Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)
Kraków Monuments
A historic cloth hall in the middle of the Main Market Square in the Old Town. As early as 1257, when Kraków was chartered, Duke Bolesław the Chaste undertook to build stone cloth stalls, and the new Gothic hall was built by King Casimir III the Great before 1358. After a fire in 1555 it was restored in 1556-1559 and crowned with an attic decorated with mascarons designed by Santi Gucci. Its present form is the result of the rebuilding of 1875-1879 by Tomasz Pryliński, when the upper hall was adapted for a museum. The ground floor also houses the famous Noworolski café.
History
The Cloth Hall stands in the middle of the Main Market Square. It has been rebuilt many times over the centuries, and the first stone cloth stalls looked quite different from today's building.
As early as 1257, when granting Kraków its town charter, Prince Bolesław the Chaste undertook to build stone cloth stalls. They formed a double row with a lane down the middle, closed at both ends at night. Around 1300 the passage was roofed over and the stalls began to resemble a market hall. New Gothic cloth halls were built before 1358 by King Casimir III the Great. The central hall was 108 metres long and 10 metres wide, with rows of stalls added on either side.
In 1555 the building burned down. It was restored in 1556-1559: Master Pankracy vaulted the hall, and the attic with its crest of grotesque masks was designed by Santi Gucci. Colonnaded loggias designed by Giovanni Maria Padovano were also added.
Its present appearance is largely the result of the remodelling of 1875-1879, carried out to a design by Tomasz Pryliński. The adjoining stalls and buildings were demolished at that time, and the hall on the upper floor was adapted for use as a museum. The façade of the western projection bears Latin maxims, including a quotation from Ovid about attachment to one's native land. The top of the projection is decorated with the sculpture "Day and Night" designed by Jan Matejko.
Today the lower hall is lined with stalls selling jewellery, souvenirs and handicrafts. The upper floor houses the Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Painting and Sculpture, a branch of the National Museum, and the famous Noworolski café operates on the ground floor. In 2010 the Rynek Underground was also opened, with its entrance leading from the Cloth Hall.
Did you know?
On the eastern gables of the projections are grotesque masks that are caricatures of two former mayors of Kraków, Józef Dietl and Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz. They were made by Walery Gadomski to a design by Jan Matejko.