Walk in Cracow: Market Square and Wawel Castle
Grodzka st seen from Market Square, Cracow / Wikimedia / CC / Marcin Szala
Grodzka Street
This is the only street that disturbs the regular grid foundation of the medieval city, leading away from the market not at right angles, but obliquely, being like an extension of its diagonal. This street is special after all, simply because it leads to Wawel Castle as part of the so-called. Royal Route. The first section of Grodzka to pl. Wszystkich Świętych (All Saints Square), where in the Wielopolski Palace is the seat of the Municipality of Krakow, is a paradise for shoppers and patrons of restaurants and bars. The rest of Grodzka, running to Wawel Castle, is located in the area of early medieval settlements, and the so-called 'Okół', primarily attracts visitors. Here you can see, among others: the Collegium Iuridicum - one of the oldest buildings of the Jagiellonian University, pl. św. Marii Magdaleny (St. Mary Magdalene Square) with its statue of Fr. Piotr Skarga, churches: St. Peter and St Paul's (św. Piotra i Pawła) and St. Andrew's (św. Andrzeja). The latter is the best preserved Romanesque church in Krakow, erected during the years 1079-1098. At the end of the street, at Wawel, is the former Archbishop's Palace (No. 65), Wladyslaw IV's arsenal and the small św. Idziego church dating from the fourteenth century.