Sukiennice (Cloth Hall), Krakow (must see)

The Cloth Hall is a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture standing at the heart of the Main Square. Its origins go back to the 13th century, when a long, narrow market hall was built to house textile merchants who traded cloth, leather, and luxury fabrics from across Europe and the East. After a devastating fire in 1555, the building was rebuilt in the elegant Renaissance style that defines it today, complete with arcaded loggias, decorative attic parapets, and richly sculpted ornamentation designed by Italian architects working in Poland.

For centuries, the Cloth Hall was the commercial engine of Kraków. Merchants gathered here to exchange textiles, spices, wax, salt from the nearby mines, and exotic goods brought along the Silk Road routes. The ground floor remained a bustling trading space well into modern times, featuring the same rows of wooden merchant stalls seen centuries ago. Today, these stalls sell traditional crafts, handmade jewelry, carved wooden items, amber products, and local souvenirs. There is no shortage of things to browse.

Above the market hall, the upper floor houses a branch of the National Museum known as the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art. Its beautifully restored exhibition halls display works by celebrated painters such as Jan Matejko and Józef Mehoffer, giving visitors a chance to explore Poland’s Romantic and realist movements in a suitably grand setting. The gallery’s windows also offer charming views across the Main Square.