Culture

The view over Podgórze and Cracow from the south.
Photo Lesław Rzewuski, 1892

In 1860 Walery Rzewuski photographed Cracow's view from Krzemionki podgórskie. Because at those times wide-angle lenses hadn't been known yet, he made it on three plates and sticked the prints together. Sadly that panorama probably didn't survive to our times and is known only from litography of Jędrzej Brydak, made on its basis. After the death of Walery the studio was taken over and led by his brother Lesław, who probably is an author of presented photo. We can see, below slopes of Krzemionki, building structure of Podgórze, within the streets: Krzemionki, Zamoyskiego and Kalwaryjska. The long building on the right is a hall of rajtszula (manege) in the complex of austrian caserns, built after 1860 and pulled down around 1955. On the left bank of the Vistula one can see the quater Kazimierz with its characteristic buildings: the brick-yard with a chimney, Saint Michael's Church in Skałka (on the Rock), and going further right: the churches of Saint Catherine, of the Hospitallers and Corpus Christi Church. Deep inside one notice the hill of Wawel as well as roofs and towers of Cracow's Old Town.

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The view over Podgórze from the left bank of the Vistula.
Photo Ignacy Krieger, around 1875

In the foreground you can see almost free of buildings environs of to-day's streets Starowiślna and Podgórska. The Vistula's banks are not regulated, stone embankments will not appear before 1907. On the right the bridge of Franz Josef I, the first permanent bridge over the Vistula from 1850. It was demolished in the 30' of 20th century and up to nowadays only abutments survived. Deep inside - Podgórze, which became city on the basis of Josef's the Second edict from 1874 and became a quater of Cracow as late as in 1915. On the left stands out the tower of the first Saint Josef's Church that stood on the market of Podgórze. Close to the river one notices the steem-mills of Baruch, further on the right - original building structure of Podgórze, dating back to 18th century. On the horizon, on eminences of Krzemionki, artillery "maximilian" tower, huge cylindrical defence structure, beeing a fragment of austrian Podgórze fortification system as a part of Fortress Cracow from the half of 19th century. Nowadays, on the place of the pulled-down fort, there are buldings of Cracow's Television Centre.