Szczepańska Street
The easiest way from the Market Square to Szczepański Square is along ul. Szczepańska, which is second only to Floriańska and Grodzka in terms of pedestrian traffic. At no. 1 there is Dom Pod Gruszką, which from the 14th century. gaining more and more reasons for publicity. It is said that Prince Wilhelm was hiding there – would-be husband of Queen Jadwiga. Currently, the Journalist Club on the first floor is "working" for the fame of the house.
The Palace under Krzysztofory
The Pod Krzysztofory Palace is located on the other side of the street, even more famous than Dom Pod Gruszką, built on the site of three tenement houses in 1640 r. for Marshal Adam Kazanowski. Currently, Krzysztofory is the main seat of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow. Z pałacem wiążą się dwie legendy: one tells about a treasure hidden in the basement, not found until today, second, as much related to reality as possible, concerns the Krakow Group, one of the most interesting artistic groups in Poland.
The Krakow Group was founded by v 1930 r. young leftist artists, among whom was Jonasz Stern, Moses Szwanenfeld, Maria Jarema, Henryk Wiciński. With time, Tadeusz Kantor joined the Group – visual artist and creator of the Cricot theater 2 – and other artists: Tadeusz Brzozowski, Jerzy Nowosielski, Kazimierz Mikulski and in more recent times: Daniel Mroz, Jan tarasin, Boguslaw Schaffer. The group has always been made up of outstanding artists with creativity, radical aspirations in art, especially in art, who were “the leading artistic force” the environment. All their exhibitions, happenings, sessions, concerts and other events had the status of important artistic events; From 1958 r. the seat of the Group Gallery are the cellars under Krzysztofory.
Historical Museum of. Krakow, one of the oldest of its kind in Poland, was founded in 1899 r, first as a branch of the Archives of Historical Records. Since then, he has been collecting items, pictures and documents illustrating the culture of the city and its transformations – is a real mine of all information about the long life of Krakow. W “Krzysztofory” you can see both Solari's beautiful arcaded loggia and the chambers with preserved Fontana stuccoes, as well as see exhibitions from the history of the city with portraits of Krakow residents, with a Lajkonik costume designed by Wyspiański himself, old weapon, nativity scenes, clocks, “Krzysztofory” they house not only museum exhibitions, but also conservation studios, a research library and an archive, as well as collection warehouses, including a collection of thousands of photographs.
Szczepańska Street reaches Szczepański Square at the same time as ul. Jagiellońska. The Stary Theater is located in the place where they meet. Helena Modrzejewska, one of the most outstanding Melpomena shrines in Poland, with a long tradition. The theater building was built in 1799 r. on the site of several tenement houses. First, he rebuilt it in 1843 r. Karol Kremer, later at the beginning of the 20th century, as intended by Tadeusz Stryjeński and Franciszek Mączyński, the building was decorated with Art Nouveau motifs. Through the large windows on the ground floor you can see fragments of the exhibition of the theater museum.