The Main Market Square and the Cloth Hall — the heart of Kraków

The square and its history

The Main Market Square was created when Kraków was chartered under Magdeburg law in 1257. Its regular, square plan with the plots laid out around it survives to this day. Around the square stand townhouses, palaces and churches from various periods, and in one corner the town hall tower, all that remains of the town hall pulled down in the 19th century.

The Cloth Hall

The Cloth Hall is the old hall of the cloth trade, whose Gothic walls were rebuilt in the Renaissance (with its distinctive parapet). On the ground floor stalls selling souvenirs and craft work still trade, and upstairs is the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art (a branch of the National Museum) with works by Matejko, Chełmoński and Siemiradzki among others.

The Underground Market

Beneath the square runs the Underground Market — a multimedia museum route presenting medieval Kraków, the exposed archaeological layers and the old stalls and trade routes. Tickets can sell out in season, so book ahead; the exhibition is air-conditioned and good on a hot day as well.

How to get there and practical info

Location: The centre of the Old Town, within the Planty
Access to the square: Free (the square itself); museums are ticketed
The Underground Market: Timed tickets, online booking advisable
From the main station: About 10 min on foot
The town hall tower: Open seasonally, with a separate ticket
Time needed: 1–3 hours depending on the museums

When to go

Spring

The pavement tables go out; pleasant and not yet crowded.

Summer

Crowds all day, with concerts and open-air events. The Underground Market as a refuge from the heat.

Autumn

Fewer people, with a golden autumn in the Planty right beside it.

Winter

The Christmas market and the exhibition of Kraków cribs — an exceptional atmosphere.

Other sights in Kraków

Straight-line distances from „The Main Market Square and the Cloth Hall" — calculated from real coordinates. By road it is often further.

Kraków Old TownThe medieval street plan inside the Planty ring — a grid laid out in 1257, the Barbican an

~44 m as the crow flies

St Mary's ChurchA Gothic basilica on the market square with the Veit Stoss altarpiece and a bugle call pla

~179 m as the crow flies

Collegium Maius, Jagiellonian UniversityThe oldest building of the Jagiellonian University — a Gothic building with an arcaded cou

~358 m as the crow flies

The Barbican and St Florian's GateThe Gothic barbican and St Florian's Gate with a stretch of the town walls — the star

~513 m as the crow flies

Wawel HillA royal castle and cathedral on a limestone hill above the Vistula — for centuries the cen

~864 m as the crow flies

KazimierzA former separate town and for centuries a centre of Jewish culture — synagogues, atmosphe

~1,3 km as the crow flies

Schindler's FactoryA museum in the former Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory at Podgórze — a narrative exhibition

~2,4 km as the crow flies

The Kościuszko MoundA 19th-century mound with a surrounding fort on a hill west of the centre — a wide panoram

~3,2 km as the crow flies

Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka and BochniaPoland's oldest salt mines, with underground chapels and lakes — Wieliczka UNESCO-lis

~13 km as the crow flies

Ojców National ParkPoland's smallest national park: the Prądnik valley, Hercules' Club, Łokietek&#x

~18 km as the crow flies

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska SanctuaryA Mannerist pilgrimage landscape with 42 chapels standing in for the holy places of Jerusa

~29 km as the crow flies