{"id":2036,"date":"2024-05-14T15:41:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T15:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/?p=2036"},"modified":"2025-02-13T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T16:07:11","slug":"krakow-old-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/2024\/05\/14\/krakow-old-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Krakow “Old Town”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Preston Reynolds<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering through St. Florins gate in the Krakow \u2018Old Town\u2019, we entered into another world. The city center, which certainly lives up to its name, has portions dating back to the 13th<\/sup> century and some even further! There was a constant contrast between old and new, a conflict between Krakow\u2019s internal and external reach. A passing pub \u2018Pod Zlota Pipa<\/em>\u2019 featured a portrait of Franz Joseph of the late 19th<\/sup> century, most of the medieval city hall was torn down by Austrian councilors, and a stunning royal castle was principally used as a clothes hanger by Austrian Soldiers. Following Poland\u2019s disappearance at the end of the 18th<\/sup> century, Krakow\u2019s future was dictated by the stories and legacy of Austrian rule.<\/p>\n\n\n

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But in the present, Krakow both harnesses their medieval roots and reflects a modern world. The Cloth Hall stands at main square\u2019s center, a symbol of the commercial and fiscal intersection Krakow used to represent. Now the beautiful monument is used as a museum and tourist vendor. The streets and alleys are lined with both kitschy cafes in renovated rooms, and 16th<\/sup> century cellars transformed into jazzy restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I find the contrast between the memory of \u2018Old\u2019 Krakow and its new status as a tourist hub to be best represented by their trumpeter. In remembrance of a 13th<\/sup> century Mongol invasion, every hour, a Cracovian trumpeter plays a tune from the top of their tower. This continues well into the night, when you are greeted by the odd treatment of Krakow\u2019s night life. Just as the trumpeter sounds their tune, sidewalk criers attempt to draw you into a sports bar or strip club. The prominence of English bachelor (Stag) parties underlies the use of Krakow as a tourist playground. There is a lesson here about exploiting the past for profit or revitalizing an old city through reinvention, yet I am unable to put words to either. Krakow displays its historical beauty in the day, but in the night, it becomes a hole for tourist\u2019s worst impulses.<\/p>\n\n\n

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By Preston Reynolds Entering through St. Florins gate in the Krakow \u2018Old Town\u2019, we entered into another world. The city center, which certainly lives up to its name, has portions dating back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-poland"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/05\/D3F62670-A0E7-40D3-8A24-F46BE81A8CC4-768x1024.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2040,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions\/2040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/immersionlearning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}