Planty Park
Explorer of Kraków's Parks · no. 2
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). Where to find the stamp: by the Barbican, near the Matejko monument.
History
Planty Park is a historic park encircling the Old Town, laid out in 1822-1830. It covers about 21 hectares and is 4 km long. It was created on the site of the defensive walls, pulled down at the beginning of the 19th century, and of the moat and ramparts in front of them. Before that it was a neglected, waterlogged strip where rubbish was dumped and sewage drained. In 1820 it was decided to lay out city gardens here, and the name comes from "splantowanie", the levelling of the rubble. The surveys and plans were made by Feliks Radwański; after his death in 1826 the work was continued by Florian Straszewski, who in 1830 set up a foundation to maintain the Planty.
The moat was filled with soil brought in, the Barbican was kept within the park, and the area was planted mainly with horse chestnuts, maples and limes. In 1989 a restoration was begun to a design by Prof. Janusz Bogdanowski: period lamps, railings and benches were brought back, and low stone walls mark the former line of the city walls and the sites of the towers and gates. The Planty is divided into eight gardens, among them Wawel, University, Barbican and Florianka. By the Barbican, on its western side, stands a monument to Jan Matejko, unveiled on 12 November 2013.
Did you know?
Before the Second World War an elm grew at the end of Lubicz Street, said to have been planted by Tadeusz Kościuszko himself.