Cradle of the Polish media

The journalistic life of Poland is concentrated in the capital, a fact no one doubts. Yet even those who are partisans of Warsaw in the eternal rivalry between today’s constitutional and the ancient royal capital cities must admit that Kraków is the cradle of the Polish mass media.

It was here that Poland’s first periodical was published on 3rd January 1661. Entitled “Merkuriusz Polski”, it was a weekly magazine. The first Polish journalist was the secretary to the King, Hieronim Pinocci, who came from Italy. He shared the wearisome chore of publishing it with the printer Jan Aleksander Gorczyn. About six months after it had opened, the magazine was moved to Warsaw, where the parliament was beginning its session. The move did not serve the magazine well, as the 41st issue, published soon after it had left Kraków on 22nd July 1661 turned out to be its last. The magazine flopped, and its editor died in poverty – a fact that should be considered by all those who are convinced about Warsaw’s superiority over Kraków.

On the map: Szoberowski House on the Little Market Square, the seat of the first Polish newspaper