Editor’s note: I have never been to Poland, partially for practical reasons as it is harder to reach from Western Europe, and partially for emotional reasons due to the concentration camps here. But I recognize the importance of visiting, and Sam’s articles (you’ll read more soon) are certainly inspirational. For more of Sam Spector’s amazing writing, click here to visit his index page.

Recently I wrote about my favorite city in Europe, Prague. (Click here to read part one and here for part two from Prague.) It is hard not to love Prague with its fantastic medieval old town, great history, preserved Jewish quarter, and affordability. If you are a fan of Prague, and I have yet to find someone who is not, then you will love Krakow for all the reasons that I just listed. Krakow is a good city to pair with Prague, as Poland’s second largest city of around 800,000 people is a 5.5 hour drive from Prague and 3 hours south of Poland’s capital of Warsaw. With a lot of greenery and located on a bend of the Vistula River, Poland’s southern city is its most charming and scenic. However, while Krakow is beautiful, its history has at times been tragic. While I have had the good fortune of visiting Krakow on three occasions, I probably would never have been to this city if it were not for the fact that one of the worst places in history, Auschwitz-Birkenau, is a mere hour west of Krakow. While this article will focus more on Krakow itself, Auschwitz-Birkenau is a sad place that every person has a duty to visit in their lifetime if they are able to do so in order to bear witness at the evil that people can do to each other, and it is impossible to visit Krakow without stopping at Auschwitz (you can read my separate article on visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau).

While Krakow has become a site of pilgrimage for Jews from around the world due to Auschwitz, there are numerous other significant places in the city to visit that Jewish and/or World War II historians would want to see. A place that you can start your visit in Krakow is Kazimierz, the historic Jewish quarter. This neighborhood is named in tribute to King Casimir III, the 14th century king who welcomed Jews into Poland when they were expelled from Western Europe, passed protections to safeguard them, and made it punishable by death to forcibly kidnap and convert Jewish children, a sadly common practice in Europe. The main Jewish street is Szeroka Street, which has a nice square with a Holocaust memorial and several Jewish restaurants. It is in this square that you will commonly find Hasidic Jews walking dressed in all black and where Jewish cultural events will happen. Walk over to Bawol Square and check out the murals that have Yiddish writing and depict Jewish history and culture on them. Fortunately, Krakow is more similar to Prague in that much of its buildings and synagogues were preserved during World War II, unlike Warsaw, which was nearly entirely leveled.  However, the city did not escape unscathed. Not only were the majority of Jews killed during the Holocaust, but in the months following the Holocaust, an antisemitic Polish mob attacked the Jewish quarter and burned down the 17th century Kupa Synagogue.

A few synagogues that still stand that are worth visiting though are the 15th century Old Synagogue, the 16th century Renaissance and Art Nouveau Remah Synagogue, and the 19th century Tempel Synagogue. Start with the Old Synagogue, which has been turned into a museum of the Krakow Jewish community, giving you a good background before you visit the other places. The gothic-style synagogue has a bema (platform) in the middle of the room and beautiful pillars leading to a curved vaulted ceiling.  The Remah Synagogue is much smaller but is famous for its beautiful, frescoed ceiling in its intimate sanctuary. Next to the Remah synagogue is the old Jewish cemetery of Krakow that dates back to the mid-1500s. The medieval cemetery is peaceful and beautiful to walk through. The Tempel Synagogue is the most striking synagogue in Krakow and was the primary Reform synagogue of the town. It has a large sanctuary that is built in a similar style to the Moorish classical Reform synagogues of the time, and the outside likewise has a beautiful white Moorish exterior worth seeing. In Kazimierz there is also a museum of Galician Jewish History that one should visit to check out a history of Jews in this region. Galicia was a region that stretched from Eastern and Southern Poland into Ukraine and Belarus and was at one time the home to the largest Jewish population in the world. This museum chronicles, largely through a photo exhibition, what Jewish life and synagogues were like in the region. Kazimierz is not just about what once was though, as Krakow is a town that has a growing Jewish population, especially now that younger people are wanting to reconnect with their heritage post-communist rule. Swing by and visit the inspiring Jewish Community Center, especially for a Friday night Shabbat dinner, to see that Krakow is not just a city where Judaism once was and where it was nearly destroyed, but it is a place where Judaism continues today.

