The Cloth Hall - Sukiennice, Krakow

The Cloth Hall is placed in the centre of the Main Market Square. It was a major center of international trade. A large shopping hall was built under King Casimir the Great in the 14th century and renovated after a fire in 1555. Loggias and mascarons were added. In the 19th century the hall was surrounded with arcades and the transverse passage was enlarged.
The first floor houses the National Museum, a gallery dedicated to Polish painting.
Nowadays the interior houses handcraft shops and it is a major tourist attraction.

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The Cloth Market is the long building in the center of the stone paved square. It's a wonderful structure on its own...and then when inside...you'll discover that it is filled with all the things you thought you might find for soulvenirs and keepsakes. If the weather is inclement, it's a good place to spend the afternoon without getting cold and wet. The things I like are the blue "peacocks's eye" pottery which has been becoming popular in the US (better selection in Cloth market, of course...and better prices). There are native costumes, crystal glasses, jewelry, and warm slippers. All sort of things to dazzle and delight.
The interior of the market is set up like stalls on either side of the length of the building. Each stall is a different vendor. One might have hand bags, the next dishes...and so forth.

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The cloth hall is my fave building in Krakow. The beautiful renaissance building is something iconic for Krakow and you will hardly miss it on the main square. It was once a main international trade center and now you can find the souvenir market on the ground level and the galery of 19th century Polish Painting upstairs.

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Souvenir shop is one of my fave destinations when I travel around, so I would not miss the souvenir market inside the cloth hall. Most of them are jewelery stands and I did not buy anything there actually...but it's nice to see around.

this large building in the middle of market square was originally built during the time of kazimerz the great. it was rebuilt after a fire in 1555. the building you see today was remodeled in 1875 by tomasz prylinski. inside of the cloth hall are tourist shops and the gallery of 19th century polish art. the gallery is worth a visit.

An impressive building with a statue of Adam Mickiewicz in front of the eastern entrance to the Renaissance Cloth Hall, which stands in the middle of the Main Market Square. The Gothic arches date from the 14th century, but after a fire in 1555 the upper part was rebuilt in Renaissance style. The inner arcades on the ground floor still hold traders' booths, now mainly selling local crafts. On the first floor, in a branch of the National Museum, you can view a collection of 19th-century Polish paintings. Today you will find all sorts of souvenirs to buy and take back home. Lots of amber, very little crystal, some other hand made stuff.

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The Cloth Hall is found in the middle of the Main Market Square. There are the clothsellers´s stalls since Middle Ages. You can buy here souvenirs. I like especially the amber jewelery. The tourists like the traditional Polish crafts.

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Nowadays this place is a BIG market where you can find the loveliest souvenirs and handcrafts... a bit overpriced though, especially crystal items (there were these beautiful handpainted small/individual candle holders which looked more like a tiny glass to drink water and which cost like US $15 each... I thought it was excessive). In the past, it used to be a place where they manufactured and sold clothing items, as per what I learnt from my host.

The building is very big, the architecture is nice and it occupies a big part of the central square so you can't miss it.

Located in the centre of Rynek Glowny is the Sukiennice, the arcaded Renaissance cloth hall. Inside you can buy all manner of souvenirs, amber, embroidery, t shirts, paintings. In winter try the hot wine from the stalls.

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Dominating Rynek Glowny is the vast 16th-century Renaissance Cloth Hall (Sukiennice). One of Poland’s most recognized buildings, the Cloth Hall still houses a bustling market (unfortunately specializing in typical tourist fodder) and art gallery.