The
RenaissanceThe Renaissance in Poland lasted from the late 15th century to the late 16th century and is widely considered to be the Golden Age of Polish culture. The Kingdom of Poland , ruled by the Jagiellon dynasty, actively participated in the European Renaissance...
Sukiennice (
Cloth Hall,
DraperDraper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
s' Hall) in
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, Sukiennice was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the East – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported
textileA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
s,
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
, and
saltA salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Kraków – Poland's royal capital – was among the most magnificent cities in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
already from before the time of the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
.
The
RenaissanceThe Renaissance in Poland lasted from the late 15th century to the late 16th century and is widely considered to be the Golden Age of Polish culture. The Kingdom of Poland , ruled by the Jagiellon dynasty, actively participated in the European Renaissance...
Sukiennice (
Cloth Hall,
DraperDraper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
s' Hall) in
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, Sukiennice was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the East – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported
textileA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
s,
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
, and
saltA salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Kraków – Poland's royal capital – was among the most magnificent cities in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
already from before the time of the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
. However, its prosperity would not last indefinitely. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the
Partitions of PolandThe Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands...
at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for Sukiennice in 1870 under Austro-Hungarian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. Nevertheless, a change in political fortunes for the
Kingdom of Galicia and LodomeriaThe Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria official ) was a kingdom dependent to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1917; independent from July 26, 1917 to November 14, 1918. This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and...
ushered in a local revival of sorts due to newly established Legislative Assembly or
SejmThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. Each member of Sejm is called Poseł.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-chamber Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the King. It was commonly termed a three-estate parliament...
, and the successful renovation of the Cloth Hall was one of the proudest achievements of this period.
The Hall has hosted countless distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries. Britain's Prince Charles and
Emperor Akihitois the current of Japan, and the 125th Emperor according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989, and is the 20th most senior monarch or lifelong leader...
of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
were welcomed here in 2002. In times gone by, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had liberated the city from the
Austrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867...
in 1809. Aside from its grand history and great cultural value, the hall still flourishes as a bustling center of commerce, albeit offering items for sale that are radically different from those of previous centuries — mainly souvenirs for tourists.
Other, similar cloth halls have existed in other Polish as well as other European cities such as
in Ypres, BelgiumThe Cloth Hall , of Ypres, Belgium, was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages, when it served as the main market and warehouse for the Flemish city's prosperous cloth industry. The original structure, erected mainly in the 13th century and completed 1304, lay in ruins after...
; Braunschweig, and
in Leeds, EnglandThe 1st White Cloth Hall is a Grade II* listed building in the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England.-History:Originally named The White Cloth Hall, it was opened in 1711 as a response to the building of a covered cloth hall by the merchants of Wakefield in 1710, in order to entice...
; but the one in
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
is the best-known and best-preserved.
See also
- Sukiennice Museum
Sukiennice Museum a.k.a. The Gallery of the 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice, is a division of the National Museum in Kraków, Poland....
- National Museum, Kraków
The National Museum in Kraków , established in 1879, is the main branch of Poland's National Museum, which has many permanent collections around the country.-History:...
- Kraków Main Market Square
- Kraków-Stare Miasto
Kraków Stare Miasto is the central, historic district of Kraków, Poland . It is the most prominent example of an Old Town in the country also, because for many centuries, Kraków was the royal capital of Poland, until Sigismund III Vasa relocated the court to Warsaw in 1596...
- Kraków
Kraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
- Culture of Kraków
Kraków is considered by many to be the cultural capital of Poland. It was named the European Capital of Culture by European Union for the year 2000. The city has some of the best museums in the country and several famous theaters...
External links