Kraków

City with county rights

Area: 327 km² Population: 741.510 Postal code: 31-004 Dialling code: +48 (0)12 International airport: KRK - Kraków Balice

Cracow - The Royal way Cracow - The royal castle Cracow - Kazimierz Cracow - Other major historical monuments Cracow - Major museums and art galleries Cracow - An excursion out of town Cracow - Stag Weekends

CRACOW – THE CITY OF SCIENCE, CULTURE AND YOUTH

Cracow was awarded the title of European City of Culture in 2000. With a population of nearly one million, it is one of the most frequently visited cities in Poland and considered to be one of the most captivating cities in Europe. Cracow has traditionally been one of the major centres of Polish culture; and continues to remain so, with its great theatres, magnificent museums and art galleries, as well as of innumerable cafés, restaurants and pubs.

Cracow has entered the third millennium as one of the best known Polish cities in the world. It is also the most dynamically developing of Polish cities; thanks to recent economic transformation processes in Poland, the position of Cracow in the country as well as on the international market has been systematically growing. This city has become a vibrant centre of scientific, economic and social life. Cracow's importance is not only due to its impressive historical heritage but also to the fact that it attracts well-educated, creative and enterprising people and has a great human potential.

Cracow is an important centre of science and learning: its renowned Jagiellonian University (over 600 years old) is one of the oldest schools in Europe and sixteen other institutions of higher learning offer education to 130,000 students. This city is one of those places in the world where people travel to get familiar with history. Cracow is a city with character and soul, where old intermingles with modern, sometimes even with avant-garde.

This great historical city offers many opportunities for rest and recreation, with tourist attractions which are unique and nowhere else to be found.

CRACOVIAN CULINARY SPECIALITIES

Such dishes as goulash or boiled beef with dill or horse-radish sauce are available in many Cracovian restaurants. Very typical for Cracovian cuisine is maczanka Cracovian style: slices of pork stewed with onion and cumin, served with sauce on a special roll. Roast duck with mushrooms served with buckwheat kasha is another popular speciality. Oscypek and bundz, the only two original Polish sheep cheeses are made in the Podhale region near Cracow. The Cracovian vanilla-flavoured cheese cake is a delightful dessert. Two other tasty desserts served in Cracovian cafés are pishingier, a wafer cake with alcoholic chocolate layers, and the famous Pope's cream cake. Visible everywhere since they are sold by street vendors are the Cracovian obwarzanki or cracknels, often dusted with coarse salt or poppy-seeds.