Rakowicki Cemetery

Rakowicki Cemetery (Cmentarz Rakowicki, roughly "rah-ko-VEETS-kee") in Kraków is the city's oldest municipal cemetery and one of Poland's most important burial grounds. Spread over more than 42 hectares of tree-lined avenues, it holds painters, poets, actors, politicians, insurgents and soldiers – as well as the parents and brother of Pope John Paul II. For visitors, it is a quiet, deeply atmospheric walk through two centuries of Polish history and funerary sculpture.

Where it is

The cemetery is at 26 Rakowicka Street, roughly 1.5 km north-east of the Main Market Square and a short walk from Kraków Główny, the main train and bus station. Trams and buses run along Rakowicka and Lubomirskiego streets. If you are flying into Kraków's Balice airport, the airport train takes you to the main station, from where you can walk here in well under half an hour.

A brief history

The cemetery was laid out in 1801–1802 on a suburban farm after burials next to city-center churches were banned. The first funeral took place in January 1803. Over the 19th and 20th centuries the grounds were enlarged several times, and in 1839 Karol Kremer gave them their park-like layout. At the center stands the Neoclassical Chapel of the Resurrection (1861–1862), funded by the Helcel family. Today the cemetery contains about 75,000 graves, is still in use, and has been a protected historic monument since 1976.

Notable graves

• Jan Matejko, Poland's great history painter.
• Wisława Szymborska, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• Helena Modrzejewska (known in America as Helena Modjeska), the celebrated actress.
• Singer Ewa Demarczyk, playwright Lucjan Rydel, socialist leader Ignacy Daszyński and actor Jerzy Stuhr.
• The Wojtyła family tomb, where Karol and Emilia Wojtyła and their son Edmund – the parents and brother of John Paul II – are buried. It is one of the most visited graves.

Walk the Avenue of the Distinguished, look for the quarters of 19th-century insurgents and Polish Legion soldiers, and the military section set aside in 1920 as War Cemetery No. 388. Fans of sculpture should seek out Konstanty Laszczka's "Angel of Vengeance."

How to visit

Allow 1.5–2 hours to walk the main avenues and find a few key graves. Sections are marked with letters and numbers, so use the online grave search and locator on the municipal cemetery board's website before you go. Signage is in Polish. Autumn is the most beautiful season; on the evenings of November 1 and 2 (All Saints' and All Souls' Days) the cemetery glows with thousands of candles – a moving sight, but very crowded.

This is an active cemetery: keep your voice down, don't step on graves and give funerals space.

Opening hours and admission (as of October 2026)

• Address: ul. Rakowicka 26, 31-510 Kraków.
• Opening hours: April–September 7 am–8 pm; October–March 7 am–6 pm.
• Admission: free.
• Contact: Municipal Cemetery Board (ZCK), +48 12 619 99 00, sekretariat@zck-krakow.pl.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, especially if you are interested in Polish history or the life of John Paul II, or simply want a peaceful break from the crowds of the Old Town. Combine it with the nearby Kraków Główny station area and walk back to the Main Market Square through the Planty park ring.