the end of the 14th century, the massive

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

tower of the early Town Hall stands 70 metres tall and leans just 55 centimetres, the result of a storm in 1703.Krakow attractions at TripAdvisor.com
/ref> The top floor of the tower with an observation deck is open to visitors.Krakow attractions at InYourPocket.com
/ref> Crown on top of Town Hall Tower in Krakow

Crown on top of Town Hall Tower in Krakow

The original Gothic helmet adorning the tower was consumed by fire caused by a lightning in 1680. The ensuing reconstruction of the tower took place between 1683 and 1686. The work was directed by the royal architect Piotr Beber, who designed the new and imposing

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

helmet, which survived only until 1783. At that time, the helmet began to crumble, and was replaced by a smaller structure (''right'') sponsored by Archbishop

Kajetan Sołtyk Kajetan Ignacy Sołtyk (12 November 1715 – 30 July 1788) was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop of Kiev from 1756, bishop of Kraków from 13 March 1759. Biography Kajetan Sołtyk was the son of Józef Sołtyk, castellan of Lublin and court ma ...

. The entrance to the tower is guarded by a pair of stone lions carved at the beginning of the 19th century. They were brought to Kraków from the

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

palace of the Morstin family in

Pławowice Pławowice is a hamlet lying within the Voivodeship of Małopolska and the County of Proszowice. The river Szreniawa runs alongside Pławowice and its municipal capital of Nowe Brzesko is found 5 km away in the direction of Kraków. At pr ...

during the renovations of 1961–1965, during which the bay windows on the second floor of the tower were incorrectly reconstructed by a local TV personality, architect Wiktor Zin. Over the entrance is the original Gothic

portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...

with the city

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

and the emblem of Poland. For many years the basement beneath the tower has been used as the performance space called the Stage beneath the Town Hall of the renowned Teatr Ludowy. The tower serves as one of many branches of The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków featuring permanent display of photographs of the Market Square Exhibition.

Town Hall Tower today

The Town Hall Tower is today one of the focal points on the Krakow Main Square. From the highest floor, visitors can admire a wonderful panoramic view of Krakow. Additionally, in the middle of the deck, there is an old clock mechanism that visitors have the opportunity to examine from inside. The mechanism of the clock is controlled by radio waves receiving the signals from the transmitter in Mainfligen, which gives it the accuracy of the atomic time standard. In the event of a power failure, the clock stops and sets back automatically to the correct time when the power is back on. Also, the clock sets a time change itself in accordance with daylight saving time.

References

External links

About the Main Market Square at www.inyourpocket.com

How to get there?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Town Hall Tower, Krakow Buildings and structures in Kraków Clock towers in Poland Gothic architecture in Kraków Krakow Towers completed in the 13th century Inclined towers