Houses Standing by the Main Square in Kraków

Walking around the Main Square, it is worth turning your attention to the townhouses standing around it. Even though a decided majority of them were rebuilt in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, they hide at least the walls and foundations of earlier, frequently 14th-century structures.

The most important of them include: Szara (No. 6), Montelupi (No. 7), Bonerowska (No. 9), Morsztynowska (Berowska, No. 16), Hetmańska (No. 17), Pod Obrazem (No. 19), Jabłonowski Palace (No. 20), Pod Baranami Palace (No. 27), Spiski Palace (No. 34), Pod Krzysztofory Palace (No. 35), Pod Jeleniem (No. 36), and Pod Orłem (No. 45).

Szara Kamienica (No. 6)
According to the legend, this was built in the 14th century by King Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) for his mistress Sara, which would explain the name of the house. In reality, it was not built until the 15th century, when it replaced two smaller houses. During the uprising of 1794, it housed the headquarters of Tadeusz Kościuszko, and during the Kraków Rising in 1846 – the seat of the National Government. The famous colonial store was opened on its ground floor in the middle of the 19th century by Stanisław Feintuch. He changed the name of his family to one that incorporated the name of the house and Szarski’s shop survived until 1950. The interiors of what is today a restaurant have preserved some of the shop’s furnishing and the polychrome murals by Józef Mehoffer on the ceiling.

The House of Montelupi (also known as Włoska, that is Italian, No. 7)
The first Gothic house standing here was rebuilt in the latter half of the 16th century for the family of Montelupi who had arrived from Italy. One of its members was the founder of the first regular Polish post. The coaches that connected Kraków to Venice left from the front of this house.
Attention is drawn to the mannerist main portal from around 1600 with a Latin inscription reading Tecum habita and meaning “I live with you”. The Renaissance portal from the side of the back courtyard was moved here from another house. The entrance hall with barrel vaulting is decorated with Renaissance rosettes and the coat-of-arms of the Montelupi family.

Pod Jaszczury (Pod Jaszczurką, known as “the House under the Worms” or “under the Lizards”, No. 8)
The name of the house comes from the emblem with intertwined lizards (dragons) on the portal. The Gothic vaulting of the ground floor and cellars are still preserved. Today, it houses the famous student club of the same name.

Bonerowska House (No. 9)
In the 16th century, this townhouse belonged to one of the most powerful and rich burgher families. The Boners were the administrators of the royal castle and bankers. They commissioned a rebuilding during which the house acquired early Renaissance structures, the original high parapet wall with herms and gargoyles by Santi Gucci and window frames on the first floor with characteristic vertical divides were added at that time. Early in the 20th century, the house was connected to one in ul. Stolarska via the so-called Pasaż Bielaka (Bielak Passage, which got its name from that of the owner of the house at the time).

Morsztynowska House (also known as Berowska, No. 16)
Tradition associates this house with the person of a city councillor, Mikołaj Wierzynek Junior and the great feast he held in 1364. Following the account of the royal chronicler and historian Jan Długosz, the feast continued for 20 days, and the invitation extended by King Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) attracted the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, Louis King of Hungary, Waldemar King of Denmark, Peter King of Cyprus, and countless princes. Unfortunately, the venue of this feast finds no confirmation in source materials. Moreover, it is certain that the brick building cannot have been erected here earlier than in the mid-15th century. It received its current form during the modernisation carried out around the year 1800 for a representative of an old merchant family, Antoni Morbitzer. One of the most interesting classicist facades in the city, it is crowned with a parapet wall with the deities of navigation and the initials of the owner.
The history of the Wierzynek Restaurant operating here has been documented back to the spring of 1945.

Hetmańska House (the old Mint House, No. 17)
Despite numerous transformations, this is one of the best preserved Gothic townhouses in Kraków. Its history reaches back to the end of the 13th century. Unique ribbed vaulting decorated with carved keystones is visible on the ground floor. This is probably a result of the changes introduced for the Castellan Jan of Melsztyn in the 1370s. The images visible on the keystones most probably portray King Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) and his sister the Queen of Hungary, Elizabeth of Kujavia (Elżbieta Łokietkówna). The room next door has a wooden beam ceiling with sculpted decorations dating back to about 1470. The traditions of the bookshop in the Gothic hall of the ground floor reach back to 1796.

