Just south across the river from Kazimierz, lies Podgórze - a large district rich in natural beauty, tragic history and unusual attractions. The name means ‘foothills,’ and its unique geography makes it one of Krakow’s greenest districts and most exciting to explore, thanks to wooded hills, limestone cliffs and ridges that offer panoramic views of the city centre. It is this same sinister geography, however, which resulted in Podgórze being the site of the city’s greatest human tragedy. The Nazis saw its natural placement between the river and the cliffs of Krzemionki as the ideal place for establishing a prison district, and in March of 1941 Kraków’s Jewish population was marched into the centre of Podgórze and walled off in what became known as the Krakow Ghetto. Liquidated two years later, the majority of the Ghetto’s residents were murdered inside, while others met death in the nearby Plaszow concentration camp, or in the gas chambers of Auschwizt and Bełżec.

Although slow to develop in the years after he fall of communism, the opening of the world-class Schindler's Factory Museum in 2010 not only helped the city come to terms with the ghosts of the Holocaust, it also established Podgórze as a bona fide destination for tourists.

Fragment of the Ghetto Wall

Kraków has always been regarded as the cultural centre of Poland, and before World War II it was likewise an important cultural centre for approximately 65,000 Jews – one quarter of the city’s total population – who enjoyed the city’s relatively tolerant climate. Persecution of the Jewish community began almost immediately following German occupation in early September 1939, however. Despite an increasing series of regulations restricting the civil rights and personal freedom of Jews, more and more were arriving in Kraków from the rest of PL in the hope of finding safety amidst the city’s dense community. In October 1939, the Nazis registered 68,482 Jews in Kraków.

Conditions continued to worsen, however, and in April 1940, Hans Frank – Nazi commander of the ‘General Government’ (the part of German-occupied PL that was not directly incorporated into Germany) – ordered the resettlement of Kraków’s Jews, in keeping with his desire for the capital of the General Government to be a “Jew-free city.” As a result of resettlement in late 1940, Kraków’s Jewish population was reduced to the 16,000 deemed necessary to maintain the economy at the time, with the 52,000-odd others forcibly deported, largely to labour camps in the east.

When the Nazis created the Jewish ghetto in Podgórze in 1941, this pharmacy on Pl. Bohaterów Getta and its Polish owner Tadeusz Pankiewicz found themselves at the very heart of it. Deciding to stay, Pankiewicz and his staff were the only Poles allowed to live and work in the ghetto and over the two years of the ghetto's existence, Apteka Pod Orłem became an important centre of social life as well as aid in acquiring food and medicine, falsified documents and avoiding deportations.

Pankiewicz (recognised today as one of the 'Righteous Among the Nations') and his staff risked their lives in many clandestine operations while bearing witness to tragedy through the windows of the pharmacy as the ghetto and its 15,000 inhabitants were ultimately 'liquidated.' Today the building is a branch of the Kraków Historical Museum, recreated to look as it did during Nazi occupation, which through traditional and multimedia displays, and extensive testimonials from both Poles and Jews, heartrendingly describes life in the Kraków Ghetto.

Information is displayed inside the chests and cupboards of the pharmacy, and visitors are encouraged to handle dozens of replica artefacts and reprinted photographs, heightening the reality of the events described and creating a very intimate visiting experience.

Though comprising only 5 rooms, set aside at least an hour for visiting this excellent museum.

Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square)

First plotted out in 1836, this public square just across the river from the Powstańców Śląskich bridge has had a turbulent history, with turns as a marketplace, horse stable, execution site, taxi rank and bus terminal over the years. During the time of the Krakow Ghetto it was at once the source of the residents’ greatest relief and also the scene of their greatest horrors and humiliation. As the ghetto’s largest open space, Plac Zgody was a place for people to socialise, relax and escape the oppressive overcrowding of the tenements. It was also the site of families being torn apart, mass deportations to the death camps, beatings and executions. Following deportations and the final liquidation of the ghetto, Plac Zgody was strewn with furniture, clothes, luggage and other belongings that the victims had been forced to abandon - this image would later inspire the redesign of the square.

Though after the war the name of Plac Zgody was changed to Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square) and a small monument was erected, the space’s historical significance never felt more pertinent than its post-war use as a public toilet or parking lot. Finally, after decades of neglect, Plac Bohaterów Getta was renovated in 2005, sparking significant controversy over the design. Laid out with 70 large well-spaced metal chairs meant to symbolise departure, as well as subsequent absence, the entire square has essentially been turned into an odd, but iconic memorial to the victims of the Kraków Ghetto.

Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990) was once called "the best artist of the world from amongst Polish artists and the most Polish one from amongst artists of the world". Already during his life, some considered him a genius, and others a master of mystification or a clever imitator only. Today, no one should doubt that this artist, who passed away in 1990, was one of the greatest creators of the art of the twentieth century. Even though it is difficult to explain what the phenomenon of his imagination was based upon. He was a versatile artist; a "total" one as he used to say, thus it is very risky to divide his output into individual "disciplines". Being a painter, stage designer, poet, actor, and happener, he made a name for himself as a man of theatre, but even in the domain of it he remained first of all a painter who thought with images and used actors and props instead of paints.

Silesian Uprisings Bridge (Most Powstańców Śląskich)

This 148 metre beast spanning Kazimierz and Podgórze was completed in 1978 to serve as a replacement for the Krakus Bridge which once stood in its place. Though today's bridge isn't much to look at, the original was quite an effort, by all accounts, and involved in some of the area's most significant historical moments.

Constructed between 1903 and 1913 this iron monster was the work of Edward Zitter, who apparently modelled his architectural marvel on the bridges that span the Budapest stretch of the Danube.

It was in the middle that the respective mayors of Kraków and Podgórze met on July 4, 1915 to cement Podgórze’s incorporation into Kraków, and two years later it took on a groovy modern look when a tramline was added.

However, the bridge is perhaps best known for its role in the Holocaust - this was the route the Nazis used to herd Kraków’s Jews from Kazimierz into their ready-formed ghetto across the river.

Stop at the Via Cafe on Pl. Wolnica

The Corpus Christi Church

This massive brick beauty from the 14th century takes up two entire blocks in Kazimierz, making it one of the city's largest holy sites.

A three-naver in the Gothic style, the pulpit features a golden boat (with oars and a mast even) being held aloft by two mermaids. And though there are few things we like more than mermaids, the crowning glory has to be the towering golden altarpiece.

According to legend, a robber who had stolen a precious relic from another church repented on this spot, abandoning the reliquary. The priests in pursuit saw a strange light emanating from the ground and discovering their sacred prize, founded a church here in recognition of the miracle.

We return to the Wawel castle to visit the State Rooms and Appartments but only the Crown Treasury and Armoury and Oriental Art rooms were accessible.

I had to by a postcard as it was not allowed to take pictures of

Da Vinci's 'Lady with the Ermine'

We also visited the The Wawel Royal Cathedral of St Stanislaus B. M. and St Wenceslaus M. and the Crypts

Most crypts of the Wawel Cathedral date back to the l6th and the 17th century and they entomb ten Polish monarchs together with their spouses and occasionally children.

Then the nation's greatest war heroes were honored with the burial in the Cathedral's vaults – Prince Jozef Poniatowski in 1817, Tadeusz Kosciuszko in 1818, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski in 1935, and General Wladyslaw Sikorski in 1993.

Cyprian Kamil Nowid

In 2010 President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were buried in the vestibule of the Wawel Cathedral's Marshal Pilsudski crypt, which created considerable controversy at the time.

The remains of two 19th-century Polish outstanding poets – Adam Mickiewicz in 1890 and Juliusz Slowacki in 1927 – were buried in the separate "Bards' Crypt" which contains also a symbolic tomb of Cyprian Kamil Nowid, another great poet, and a plaque commemorating Frederic Chopin.

View of the Vistula River (from Wawel Castle)

THE STORY OF THE WAWEL DRAGON

Let’s begin with the history: there are a few versions of the legend, but all of them are consistent in saying that the dragon used to live in a den (later called Smocza Jama) under the Wawel Castle and during the reign of King Krakus. The dragon used to eat ate very unhealthy food – cows for dinner and young girls for dessert. All people of Kraków were worried about the dragon's diet, but it was only the young shoemaker who came up with an idea how to break the dragon's habit. Dratewka (that was his name) put a lamb stuffed with sulphur inside the Dragon's den. The dragon ate the lamb and became so thirsty that he drank half of the Vistula.

The official version says that the dragon drank so much that he finally burst, but of course this is only a legend. :) The Vistula River is still where it used to be and the dragon stayed in the city until today. From 1972 it stands still at the entrace to Smocza Jama and belches fire in a friendly way to the city tourists.