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Kraków Visit

Edward Kopka

• 6 min read
Kraków Visit
The main square with St Mary's Basilica.

After the hike at Zakopane we visited Kraków, staying with some friends who lived just outside the city. We visited some of the sights in the surrounding area, including Auswitz, and I also had one afternoon in the old town of Kraków. It was a beautiful day, the weather was warm and sunny with only a few clouds in the sky. I have been to Kraków before and I was excited to see the old town again. I started in the main square and then walked up to the Wawel Castle. The courtyard in the castle was beautiful this time of year and there were extensive flower gardens that I absolutely enjoyed. Here I wanted to share some of these photos with you, I had an absolute blast taking them.

The Sukiennice, a market hall in the centre of the town square. It has a large central corridor with shops lined on both sides and was packed with people.

Wawel Castle as seen from a nearby street. The castle is built on a hill that elevates it above the surrounding city.
Wawel Castle is a huge complex of buildings that surround this courtyard.

Within the courtyard there were some beautiful flower beds, in these pictures I tried to capture the flowers with the various elements of the castle.

Close up photos of some of my favourite flowers in the garden.

One of the roads leading into the inner courtyard of the castle.

Kościuszko Mound

The Kościuszko Mound

Another attraction in Kraków we saw is the Kościuszko Mound, a memorial to the Polish leader Tadeusz Kościuszko, constructed in 1823. The mound is surrounded by a fortress that was built later and today hosts a museum to Kościuszko. From the top we had some nice views of the city.

The view of Krakow from the top of the mound.

Another angle of the mound showing the surrounding fortifications/museum.

Benedictine Abbey

The abbey as seen from across the river.

On our way back from the Kościuszko Mound we stopped by this abbey used by the Benedictine monks. Apparently this place was once used as a fortress by Kościuszko in his fight against the Austrians. We took some pictures from the river bank then crossed the river to visit the abbey.

Some close up photos of the abbey buildings as seen from over the river.

The views from the old fortress wall looking in both directions.

This photo was taken while crossing the river on a ferry, showing the abbey with its reflection in the water.

Auschwitz

On one of our days here I visited the Auschwitz concentration camp again. It is a place I would highly recommend you visit, but not because it is beautiful or nice, but rather because there you can truly experience the scale and tragedy of the holocaust. During World War II, Auschwitz was a concentration camp and death camp where over a million people were murdered. Going to the museum today helped me to truly understand the tragic scale of what happened at Auschwitz. It is a testament to the utter horror and depravity that humanity is capable of. This is why I would recommend everyone to visit, to understand what happened, because I would hope that such a thing would never happen again.

One of the streets at Auschwitz 1, each of the building here are barracks used to house all the inmates, with 500 crammed into each one.
A security fence set up between two barracks.
The execution wall, it is now a memorial to those who were killed here.
The camp of Auschwitz 2 Birkinau, this camp was four times as large as Auschwitz 1. Many of the wooden buildings were destroyed but some, including this watchtower were reconstructed for the museum.
This photo was taken from the old train station at Auschwitz 2, the gate and path shown here went to the death camps, thousands of people would have been forcibly marched down this road to their deaths.
In the distance is the main entrance gate into Auschwitz 2, in the foreground are the remains of the camp barracks.
The plaque at the monument built to the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Lipowiec Castle

Between Oświęcim and Krakow we visited the ruins of an old castle upon a hill. The castle was built in the medieval era and was once used as a prison by the church.

The castle as seen from just outside the ticket office.

The interior of the castle.

The top of the castle had a wonderful view of the countryside.

Thanks for reading – Edward

Written 8th of September 2024

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