Błonia Meadow
Explorer of Kraków's Parks · no. 29
Park type: historic. In this park you can collect a stamp in the "Explorer of Kraków's Parks" campaign run by Kraków's Municipal Greenery Authority (ZZM).
History
The Błonia is a vast meadow, a former common pasture whose beginnings go back to 1162. That year the wealthy nobleman Jaksa of Miechów gave the Norbertine nuns the meadow between Zwierzyniec and Łobzów, hoping for a blessing before his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1366 the sisters exchanged it with the city for a house on Floriańska Street, which did not turn out well for them. For centuries cattle grazed here, and after the marshes were drained the Błonia became a place for great gatherings. In 1906 Kraków's first sports clubs, Cracovia and Wisła, were born nearby, and in 1910 the city's first aeroplane took off from the Błonia. During papal pilgrimages and World Youth Day in 2016, Masses were celebrated here for hundreds of thousands of people.
Did you know?
Between 16 and 20 May 1910 an observation point was set up here, from which crowds of Cracovians watched Halley's Comet.