A five minute walk from the Vistula River brings one away from the crowd of tourists and to one of the holiest sanctuaries in Poland, the Skalka sanctuary. History records the first settlement on this hill way back in 2000 B.C. after which, the hill was habited by Slavs and then a Romanesque church was constructed to mark the arrival of Christianity in the region. In 1079, King Boleslav murdered the Bishop Stanislav for reasons that are still controversial. The Bishop was later declared a martyr by Pope Innocent IV in 1253 and canonized as the Saint of Moral Order.
 
A Gothic Church was built on the site in the 14th century but was not maintained. In the 18th century, the building got a Baroque styled uplift which can be seen today. Although, Stanislav’s remains were moved to the Wawel Cathedral, visitors can still see three dark spots of his blood on one of the sanctuary’s walls.
 
Skalka then went on to become a place for penance for kings, just before their coronations where they would repent for the misdeeds of their forefathers and seek blessings for their reign. Since the 19th century, the most eminent personalities in the history of Poland have been given ceremonial burials at the Sanctuary.  Czeslaw Milosz, Henryk Siemiradzki, Karol Szymanowski and many other famous artistes have made Skalka the burial place of Distinguished Poles.

The Church of St. Catherine stands tall as one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in Poland. Just a stone throw away from the Church on the Rock on Augustianska Street, the Church of St. Catherine, has endured quite a bit of tribulations since its inception. The Church was founded by Casimir III the Great, the last King of Poland from the Piast Dynasty. Construction of the Church commenced in the mid-14th century. However, the building was not completed as per the original design.

Although, construction continued smoothly till 1443, the Church underwent serious damage due to an earthquake. No sooner than the work on restoration of the Church had begun the city fell prey to a devastating flood and then a fire in the year 1534 and 1556 respectively. Another earthquake struck in 1786 and seriously damaged the church and a decade hence, the Church was closed for good by the Austrian authorities. The building was weakened to such an extent that authorities decided to demolish the antique structure. However, efforts were made to restore the Church and save the historic building and since the mid-19th century, the Church of St. Catherine is undergoing renovations which continue till this very day.

The church is filled with frescos, interiors- new Renaissance style with tinge of Baroque designs.

One of the most important churches in the city of Krakow, the Wawel Cathedral stands amidst some of the most historically notable structures on the Wawel Hill. An essential part of the old town Krakow, the Cathedral has administered the crowning and mourned the death of the most noted Kings and nobility of the Polish Empire since the 11th century.

Although, the structure has been in existence since the 11th century, the edifice underwent reconstruction on three occasions. The current Gothic edifice of the Wawel Cathedral was built in the 14th century and it took nearly forty years to complete. The earlier structures were constructed in 11th and 12th century.

Typical to many Polish cathedrals, the Wawel Cathedral is also an amalgamation of different spires and different styles of architecture. The Golden Dome or the Sigismund Chapel built by Florentine architect Bartolommeo Berrecci, is considered as one of the finest and purest form of Renaissance architecture essentially outside Italy.

The Cathedral boasts a magnificent collection of treasury, documents, books and artefacts. In fact, the Wawel Cathedral is one of the oldest libraries in Poland. It is also the place that John Paul II, Father Karol Wojtyla, served his first Mass. One cannot miss this site while visiting Krakow.

Standing humbly in the old town district of Krakow is the Church of St. Andrew. It stands in the shadows of the grand Church of Saints Peter and Paul and can easily be missed. Although the structure may seem less scintillating than its neighbour, the Church of St. Andrews is one of the city’s treasures from the past.

With a modest pale Romanesque exterior, the St. Andrew’s Church is one of the oldest structures in the city. The building dates back to the 11th century when it was built by Palatine Sieciech, a medieval statesman. The Church is one of the best preserved constructions in the country flaunting its clean Romanesque style. The modern Baroque design roof tops on the towers are, however, a recent addition made in the early 17th century.

