Town Hall Tower
Kraków Monuments
A Gothic tower from the early 15th century at Main Market Square 1, the surviving part of the town hall demolished in 1820, which was then the main administrative building of Kraków. It is 70 m tall. The first mention of the town hall tower dates from 1383, and the present tower was built no later than 1444. In 1524 a clock brought from Nuremberg was installed on it. After a lightning strike and fire in 1680 the tower burned out to the middle, and its rebuilding in 1683-1686 was led by the royal architect Piotr Beber, who designed a new Baroque helmet.
History
The Town Hall Tower rises above the Main Market Square and is 70 metres tall. It is the only surviving part of the town hall, which was Kraków's main administrative building and was demolished in 1820.
The first mention of the tower dates from 1383. The present one was built at the beginning of the 15th century, no later than 1444. In 1524 a clock brought from Nuremberg was installed on it. After a lightning strike on 24 May 1680 a fire broke out which destroyed the cupola and the clock, melted the bell and burned out half of the tower itself. The rebuilding in 1683-1686 was overseen by the royal architect Piotr Beber, who made the tower taller and designed a new Baroque cupola.
In 1817 the authorities of the Free City of Kraków decided to demolish the part of the town hall with the granary, and work in 1820 led to the whole building being pulled down. Only the tower survived. Soon it too was threatened with demolition - in 1821 Senator Soczyński called for it in "Pszczółka Krakowska". The idea was not carried out.
Renovations took place in 1927-1930 and 1962-1966. Today the clock on the tower is controlled by a radio signal, and the tower itself belongs to the Museum of Kraków. At the entrance stands a pair of lions from the early 19th century, which came from the Morstin palace in Pławowice. On the ground floor a set of 14 masons' marks from 1444 has survived - a European rarity. 110 stone steps lead to the upper floors. The cellars once housed the Świdnica Cellar and a prison, and later a café and theatre stages.
Did you know?
Józef Muczkowski wrote that for a whole century the tower stood abandoned like an "eternal reproach to the vandals" who had so shamefully orphaned it.