The Trumpeter of Krakow
Well, we found another hotel with bell towers aimed with acoustical accuracy at our room! Just proves how light a sleeper I am, and John doesn’t seem to care. They sound 1 bell at :15 past the hour, 2 bells at :30, 3 bells at :45 and 4 bells PLUS a clang for each hour on the hour. And then the trumpeter plays the hejnał in each cardinal direction. The hejnał is an blaring melody (2/3 of the way from cavalry charge to taps) that does not end on the right note. The legend says that the trumpeter, whose main job was to lookout for fire and invaders, played the hejnał to alert the town of approaching Mongol invaders in 1291, but an arrow to his throat cut it short. You should read the book to decide for yourself if you like the legend! John and I did. We saw the present day performance at noon. It was way cool, he waved to us after he finished. To this day, the 6 trumpeters are full-fledged members of the fire brigade. The US soccer team cited the trumpeter as a reason that they did not sleep well and lost a match to the Polish team. I am not alone in my disdain for loud, clanging and somewhat surprising night time noises :).
We went into the church after the musical performance and listened to an amazing story about the altar. St. Mary’s Basilica is a Gothic church built starting in 1221 on the site of a Romanesque church, and completed in the 15th century. It has a 3-aisle basilica nave, which mutes the feel of the usual cross floor-plan inside. We sat down in front of the main altar and our guide told us the story. Veit Stoss was a German hired by the city council of Krakow to carve a magnificent altar piece in 1477. He used oak for the structure and Linden wood for the carved figures. The wood was over 400 years old then, which makes it nearly 1000 years old now. It is the largest Gothic altar in Europe. It took him 12 years to finish, and the council was so happy with his work that they gave him a bonus equal to the entire city budget for one year. It is a national treasure. Altars such as this were aimed at the common people, as they could not read the Bible, nor could they understand the Latin service. The pictures of main Bible stories helped them relate to their faith better. The centerpiece is Mary falling asleep and ascending into heaven. As the Nazis troops were expected, the altar was disassembled and hidden in pieces in the countryside. All the pieces were found and sent to Berlin. Eisenhower returned it at the request of Polish officers attached to the allied forces after liberation.
Krakow University was founded by King Kazimir III in 1364, the second oldest in Central Europe—after Prague, but before Vienna! The university was saved (economically) by King Ladislaus the Jagiellonian- the founder of the dynasty and the namesake of the college major (Collegium Maius), largely with the jewels bequeathed by his wife Queen Hedwig (Jadwiga) in 1399. She is John’s favorite queen, as she is in command of Polish forces in his medieval Europe strategy computer game. Not only a beautiful academic gallery, the library and professorial residence and lecture halls reminded me of Thomas Jefferson’s vision for an academical village where the professors and students would interact and explore the world around them. Nicholas Copernicus was a student there 1491-1495. After his studies in Poland and Italy, we all finally agreed that the sun is at the center of our solar system and the planets revolved around it, not Earth.
We did a whirwind tour of Wawel castle, in the mist and the snow. The royal apartments, treasury, armory and cathedral. We saw it all and made good time, even with a half-time coke and coffee. As we walked into the cathedral, John took off his hat and the guide said, “congratulations, for showing your respect…this is a working church, you have no idea how few people recognize this.” John and I looked at each other and thought to ourselves- yes we do. We have seen a lot of lack of respect and lack of consideration for others. As we travel and see it all…the education of a gentleman continues!
The trumpeter slid the window down facing us and played the hejnał. I don't see how that kept a soccer team up at night! this tower is 81 meters high, and the other tower is 69 meters high. Another legend says that they were being built by two brothers. The lower brother was gaining on the higher brother and had plans to surpass him. The higher brother stabbed the lower brother in desperation to win the family challenge. The knife from the incident is hanging in the square as a lesson to those that would let family squabbles get out of hand...
The Veit Stoss Altar in St. Mary's Basilica-- 1000 year old wood carvings designed for the worship of St. Mary. The artist used real people for models of each character except Mary- you can see many of the maladies of the day in each figure. Modern doctors have diagnosed each person's condition.. Very realistic.
Wawel castle. It is a wonder. Cave with a dragon. A fortification of some sort has been here since ~960. After many incarnations of a growing and evolving medieval castle, it was completely refurbished in Renaissance style at the requirement of a new queen moving in from Milan. Gothic was so last century!
The Royal Cathedral at Wawel Castle
A 15th century celestial globe on display in the Copernicus room. There were also sextants and an astrolabe from Cordoba circa 1050. A photo of the Earth taken from Apollo 11 and signed by Neil Armstrong hung on the wall. The guide said that the students probably weren't allowed to use the very delicate and one-of-a-kind instruments, they probably had to get by with wooden proxies.
Medieval KFC!! -- our guide said that it is easy to tell the medieval buildings in Krakow, the corner walls are not vertical. See how the base on the left corner is further toward the street than the first floor? Exactly. Medeival KFC. We saw Medieval McDonalds and Medieval Starbucks!