Grodzka Street

Grodzka is one of the city’s oldest streets. It existed even before the city received its charter in 1257 as an important section of the early mediaeval trading route leading from north to south. Later, it was a part of the so-called salt route leading to Wieliczka, Myślenice, and further down south to Hungary. Initially, the street ended at the fortifications of the Okół: a settlement whose origin was much older than that of Kraków and used to spread out between Wawel and the City of Kraków as defined by the Charter. This border probably ran close to today’s ul. Senacka.

Characteristic of its initial section, close to the Main Square, is the deformation of the course caused by the presence of the Church of St Adalbert, that was already standing on a slight rise in the 14th century. Neither the course nor the width of the street have changed since the Middle Ages with the only exception being the section from the Main Square to Dominikański Square, where after the Great Fire of the City in 1850, the façades of the reconstructed houses on the side of the street with even numbers were moved somewhat back, which allowed the street to be widened by a few metres.

When Okół was eventually included in the City of Kraków in the 14th century, the two parts of today’s ul. Grodzka were integrated and reorganised. The street then terminated at the foot of the castle in Grodzka Gate, and in the 14th century the houses along the street were already solidly built and its shape – the one we see today – was finally defined early in the 16th century. At the same time, the name Grodzka began to cover the entire street.