Unlike the exterior, the Church is dramatically different on the inside. While the exterior of the Church may be quite simple, the interior transfixes its visitors with its ornate Baroque design and decoration. The interiors of the Church were redone in the early 18th century by Baltazar Fontana, a sculptor and stucco artist of Italian origin. The elaborate paintings on the walls were done by Karol Dankwart. The Church of St. Andrew is known since it offered refuge to people during military assaults. It was one of the very few structures that were left standing during the Mongol attack.

The city of Krakow is filled with treasures of the past that appease the appetite of a historian and an admirer of architecture. The Mariacki Church is one such example. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Mariacki Church stands adjacent to the Main Market Square in Krakow. The Church is a beautiful illustration of merger of different styles of architecture. Together, these styles brew a singular timeless piece of structure that stands as an example for several other churches all over Poland and the world. The façade of the Church consists of two high raised uneven towers, of which one is constructed in Gothic style while the other has a Renaissance style of architecture. The Gothic tower boasts of a magnificent spire built in 1478 that measures 81 metres and has a gold coated crown. The other tower, measuring 69 metres, has a Renaissance roof and was constructed in 1592. The tower has five bells, two of which date back to the 14th century. On the front side of the Church is a beautiful Baroque designed porch that was constructed in the mid-18th century. Not only is the exterior of the Mariacki Church magnificent, the interiors also make their mark in terms of grandeur and excellence. The Mariacki Church houses the famous altarpiece of Veit Stross, the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world. One of the national treasures of Poland, this ornate wooden altarpiece is a must see on the visit to Krakow.

Standing quaintly in the Old Town District of Krakow is the Church of St. Casimir. The plain white exterior may not look extraordinary but the Church is quite unique in its own right. One of the most mysterious places in Krakow, the St. Casimir’s Church gets a number of visitors year round waiting to steal a peek at the secrets that lie beneath the church. Adjacent to the Franciscan monastery, the church has over the years, managed to garner much curiosity from visitors all over the world. Established in the late 17th century, the Church has been the final home for many locals, monks as well as members of the noble family. Although this may not seem as an extraordinary facet of the Church, it is this very quality that has popularized the Church of St. Casimir. The catacombs of the Church are said to contain over 1000 bodies over the years, a quarter of which were monks and the rest belong to lay people. The unique climatic conditions in the crypts allow the bodies to undergo a natural process of mummification. Historians believe that the microclimate of the catacombs arrests the decaying of the corpses that have been kept in the crypts since the 17th century. Many corpses were laid in the catacombs without coffins and directly on earth. Among the mummies is the body of Countess Domicella Skalka who served the Church as a house maid for over 20 years and only revealed her true identity moments before her death.

St. Norbert’s Convent was first built in the 12th century by Jaxa Gryfita, a Zwierzyniec knight. The Convent was victim to the Tartarian invasion of 1241. Dorota Kątska, the Prioress of the Premonstratensian nuns built the Church again in 1636 in Zwierzyniec, which was still outside the city’s limits, where it fell prey to the attack of Archduke Maximilian Habsburg. It was then decided to move the Church within the boundaries of the city to its current location, a short walk away from Wawel Castle on the Vistula River.
 
The Austrian authorities closed the Convent down in 1803 and a part of the building went to the Jagiellonian University while the Church was absorbed under the Uniate parish. The Fire of 1850 did not spare this closed Convent and the Church interiors got a facelift in the 19th century. In the mid-1960s, another floor was added to this Baroque structure and then the building was used as the Faculty of Chemistry by the Jagiellonian University. It is here, that in 1883 that air was liquefied by Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski, after whom the college is named today.
 
Legend has it that every year on June 24, the monastery’s old bell resurfaces and its toll is heard into the night. It is a crude reminder of the Tartarian invasion. The Convent offers a glimpse of history, mystery and science to all of its visitors and can hardly be missed when you are in Krakow.