From the 14th to the 16th century, Krakow was the capital of a powerful kingdom that stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Understanding this golden age is essential to understanding why the city looks and feels the way it does.
The story begins with Casimir III the Great (ruled 1333-1370), the king who — as the Polish saying goes — "found a Poland of wood and left one of stone." Casimir founded Kazimierz as a separate city, established the Jagiellonian University (1364), built Wawel Castle into a Gothic fortress, and invited Jewish settlers who would make Krakow a center of Jewish learning for 600 years.
The Jagiellonian dynasty (1386-1572) brought Krakow to its zenith. The union with Lithuania created the largest state in Europe. Wealth from trade, salt mines, and agriculture funded the Gothic and Renaissance architecture that defines the Old Town today. Nicolaus Copernicus studied at the university. Veit Stoss carved the masterpiece altarpiece in St. Mary's Basilica. The Cloth Hall was rebuilt in Renaissance style.
The Main Market Square — laid out in 1257 after the Mongol invasions destroyed the earlier settlement — became one of Europe's great trading centers. Its 40,000-square-meter expanse remains the largest medieval market square in Europe.
The golden age ended in 1596 when King Sigismund III moved the capital to Warsaw, beginning Krakow's long decline — and paradoxically ensuring its survival, as it was no longer a political target worth destroying.
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