The Nazis located the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow in another part of town called Podgorze. Today at Ghetto Heroes Square, where the deportations would take place, stand 70 chairs, lined up as if for roll call, representing the 70,000 Jews of Krakow who perished during the Holocaust. The chairs are in a busy part of town and next to a subway station; as people hurriedly rush to school and work, they are forced to move around the chairs and thus confront the sad history of what took place here. At one end of the square is a small museum of what was the Eagle Pharmacy. During the Holocaust, the pharmacists here would provide aid, shelter, and support for the Jews, and would also help them by giving them hair dye to make older Jews look younger to avoid being sent to death camps. It is worth a brief visit. More famously, near the square is Oskar Schindler’s factory where he saved hundreds of Jews by giving them “essential jobs”. While the outside memorial at the factory is moving with pictures of those whom Schindler saved, I was not overly impressed with the museum, which focused more on the war as a whole than it did on Schindler, thus repeating what you will find at many other museums.

While I have focused on the Jewish history of Krakow thus far, of equal importance is the Catholic history of the city. In particular there are many homages to the man formerly known as Karol Jozef Wojtyla, who was Krakow’s archbishop until 1978 when he became Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope to serve in the role in more than 450 years; he radically advanced the church, and was posthumously declared a saint, becoming the pride of the town. As archbishop and cardinal, his primary church was the Wawel Cathedral, Poland’s most significant cathedral dating back 1000 years. Wawel Cathedral was built on top of Wawel Hill, where the Wawel Castle was added in the 13th and 14th century. The castle complex and cathedral overlook the Old Town and the Vistula River. It was at this cathedral that Polish monarchs were coronated, and in the castle, built on Casimir III’s orders, where they would reside. For a sense of the grandeur of the Polish monarchy, tour these culturally significant spots, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At the base of the hill is a cave where, legend has it, a dragon once lived. The legend is that a dragon who lived in this cave would eat all the livestock and young maidens of the town; the desperate king promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to whoever could slay the dragon. Surprisingly, a young cobbler stepped up to the challenge and rather than using brute force, stuffed a fake sheep with sulfur. When the dragon ate it, his insides burned, and he went and started to drink all the water from the river until he exploded. As a result of this story, there is a fire breathing dragon sculpture outside the cave, and the dragon has become the symbol of the city.

Just down the hill from the castle is the Main Market Square of Krakow, which might be Europe’s largest medieval square. The square has many restaurants, a giant sculpture of Poland’s national poet Adam Mickiewicz and the imposing 14th century Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The church has many beautiful pieces of art, a spectacular blue altar, and a large vault. On the other opposite side of the square is a marketplace with outdoor food and drink stands and many artisans selling Poland’s prized gem, amber, at affordable prices in beautiful pieces of jewelry. Within the walls of the Old Town are numerous great restaurants that often entertain visitors with folk shows and traditional dances.

In addition to Auschwitz, there is one other must-do day trip that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site a short distance from Krakow, and that is the Wieliczka Salt Mine, only 20 minutes outside of Krakow. The Wieliczka Salt Mine dates to the 13th century and was used until the 1990s when flooding and lower demand made it no longer a viable working salt mine. As the salt mine goes down nine levels in dark narrow corridors, this is not a trip for those with mobility problems or claustrophobia. In the salt mine are numerous chapels, including some that still function and have weekly Sunday mass. Throughout the salt mine are beautiful and intricate sculptures showing Polish folklore, significant historical figures, and depictions of Catholic saints and episodes from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The salt mines also contain an underground lake and spectacular ballrooms with beautiful chandeliers. In the mines are gift shops where, in addition to Polish amber, you can buy salt from the mine to use on your table and salt sculptures. Though I have been all over the world, the Wieliczka Salt Mine is truly unique and like nowhere else I have seen.

Though much of the history of Krakow is tragic, while other parts of it are beautiful, Poland’s most charming city is a spot that any traveler will love. Though I often visit a place and say “okay, been here, done that, can cross it off the list”, I have been to Krakow three times now and hope and plan to be back again and again in the future.

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