Tourism - Route

PODGÓRZE HISTORICAL ROUTE

After the 1st Partition of Poland, Krakow remained within the borders of the Polish Republic. The Vistula River became the boundary. Podgórze, which was until then a suburb of the town of Kazimierz and situated in the territory occupied by the Austrians, obtained city rights from the authorities in 1784 and started to develop much faster economically than Krakow which at that time was undergoing a crisis.

The route begins at the J. Piłsudski Bridge. The passage across the Vistula River has existed for centuries (to be more exact, the passage travelled across the arm of Vistula, initially referred to as Zakazimierka, and then as Nowa Wisła). In 1801 Prince Carol's Bridge was constructed at the end of today's Brodzińskiego Street. After it had been destroyed by a flood, new bridges were built, including a wooden bridge called Podgórski in 1844-50. In 1933 the construction of a steel bridge was finished. The bridge exists until the present day, bearing the name of J. Piłsudski and connecting Krakowska and Legionów Streets.

Crossing the bridge you will arrive at Staromostowa Street in Bodzińksiego Street and the beginning of Józefińska Street, where the construction of stone buildings the Kazimierz suburbs are said to have been begun as early as the Middle Ages. Parts of the ground floors and basements of houses number 1 and 3 at Brodzińskiego Street date back to the 17th century. In the 18th century a number of inns emerged in this area, resembling country manors in form. Those inns contributed greatly to the ancient architectural style of Podgórze. A good example of this kind of inn is the one at 2 Józefińska Street, or "Zajazd Pod Lwem" (The Lion Inn) at 4 Józefińska Street. Also, "Kamienica Paryska" (the Parisian House), erected in approx. 1906 and situated on the Vistula River, is very characteristic of this style.

The route leads through Józefińska and Targowa Streets towards the Bohaterów Getta Square, (the Ghetto Heroes Square) formerly named Zgody Square (the Unity Square). Nearby, at Nadwiślańska Street, the Podgórze power plant was built in 1899 (i.e. six years earlier than in Krakow), its chimney being a prominent element of the view over Podgórze. The area of Na Zjeździe Street is a zone formerly occupied by the Wieliczka salt repository and of the no-longer existing river harbour.

Bohaterów Getta Square is mainly associated with the tragedy of the Krakow Jews in the years of World War II. In this part of Podgórze in 1941 the Nazis created "Jűdischer Wohnbezirk", a Jewish residential district, enclosed by a wall. Some fragments of the district remain at Lwowska Street and in the backyard of the school at Limanowskiego Street. The area that was populated before by 2-3 thousand residents now had to hold around 20 thousand Jews. In 1942 the operation to clear inhabitants of the ghetto was undertaken twice, and on 13th and 14th March 1943 the ghetto was liquidated. Bohaterów Getta Square was the place of assembling the Jews who were then taken to Płaszów Concentration Camp or to the railroad station, from whence they were taken to extermination camps.

On the corner of Targowa Street and Bohaterów Getta Square there is the Ghetto Museum in the building of the former Apteka Pod Orłem (Under the Eagle Pharmacy). The pharmacy was the only one left in the ghetto and the memories of its owner, T. Pankiewicz, contained in the book "Apteka w getcie krakowskim" (A Pharmacy in the Krakow Ghetto) are testimony to the tragedy which took place in the ghetto and on Zgody Square.

Near Bohaterów Getta Square (although it is off the route) at 4 Lipowa Street, there was a Factory of Enamelled Utensils directed by Oskar Schindler, where prisoners of Płaszów Concentration Camp were employed. The story of the humane German industrialist saving a group of prisoners was the main subject of the movie "Schindler's List." For this reason many tourists visit Lipowa Street.

Going further down Limanowskiego Street, you head toward Rynek Podgórski Square. The main building in this area is the neo-gothic St Joseph's Church built in the years 1905-09 and designed by Jan Sas-Zubrzycki. Near there were also manor-inns, such as Pod Jeleniem at number 12 (Under the Deer), Pod Czarnym Orłem at number 13 (Under the Black Eagle) and at Limanowskiego Street, number 5 - Pod Kotwicą (Under the Anchor). An impressive old building of the former City Hall is also worth noting. It was erected in the middle of the 19th century.

