History

This town residence was built in the years 1644-1650 by combining and re-designing older houses from the 13th and 15th centuries. Their relics, including a brewery and ice storage, have been preserved in the walls of the contemporary building. The oldest building in this plot was erected at the end of the 13th century. It was a residential and defence tower on a square plan with a side length of 10 m. The very core of the future development was the corner Morsztynowska house, hence the later palace name. The well-known pharmacy of Christophoro of Ferrara operated here, called the Saint Christopher’s; the statue of the saint appeared on the facade at the end of the 14th century. From the side of ul. Szczepańska, there was the Chmielowska house, built in the 16th century by merging two houses. It was owned by Seweryn Boner and from 1639 by the merchant Jan Chmielowski.

In 1644 the houses were bought by the court marshal Adam Kazanowski, who intended to erect a residence that would be worthy of hosting monarchs. He quickly got bored with the project and let the palace to the Lubomirskis. Konstanty Tenkala or Laurentius Senes are considered the builders of the final building. Kazanowski erected an L-shaped building; he preserved the cloister and arcaded gallery. In 1649, after Kazanowski’s death, the building was purchased by the Wodzicki family. During the Polish-Swedish War, the palace was devastated. Renovation was postponed until 1680 when Jan Wawrzyniec Wodzicki became the new owner. It was carried out in the years 1682-1684, according to the design by Jakub Solari and Michał Pomman. Baltazar Fontana made the stucco decoration of the interiors in the years 1695-1704. After 1726, the construction works continued, including on the façade, which received a Baroque look, with stone cladding and an impressive portal. Regrettably, the statue of the patron of the house was lost during the works (an empty niche is left on the facade). The interiors are decorated with polychrome. In the years 1775-1782, Kajetan Sołtyk, the bishop of Kraków, who suffered from mental illness after his return from Kaługa, resided in the palace. He bought the palace from the castellan Piotr Wodzicki.

At the end of the 18th century, the residence fell into decline. Some of the rooms were used by Austrian administration, some (especially more elegant sections) as apartments for dignitaries. After 1790 Stanisław Sołtyk sold the palace to an entrepreneur, Jacek Kluszewski; the building was renovated and upgraded to serve as a “temporary residence.” The first public theatre hall in the city was established in the joint enfilades of the Krzysztofory house and Spiski Palace. As part of the upgrade project, the building was extended vertically (at the beginning of the 19th century); the designer of the new level was probably Sebastian Sierakowski. Kluszewski let the palace, among others, to the Czartoryski, who came to Kraków from Puławy in 1805. There were also other temporary tenants, such as Archduke Ferdinand d’Este, Archduke Francis or Prince Józef Poniatowski together with his staff (1809). Later, however, the building became a regular tenement house. The building had five stores and three cellars rented by the famous merchant and restaurant owner Jan Wentzl. After the Kraków Uprising (1846), the building was turned into Austrian army barracks. The Czas daily was printed on the ground floor, and Antoni Hawełka ran his colonial shop and a popular “breakfast place” (later moved to Spiski Palace). The roof over the west part was altered in 1865 and over the front part in 1878 (design by Maurycy Tlachna).

In 1912 the palace became the property of the construction company of Gustaw Gerson Bazes. He aspired to convert the place into a modern department store. The project was luckily blocked and only a modest renovation was carried out in 1916 (design by Wacław Krzyżanowski). In 1914 the building seated the Supreme National Committee and the Polish Liquidation Committee in 1918. In 1918 the property was taken over by the state. The ground floor was remodelled (design by Stanisław Filipkiewicz and Juliusz Kolarzowski), and a third floor was added above the wings (design by Stanisław Czaplicki). Later, it accommodated the Public Works Directorate.

Major renovations followed in the years 1958-1959 and 1973-1975. They were forced by the concept of establishment of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków in Krzysztofory. The museum was launched in 1899 as a branch of the Archives of Historical Records; some of the museum collection was only available to scholars. After 1945 the museum became an independent organisation and was made available to the general public. The collection features exhibits related to the 1000-year history of Kraków. Its most symbolic item is the 16th-century rooster offered to the Riflemen Brotherhood by Sigismund Augustus. The collection also features valuable guild relics from the 14th through the 18th century (including chalices, counters, ritual and jubilee utensils, working and measuring tools) as well as numerous paintings and graphics (from the 18th and 19th centuries). Of great value is the collection of old photographs and 19th-century prints, which actually make a separate collection of the city’s iconography. The collection also comprises numerous memorabilia from national uprisings, historical events, and anniversaries celebrated in Kraków. The Krzysztofory Club operated in the basement of the palace. In 1956 the house witnessed the inaugural meeting of the Kraków Group Artistic Association. The participants were, among others: T. Brzozowski, M. Jarema, T. Kantor, A. Marczyński, J. Maziarska, K. Mikulski, D. Mróz, J. Nowosielski, T. Rudowicz, J. Skarżyński, J. Stern and M. Warzecha. The gallery, opened in 1958, became a meeting and exhibition venue. The ambiance of independence attracted regular frequenters, thus making Krzysztofory a legendary and popular destination at the same time. In 1961, after the basement alteration was completed, Tadeusz Kantor’s theatre, Cricot 2, moved in (operating until 1980). The high-toned Europejska Café opened in the front section of the house.

Description

A spacious building connecting the frontage of the market square between ul. Szczepańska and ul. Jagiellońska. From the side of the market square, this is a three-storey, five-axis building with an entrance gate and a portal on the axis. The ground floor has a stone facing. The façade has modest articulation. From the side of ul. Szczepańska, there are buttresses characteristic of Kraków townhouses. Fontana’s stuccoes have survived, including the Fall of the Phaeton, and the 18th-century polychrome in the rooms on the first and second floors.  The elegant character of the building is emphasised in the entrance hall, by the colonnade in the courtyard and the piano nobile rooms. In 2007 a major renovation project began. The works started with the west wing (ul. Jagiellońska 4). In the cellars, the wall bonding was exposed, and the façade was conserved. The Innovative Educational Centre of the Kraków City Museum opens in the building along with a conference and lecture hall, a line of exhibition halls and a complex scientific and research laboratories.

The building is accessible to a varied degree; the exhibition is available during the museum opening hours; some rooms are inaccessible for safety reasons.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 20/04/2016

Bibliography

• Dyba O., Kraków. Zabytki architektury i budownictwa, Warszawa 2007
• Encyklopedia Krakowa, Warszawa – Kraków 2000.
• Fabiański M., Purchla J., Historia architektury Krakowa w zarysie, Kraków 2001
• Komorowski W., Sudacka A., Rynek Główny w Krakowie, Ossolineum 2008
• Rożek M., Przewodnik po zabytkach i kulturze Krakowa, Kraków 1993
• Marcinek R., Kraków, Kraków 2001