Grodzka Street, Kraków

Long before chartered Kraków and its Main Square existed, a trade route from Hungary and Bohemia to Mazovia and Greater Poland already ran this way. Grodzka Street leads from a corner of the Main Market Square to the foot of Wawel Hill and is the oldest section of the Royal Route, along which Polish kings rode to the castle. Within less than a kilometre it packs in an 11th-century Romanesque church, the city's first Baroque church, Poland's longest Foucault pendulum and houses where Veit Stoss, Mikołaj Rej and the actress Helena Modjeska lived.

History: from the Okół settlement to the Royal Route

The street's name appears in town records as early as the second half of the 13th century. Before the town charter, this was the site of the Okół settlement, centred on the Romanesque Church of St Andrew, and the street ended at the Grodzka Gate, beyond which a road led to Stradom and the Vistula crossing. After the great fire of 1850, the left-hand frontage between the Main Square and Dominican Square was set back — the street had previously been a third narrower. In 1940–1941, during the occupation, the Germans demolished the "Dębno" tenement, which had blocked part of the view of Wawel from Grodzka.

What to see along the way

• St Andrew's Church (no. 54) — a fortress-like, twin-towered Romanesque basilica from the late 11th century. According to the chronicler Jan Długosz, local residents took refuge inside during the Mongol invasion of 1241.
• Church of Sts Peter and Paul (no. 52a) — Kraków's first Baroque building, founded for the Jesuits by King Sigismund III Vasa and completed by Giovanni Trevano. The fence with statues of the apostles was made by Dawid Heel in 1722; today copies stand there, as acid rain wore away the faces of the originals.
• Collegium Iuridicum (no. 53) — a late 14th-century building that housed the university's law faculty from 1403, with a courtyard surrounded by arcaded galleries.
• Wyspiański Pavilion (no. 19) — a contemporary building from 2005–2007 with stained glass made to designs by the artist Stanisław Wyspiański, on the site of a house demolished in 1939.
• Podelwie House (no. 32) — with a 15th-century stone lion above the portal, already mentioned in 1431.
• St Giles' Church (no. 67) — a small Gothic church from the early 14th century beneath the Wawel walls, with the Katyń Cross on the little square in front.

Interesting facts

The Church of Sts Peter and Paul holds Poland's longest Foucault pendulum — 46.5 m — with demonstrations of the Earth's rotation on Thursdays. The preacher Piotr Skarga is buried in its crypt. Veit Stoss had his workshop at no. 39 in the second half of the 15th century, and Helena Modjeska was born at no. 22 in 1840. The writer Mikołaj Rej, known as the father of Polish literature, lived in the Odrowąż manor on the site of no. 60 from 1541 to 1569.

Tripto tip

Walking from the Main Square to Wawel takes a quarter of an hour, but if you step into St Andrew's and Sts Peter and Paul, allow 1–1.5 hours. The street is very crowded during the day, so the façades and apostle statues are best seen early in the morning. Check pendulum demonstration times with the parish before your visit. The walk ends naturally on Wawel Hill, and from All Saints' Square it is easy to detour to the Franciscan and Dominican basilicas.