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vivakrakow.com

About Me

KRAKOW is one of the oldest, the biggest and the most beautiful cities in Poland. It is its former capital and the seat of the kings residing in Wawel . It is a place of incredibly rich history, the one which for ages has been a witness of the events most important for Poland. The name of the city stems from the name of its founder, a legendary king Krak.

The heart of Krakow is the Main Square , enormous square of the area of over 40 000 square metres, magnificent representative space, marked out during the city location in 1257. However, it must be kept in mind that the city itself had existed a long time before that event. The Main Square is surrounded by centuries-old, historic houses, and on it there are: the Cloth Hall , St. Mary’s Church , the Church of St. Adalbert and the City Hall tower.

Krakow is called “Slavic Rome” due to immense amount of temples. While walking around the city we can often notice, above roofs of houses, tall church towers. In a small distance form the Main Square there is Kazimierz – once a separate city, currently one of the districts of Krakow famous for historic places connected with Jewish culture. For many years it was a place of a coexistence of people of different nationalities, cultures and religions.

Krakow plays an incredibly important cultural, touristic, educational, economic role. It is a city of tradition present in almost all aspects of life. There is a multiplicity of museums, theatres and galleries here. In the vicinity of the Main Square and in Kazimierz with every step you find pubs and restaurants , often with original interiors, located in historic medieval houses. Krakow is alive 24/7.


Krakow is situated in southern Poland, by the Vistula River, at the joining of a few geographical regions – Krakow Gate, Valley of Sandomierz, Valley of Oświęcim and Foot-hills of Western Beskidy. Neighbouring areas are as beautiful as the City itself. You really should visit Zakopane , Niepołomice, Ojcowski National Park, and flow down the Dunajec River Gorges in Pieniny.

Portal Vivakraków is your personal Krakow guide. Go sightseeing around this marvellous and unusual city with us. Welcome!

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My Blog

History of Nowa Huta

Nowa Huta is a city designed as a whole in advance which currently is a district of Krakow. Its creation was the greatest undertaking of so-called Six-year Plan of Economic Growth and Building the Bas...
Posted by on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:12:00 GMT

Krakow - The legend of Lajkonik

Lajkonik, called in Polish - Zwierzyniec horse or Tartar, is one of symbols of the city of Krakow. It is a little horse with a bearded rider on wearing a characteristic sharp-pointed hat. Its image is...
Posted by on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:48:00 GMT

Krakow - The Legend of the Krzysztofory Palace

There are a few Krakow legends related to the Krzysztofory Palace located in the Main Market Square. One of them says that the tenement house belonged to Krzysztofor, who dealt with magic. It was supp...
Posted by on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:18:00 GMT

Krakow - The legend of two towers of St. Marys Church

There is a legend related to the two towers of the St. Mary's Church explaining their different height. In the 13th century two brothers started to build the towers. The elder took the southern one, t...
Posted by on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:55:00 GMT

Krakow - The legend of the Wawels Dragon

The Wawel's Dragon is a mythical creature that used to live in the cave on the Wawel hill and terrorized the inhabitants of ancient Krakow. They were forced to provide the monster with cattle, though ...
Posted by on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:59:00 GMT