St Mary Magdalene Square

There was already an urban settlement here in the Middle Ages with primitive wooden buildings stretching between Wawel Hill and today’s Dominikański Square. It brought together craftsmen, petty merchants, and possibly the Prince’s retainers. The first traces of settlement, dated on the basis of finds, even reach back to the 8th and 9th centuries.

This dynamically developing settlement, known as Okół, was destroyed and burned during the first Tartar raid in 1241. Only the sturdily fortified Church of St Andrew, which provided shelter for a large number of people, was saved.
Early in the 14th century there was already the New Town (Latin: Nova Civitas) in Okół, possibly an independent town. Yet it was quite quickly swallowed by the expanding Kraków, which continued to develop its fortifications towards the Wawel.

Today’s Square of Saint Mary Magdalene is believed to have been the central square – and also the market place – of the former Okół, which was soon replaced by a church devoted to the Saint, mentioned for the first time around 1325. The square only obtained a shape similar to the one seen today after the Church of St Mary Magdalene was demolished in 1811.