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St. Mary's Church, Krakow
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St. Mary's Church, Krakow

St. Mary's Church tips and photos posted by real travelers and Krakow locals.
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St. Mary's Church: KOSCIOL MARIACKI (ST. MARY'S CHURCH)
  • Tip Rating:
    • Maggies
  • Updated By Maggies on November 28, 2002
  • Krakow Page by Maggies
    • St. Mary's Church - Krakow
    by Maggies
    It's the church that you can see from every place on the Market Square. It was built in the second part of the 14th century as a parish church. There are two unequal towers: the taller one (81 meters) is topped with a late-gothic spire and the lower one (69 meters) is topped with a manierist cupola. The hights of the towers are explained by the local tradition which tells a story about two brothers who were employed at the construction. The builder of the lower tower, hurt in his ambitions, is said to have killed his brother with a knife and then commited the suicide.
    The buggle-call is played every hour from the taller tower window's into the four quarters of globe.
    The church itself and it's interiors have much more stories to tell but I guess it would be too much history here.

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    St. Mary's Church: st. mary's porch
  • Tip Rating:
    • doug48
  • By doug48 on May 28, 2008
  • Krakow Page by doug48
    • st. mary's porch - Krakow
    st. mary's porch
    by doug48
    the porch of st. mary's was built between 1750 and 1752. this beautiful late baraque porch was designed by francesco placidi. carved busts of the saints and apostles by karol hukan were added to the door panel in 1929.

  • Address: mariacki square
  • Directions: old quarter, market square.
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    St. Mary's Church: St. Mary´s Church
  • Tip Rating:
    • ThiagoRamos
  • Updated By ThiagoRamos on September 4, 2006
  • Krakow Page by ThiagoRamos
    • St. Mary´s Church - Krakow
    St. Mary´s Church
    by ThiagoRamos,
    4 more photos
    You can see the towers of St. Mary´s Church from almost everywhere in the Old Town and it´s easy to notice that they´re not the same size!!! There´s an interesting story about it... but wait until you get there, I don´t want to spoil the surprise...

    The church is very beautiful as you can see in the pictures. A must see in Krakow for sure!!!

    Every hour, instead of listening to ordinary bell rings, you´ll hear a sad melody played in trumpets (tks, skeptic jr!!!). This is done in homage of the guy who died trying to warn the city of a tartar attack in the XIII (?) Century. You can see the guy playing in one of these pictures...

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    St. Mary's Church: Light a candle
  • Tip Rating:
    • matcrazy1
  • By matcrazy1 on October 19, 2003
  • Krakow Page by matcrazy1
    • KATHY (KODI01) AND CANDLES - Krakow
    KATHY (KODI01) AND CANDLES
    by matcrazy1
    Whenever you are inside this dear to every Pole church light a candle like we did. Some people believe that your wishes will be fulfilled that time. Hmm... I don't know. I lighted the candle for my family - real and virtual one :-).
    Small tip appreciated there.

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    St. Mary's Church: Where you hear the hejnal
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    • bscott1
  • By bscott1 on January 20, 2004
  • Krakow Page by bscott1
    • St. Mary's Church - Krakow
    by bscott1
    The "hejnal" is the bugle call, played every hour on the hour. Rumor has it the trumpet player was killed by the invading Tatars while in the middle of playing; hence, you will hear a sustained final note.

    The church tends to be used frequently and sometimes can be a bit hard to visit, but for me it was the most memorable, having been on the square with the twin towers and hearing the hejnal.

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    St. Mary's Church: St. Mary's church - the legend
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    • vysnaite
  • Updated By vysnaite on January 19, 2005
  • Krakow Page by vysnaite
    • St. Mary's church - Krakow
    St. Mary's church
    by vysnaite
    Every hour in the Marker Square you can hear trumphet sounds from the tower of St. Mary's church. Tje melody is played to all the four directions of the world and stops at the same place. This is connected with history, when trumphet used to be played as a sign of a danger (in this case Tatar's invasion) and the legend tells that an enemy shot an arrow that reached guard's troath so the melody stopped.

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    St. Mary's Church: Uneven Towers
  • Tip Rating:
    • stiab3
  • By stiab3 on March 22, 2005
  • Krakow Page by stiab3
    • St. Mary's - Krakow
    St. Mary's
    by stiab3
    My polish friend asked us to meet him by the statue of Adam. He described it as being across from St. Mary's Church - "the church with 2 towers but look like it's not finished because one tower is shorter"

    That is a good description. Is this some sort of achitectural statement?!

    I didn't get a chance to go into the church though.

  • Directions: Market Square across from the Statue of Adam
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    St. Mary's Church: Hear the Hejnal (I don't have...
  • Tip Rating:
    • hslowe
  • By hslowe on September 8, 2002
  • Krakow Page by hslowe
    • St. Mary's Church - Krakow
    by hslowe
    Hear the Hejnal (I don't have the Polish characters to type that correctly--means 'bugle call') at St. Mary's Church (Kosciol Mariacki) in Rynek Glowny (town square).

    Every hour the bugle call is played on a trumpet from the higher tower of St. Mary's church to the four quarters of the world in turn. Intriguingly, it breaks off suddenly in mid-bar, commemorating a surprise invasion. The trumpet call is an extremely sad but beautiful sound. Sit in the square with a beer and enjoy its plaintive loveliness.
    The two towers of St. Mary's (circa 1220) are uneven because of a bitter rivalry. Two brothers were commissioned for its construction, one for each tower. Each attempted to build his higher and grander. The younger, who ended up second, couldn't get over his defeat and killed his brother with a kinfe. Overcome by remorse, he then sank the knife into his own heart. The weapon remains in the church as a remembrance.

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    St. Mary's Church: St. Mary Church
  • Tip Rating:
    • Gili_S
  • By Gili_S on July 5, 2005
  • Krakow Page by Gili_S
    • St. Mary's Church - Krakow
    by Gili_S
    The St. Mary Church, in the main square, a very famous church with unsymmetrical towers and very interesting story why it is like that which I am not going to copy here.

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    St. Mary's Church: St Mary's Cathedral
  • Tip Rating:
    • cheekymarieh
  • Updated By cheekymarieh on July 10, 2004
  • Krakow Page by cheekymarieh
    • St Mary's - Krakow
    St Mary's
    by cheekymarieh
    The tower of the cathedral is also known as the Bugle Tower. Its construction was completed in 1397. A Polish tune called the hejnal is played on the trumpet from the tower every hour to the four corners of the world. There are only five notes played in memory of the soldier who had an arrow pierce his throat in mid tune.

    You can climb up to the top of the tower (all 239 steps). All this hard work mens that you are just over 50 metres above ground level. It is well worth the climb just to see the fantastic views of the city. (I always work on the basis that if there is a great height to climb then I do it to admire the scenery).

    Admission fee: 5 zloty(adults), 3 zloty(children under 15).

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  • Address: Rynek (the Main Square)
  • Directions: To the east of the main square
  • Other Contact: The altar is opened daily at noo
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