Adam Mickiewicz Monument
Kraków Artists: Writers and Poets
The monument, known to Kraków residents as "Adaś", stands on the eastern side of the Main Market Square, between the Cloth Hall and the mouth of Sienna Street. It was designed by Teodor Rygier and unveiled on 26 June 1898, on the hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth. It is 10 m tall and shows Mickiewicz on a pedestal at whose foot stand four allegories: Homeland, Courage, Science and Poetry. The plinth bears the dedication "To Adam Mickiewicz, the Nation". The cost of building it was 164,000 Rhenish guilders, mostly from public donations. On 17 August 1940 the occupiers destroyed the monument, and after the war it was reconstructed from elements found in 1946 at a scrapyard in Hamburg.
History
Adam Mickiewicz was born in December 1798 in Zaosie or Nowogródek. Together with Juliusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński he is counted among the three national bards of Polish Romanticism. While still a student in Vilnius, in 1817 he and his friends founded the Philomath Society. For taking part in secret youth organisations he was arrested and then exiled deep into Russia. From 1832 he lived in Paris, where in 1834 he published Pan Tadeusz, and later he took up the chair of Slavic languages at the Collège de France. He died in 1855 in Istanbul, where he had gone to form units to fight Tsarist Russia. He was first buried in France, and in 1890 his remains were moved to Wawel.
The monument stands on the Main Market Square, between the Cloth Hall and the end of Sienna Street, and was designed by Teodor Rygier. It was solemnly unveiled on 26 June 1898, on the hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth, in the presence of his daughter and son. Rygier's design was chosen from a competition held in 1880-1890, in which Jan Matejko and Pius Weloński, among others, also presented their ideas. The decision sparked debate in the press, and critics judged the artistic value of the work harshly. The construction cost 164,000 Rhenish guilders, mostly from public donations, and the casting was done by the Roman firm Nelli. The monument is ten metres high. The poet stands on a pedestal, and the stepped plinth is decorated with four allegories: the Homeland, Valour, Learning and Poetry. On the plinth we read the dedication: "Adamowi Mickiewiczowi Naród" ("To Adam Mickiewicz, from the Nation").
The German occupiers destroyed the monument on 17 August 1940. After the war it was recreated from parts found in 1946 in a scrapyard in Hamburg, and the stone elements were made of Kośmin granodiorite. It was unveiled again on 26 November 1955, exactly on the hundredth anniversary of the poet's death. The people of Kraków call it "Adaś", and it has become one of the favourite meeting places for residents and tourists.
Did you know?
By custom, school-leavers celebrating their pre-exam ball hop around the monument on one leg, believing that the number of laps will be reflected in their final exam marks. Every year the Kraków nativity scene (szopka) competition also begins at Adaś, and on the poet's name day, 24 December, the flower sellers lay flowers at his feet.