Sukiennice
Coordinates: 50°3′42″N 19°56′14″E / 50.06167°N 19.93722°E
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The Renaissance Sukiennice (Cloth Hall, Drapers' Hall) in Kraków, Poland, is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square in the Kraków Old Town (listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978). It was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, Sukiennice was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the East – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
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History [edit]
Kraków – Poland's royal capital – was among the most magnificent cities in Europe already from before the time of the Renaissance. However, its prosperity would not last indefinitely. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for Sukiennice in 1870 under Austro-Hungarian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. Nevertheless, a change in political fortunes for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ushered in a local revival of sorts due to newly established Legislative Assembly or Sejm of the Land. The successful renovation of the Cloth Hall, based on design by Tomasz Pryliński and supervised by Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, Sejm Marshal in the Austrian partition, was one of the proudest achievements of this period.[1]
The Hall has hosted countless distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries. Britain's Prince Charles and Emperor Akihito of Japan were welcomed here in 2002. In times gone by, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had liberated the city from the Austrian Empire in 1809. Aside from its grand history and great cultural value, the hall still flourishes as a bustling center of commerce, albeit offering items for sale that are radically different from those of previous centuries — mainly souvenirs for tourists.
Other, similar cloth halls have existed in other Polish as well as other European cities such as in Ypres, Belgium; Braunschweig, and in Leeds, England; but the one in Kraków is the best-known and best-preserved.
Second floor museum [edit]
On the upper floor of Sukiennice is the Sukiennice Museum, division of the National Museum, Kraków. It holds the largest permanent exhibit of the 19th-century Polish painting and sculpture, in four grand exhibition halls arranged by historical period and the theme extending into an entire artistic epoch.[2] The museum was upgraded in 2010 with new technical equipment, storerooms, service spaces as well as improved thematic layout for the display.
The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Art was a major cultural venue from the moment it opened on October 7, 1879. It features late Baroque, Rococo, and Classicist 18th-century portraits and battle scenes by Polish and foreign pre-Romantics; the art of partitioned Poland with famed Prussian Homage by Jan Matejko; mythological and biblical scenes with the monumental Nero’s Torches by Henryk Siemiradzki, the art of representative members of Young Poland from the turn of the 20th century including Jacek Malczewski, Józef Chełmoński; prominent impressionists Józef Pankiewicz and Leon Wyczółkowski; paintings by Wojciech Gerson and Julian Fałat, as well as large, and controversial Ecstasy, or Frenzy of Exultations by Władysław Podkowiński among other masterpieces.[3]
See also [edit]
- Sukiennice Museum branch of the National Museum of Poland
- National Museum, Kraków
- Kraków Main Market Square (Rynek Główny)
- Kraków Old Town (Stare Miasto)
- Culture of Kraków
- Events in Kraków
References [edit]
- ^ Aleksandra Krypczyk (2009). "History of the Gallery in the Sukiennice". About the Museum (in English). National Museum in Krakow. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
- ^ Aleksandra Krypczyk (2009). "Galeria Sztuki Polskiej XIX wieku w Sukiennicach (Gallery of Polish Art in Sukiennice)". About the museum (in Polish and English). National Museum in Krakow. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
- ^ National Museum in Krakow (2009). "Sala Chełmońskiego: Realism, Polish Impressionism and Symbolism". Gallery of Polish 19th century art in the Sukiennice (in Polish). Official website. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
Media related to Sukiennice at Wikimedia Commons