From here it is quite close to Niepodległości Square (Independence Square). World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but liberating Krakow from Austrian domination had already started on the Podgórze side. In the night of October 30/31, 1918 railwaymen withheld Austrian military transports and Polish squads fighting for independence, under the command of Lieut. Antoni Stawarz, took over the barracks at Kalwaryjska and Wielicka Streets. From there they moved to the other side of Vistula, and on October 31st, 1918 at 11:25 a.m. they took over the Austrian guardhouse near the City Hall Tower on the Rynek Główny (Main Square).

Proceed from Niepodległości Square, where there were once barracks with a drill-ground and a riding-school, and head to the Wojciech Bednarski Park, which was partly established on the land of former quarries. The Park bears the name of a councillor and a prominent social activist of Podgórze who lived there in the 19th century. Going through the park we reach the Lasoty Square. In the past the city gallows stood here, but today the area of Parkowa Street is residential with villas testifying to the implementation of the "garden city" concept from the beginning of the 20th century (the Villa at 2 Lasoty Square was a property of the Bednarski Family, and an inhabitant of the Villa at 3 Lasoty Square was First Lieutenant Stawarz).

From there, going down the Por. Stawarz Street, we get to the St Benedict's Church which dates back to the 11th-12th century. Fragments of a 10th-11th-century rotunda were found nearby, which might suggest that in the Middle Ages there was a duke's residence in this place and the Austrian "St Benedict's" fort number 31. It is the oldest out of the forts that have remained from the ancient Krakow fortifications, built in the years 1853-56 in the form of a "Maximilian Turret."

The path leads down along the remaining part of the old Podgórski Cemetery (which is the place of rest of Edward Dembowski and the mayors of Podgórze) to the characteristic Baroque figure of God, the Father at the intersection of Powstańców Wielkopolskich and Wielicka Streets, the figure being the inspiration for the name of one of the Podgórze areas. Nearby, at Wielicka Street, there is remaining manor-inn called "Pod Świętym Benedyktem" (Saint Benedict) dating back to the 18th century, where Austrian troops were stationed in 1918. Conquest of the inn by Lieut. F. Pustelnik's squad initiated the liberation of Krakow from the hands of the invaders.

Taking side streets, we ascend towards the visible part of the Krakus Mound. This mound (one of the four in Krakow) dates back to the 17th century and is considered to be the grave of the legendary founder of Krakow. From the grassland at the foot of the mound as well as from its top you can see a beautiful panorama of Krakow.

The legend has it that the mound was heaped up by the prince's lieges who carried the earth in their sleeves. In order to commemorate this event, every year on the first Tuesday after Easter, at the foot of the mound, a holiday called "Rękawka" (Holiday of a Sleeve) is celebrated. After the Austrians built Fort no. 33 (the Krakus Fort, destroyed in the 2nd half of the 20th century) near the mound, the ceremony was transferred to the area of St Benedict's Church, and continues until the present day.

Taking the path which starts at the Krakus Mound and leads along the cliffs of the Liban quarry, we come to the territory of the old Płaszów Nazi concentration camp which functioned in the years 1942-45. The route ends at Jerozolimska Street near the place where a Jewish Cemetery used to be. It was levelled at the time when the camp was built. Close by, at the corner of Abrahama Street, there is the so-called Grey House which at present is the seat of the Chevra Kadisha Association. In the dark times of World War II it functioned as a Dark Cell.

It is estimated that around 20 thousand people were imprisoned in the camp simultaneously. Among them there were Poles, Jews and Roma, who were used mainly as a labour force. The ones who were sent to the camp were Poles caught during street raids and Jews from the ghettos. They were mainly sent to extermination camps (the last transport to Auschwitz was sent on January 14, 1945 four days before the liberation of Krakow by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front). Approx. 8 thousand people were killed in this camp. The victims are honoured by a monument standing in Kamieńskiego Street, on the place of the old Austrian entrenchment where executions were performed.