Ages-old market hall, a symbol of the economic strength of the city against the background of the economy of the country and Europe. Its elements were used by S. Wyspiański when designing the Wawel Acropolis, which was intended to provide a historical and philosophical synthesis of the history and spirit of the Republic of Poland rendered on the “sacred hill.” Today, a Kraków’s must-see and a popular destination for souvenir shoppers and museum visitors. 

History

This mediaeval market hall occupies the centre of the Kraków main market square. Originally, it was a street with stalls. It was closed at night to ensure the safety of merchants who were leaving their merchandise in the street. The city was allowed to trade in cloth under the incorporation charter of 1257. In the 13th century, the market street was covered by a wooden roof. In this way, the first Cloth Hall building was erected. Cloth stalls or cloth warehouses were installed in cities located on trade routes from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century. In most cases, they were magnificent buildings occupying the centre of a marketplace, usually close to a town hall or weigh house. The brick Cloth Hall was funded by Casimir the Great (1358). It has the form of two rows of stalls covered by single-pitched roofs and with a roofed central hall (108 m long and 10 m wide) accessible via two pairs of pointed-arch arcades. It could also contain two extra rows of stalls up to 7.5 m deep. Along the long axis, there were 18 vaulted stalls open to the interior with pointed or semicircular portals. In the years 1380-1400, the hall was rebuilt under M. Lindintolde’s supervision. After its complete destruction by a fire (1555), the hall was rebuilt in the spirit of the Renaissance between 1556 and 1559. The main contractor was Master Pancras supported by G. M. Padovano, S. Gucci and J. Frankstein. The building was given a Renaissance shape, with barrel vaults (and lunettes), over which extra chambers were placed (first floor). In 1601 on the initiative of the Kraków councillor J. Ciepielowski, a transverse east-west passage was made, thus creating the so-called cross circulation system. The building fell into decline in the 18th and 19th centuries, sharing the fate of the entire city. The Cloth Hall were relatively rarely used for representative purposes (Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski’s visit in 1787, or a ball in honour of Prince J. Poniatowski in 1809). In 1875 the building was subject to renovation. Jan Matejko recommended T. Pryliński as the project leader. In the first floor chambers, reception rooms were created, from 1901 owned by the National Museum. In 1871 Mayor of Kraków J. Dietl shared with the City Council a plan to reorganise the city. According to the plan, the renovated Cloth Hall was intended as home to the National Museum exhibiting artistic, historical, and ethnographic collections as well as biographical materials concerning artists, scientists, and politicians. On 5 October 1879, during the jubilee of J. I. Kraszewski, H. Siemiradzki offered his painting, Nero’s Torches, to the city, and specifically to the Cloth Hall museum.  Under the market square surface, there is space accessible from the building and managed by the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków. The Cloth Hall street level is still the most attractive shopping arcade in Kraków.

Description

A commercial building in the centre of Rynek Główny in Kraków, originally measuring approx. 104 x 26 m, erected on the north-south axis, repeatedly remodelled. A characteristic element of the architectural design are the mascarons on top of the attic. It was a popular ornamental element in the Gothic and Mannerist periods, usually in the form of disfigured human or animal heads. The mascarons on the Cloth Hall were sculpted by the Italian architect and sculptor Santi Gucci. He worked in Poland during the late Renaissance period. The mascarons were commissioned by the City Council. The masks placed on some structural elements were sometimes assigned a magical power: they were supposed to secure the building against evil and ensure its stability. The so-called Polish attic deserves attention. It is a header on the roof, cut in the form of a comb. During the restoration project led by Pryliński (1875-1879), the outer stalls were demolished, and avant-corpses at the transverse passage and pointed-arch galleries along both sides were erected. Pryliński added avant-corpses on the axis topped with an attic; he also designed attics in the extensions and added a bay window from ul. Sławkowska. As a result, the Cloth Hall lost its “elongated” character; new façades appeared from ul. Szewska and ul. Sienna. The avant-corpses were neatly connected with the attic and decorated with mascarons (caricatures of the city mayors designed by Jan Matejko). The function of the lower hall did not change; it was still used for trade. The appearance of the Cloth Hall has not changed since the end of the 19th century. After WW2, only coats of arms of the cities regained by Poland after the shifting of state borders were added on the ceiling of the lower hall. The last major conservation project in the facility was carried out in the years 1975-1979 and 1992-1994.

The site is available in various forms; without limitations from the outside; the stalls are open between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.; the museums are open during working hours.

Author of the note Roman Marcinek, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Kraków 20/07/2017

Bibliography

• 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
• Łuszczkiewicz W., Sukiennice krakowskie. Dzieje gmachu i jego obecnej przebudowy, Kraków 1899
• Marcinek R., Kraków, Kraków 2001
• Rożek M., Przewodnik po zabytkach i kulturze Krakowa, Kraków 1993