Pod Obrazem House (Under the Image, No. 19)
Developed from two smaller mediaeval houses after the year 1500. The coffered ceilings on the first floor have been preserved from that time. Since 1718, the façade has been adorned with a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which gave the house its name. The only house in the area to be saved from the Great Fire of the City in 1850 even though all the neighbouring ones burned down. The miracle is attributed to this very image.
Since the late 18th century, the house has been connected to the merchant family of the Wentzls, who traded here in wines, and later – from the end of the 19th century to this day – had a restaurant here. It used to be famous for its exquisite vodkas and delicious beers which brought about a quite untranslatable saying that “that which is most renowned and which speaks loudest in Kraków is either over St Mary (meaning the bugle call from the tower of St Mary’s Church) or under St Mary (that is at Wentzls’)”.

Jabłonowski Palace (No. 20)
Although this stately house has frequently been transformed, it still hides away walls that date back to the 14th century. It owes its current form to the reconstruction carried out around 1780 for Eliasz Wodzicki. The 17th-century entrance hall with barrel vaulting and stucco decoration, and the three-storey-high courtyard with an arcaded gallery remain preserved inside.. It remains one of the greatest works of early classicism (a rarity in Kraków!), with an elegant façade crowned with a tympanum and balustraded parapet wall.

Pod Baranami Palace (Under the Rams, No. 27)

Pod Jagnięciem House (No. 28)
This building has only had this name since the 19th century when the magnate family of the Potockis transformed it to the like of the mannerist townhouses in Gdańsk and added a high triangular parapet wall. It became famous – or infamous – for a mysterious and still unexplained event. It was in front of this house that Bartolommeo Berrecci, an Italian Renaissance architect, who worked on the rebuilding of Wawel Castle and designed and executed the most famous of the cathedral’s chapels – the Sigismund Chapel – was murdered in 1537. It was never discovered who held the knife that dealt the deadly blow. It is not known either why Berrecci had to die. Whas it Mafia already extending its long hand in the 16th century?

Spiski Palace (No. 34)
It owes its name to the owners, the Lubomirski family, who were the Starosts of the Region of Spis. The history of the family connected the building with the theatre, as the building became the base of their court theatre in 1725-1738. The tradition was continued by Jacek Kluszewski, an entrepreneur who became the founder of the first municipal theatre in Kraków. Its first performances took place here, on the estate of Kluszewski, before they moved to the building in Szczepański Square.
Early in the 20th century, a colonial store and the Hawełka restaurant – operating to this day – opened their doors to clients in the Spiski Palace. Situated on the first floor is the so-called Tetmajer Hall of the restaurant, on whose walls Włodzimierz Tetmajer painted the story of the life of Jan Twardowski, the wizard.
Standing opposite the Spiski Palace in the Main Square was the stone pillory (whipping post) on which public whippings and branding took place.

Pod Krzysztorofy Palace (No. 35)
This used to have a Gothic figure of St Christopher on the façade – hence its name. Today, the figure is in the collection of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków housed in the building. Although the palace’s pedigree reaches back to the 14th century, its most beautiful elements date to later years. The 17th century saw the addition of an arcaded loggia on the ground floor of the courtyard. The stucco decoration on the ceiling, a work by Baldassare Fontana, is approximately a century older. The Historical Museum that has been the owner of the Palace since 1963 collects objects illustrating the history and culture of Kraków. The most precious exhibits include the Renaissance staff of office and the ring of the mayor, the costume of the Kraków Pony – Lajkonik, designed by Stanisław Wyspiański, and insignia and other memorabilia of the Kraków guilds.
There is a legend connected with the cellars of the Palace: They are rumoured to house the Treasure of the Wizard Twardowski, who employed the devil himself to guard it. Even though many have attempted to brave the cellar’s doors, none has managed to find the hidden treasure. Is it because there’s nothing in there but a beautiful legend, or is in fact the devil so cunning and he does guard the treasury so well?

The House Pod Jeleniem (No. 36)
In the 18th century, this was an inn run by Marianna Lebonowa. It is here that Johann Wolfgang Goethe stayed during a journey in 1790. Unfortunately, the city did not gain the writer’s appreciation, even though he found the Wieliczka salt mine intriguing.

The House Pod Orłem (Under the Eagle, No. 45)
The name makes reference to a bygone custom from the times when instead of numbers, houses were identified by their emblems, frequently of animal origin. Yet, the eagle you can see on the brick façade here is quite a modern work in the case of Kraków. It originated towards the end of the 19th century, and its author, Stanisław Wyspiański, was the greatest Polish artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.