I have always been the kind of person who needs a plan, meticulously organizing every trip, researching a city’s history in advance, selecting interesting spots, and crafting detailed itineraries. That was who I was before the full-scale war.
Now, my travels revolve around HiveFest once a year. And I no longer want to plan anything else. I no longer aim to see the most beautiful, the most fascinating, or the rarest things. On the contrary, I go with the flow and let it guide me.
I enjoy this new feeling. I would call it peace and acceptance. These days, every journey feels like an unknown and exciting adventure to me.
I believe that every city has its charm. Sometimes it is well hidden though. It's like quiet and deserted streets next to those filled to the brim with tourists and resembling a full-flowing river.
One day, my husband and I were once again wandering aimlessly through the streets of the old city, looking for a new route. Suddenly, we came across an intriguing side street. It led us to what I would call a very old city within the old city.
On the left, there were old Jewish shops—a merchant, a haberdasher, a tailor, and a carpenter. It felt like a true journey through time!
This little street led us to a large square. It was once the center of the shopping district. Szeroka Street was bustling with activity — tour groups with guides, small gatherings, cars, tourist buses, and even a film crew.
I tried to make sense of my surroundings, but we had to wait until the passage through the square was cleared.
It’s a Jewish cuisine restaurant. The Hamsa (hand) is a Jewish and Arab amulet shaped like a palm with an eye.
Everything around us reminds us that we are in the Jewish quarter - a fence in the form of a menorah, a restaurant where they perform klezmer - traditional folk music of Eastern European Jews, which is characterized by a unique performance.
But let's step aside and say a few words about how Kazimierz appeared. Kazimierz is now a historic district of Kraków, located south of the Old Town and Wawel Castle. It was once a separate city, separated from Kraków by a now-defunct branch of the Vistula River called the Old Vistula. The settlement near Kraków was founded as a separate town on February 27, 1335, by decree of the Polish King Casimir III and became named in his honor.
Kazimierz is considered to be perhaps the best-preserved Jewish town (shtetl) in Europe, where many monuments of Jewish architecture have been preserved.
The Remuh Synagogue. My husband and I tried to go inside, but a large tourist group had just entered before us, so we decided not to wait.
The old lady at the desk recognized us as Ukrainians and mentioned that my husband was handsome. It was unexpected but quite pleasant.😊
I don't know what it says here above the arch, as I don't speak Hebrew, but above the entrance is a Hanukkah Menorah with 9 candles and 2 lions. Maybe Hanukkah?
The Old Synagogue is located on Szeroka Street. It is the oldest synagogue in all of Poland and was built in the 15th century by Czech Jews. During World War II, it was looted by the Nazis, but after the war it was restored and turned into the Museum of Jewish Culture.
Here you can see a baroque treasury, a Torah scroll cabinet (aron kodesh), as well as objects of religious ritual and everyday life.
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Everything for the Shabbat ritual
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A separate hall is dedicated to the history of the extermination of Krakow's Jews.
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And we move on. What other interesting things does Kazimierz have for us?
Further down the street, past the synagogue, this building with a massive graffiti mural covering the entire wall catches the eye. Later, I learned that this is Galicia Museum with the mural of Irene Sendler at Dajwor 16. The street art is one of several murals in Poland dedicated to her memory.
Irene (Irena) Sendler is Polish social worker, nurse, resistance fighter in World War II. Righteous Among the Nations, who saved over 2,500 Jewish children during the Holocaust.
I notice a door with a plaque beside it. We step closer to take a better look.
The High Synagogue (Józefa 38) was built in 1556-63 as the third in Kazimierz, after the Old and New (Remuh) Synagogues. The name comes from the fact that its prayer hall was located on the first floor of the building. This unusual location of the prayer hall was dictated by safety considerations: the synagogue stood at the gate of the Jewish town, and therefore in a particularly busy place, full of street noise and in very close proximity to Christian properties at that time. The prayer hall itself reached the vault of the second floor and was modeled on the High Synagogue in Prague, Czech Republic.
During World War II, the beautiful interior of the synagogue was devastated by the Germans, and the rich, iconic furnishings, including especially valuable objects of ritual art, were irretrievably lost. Since 1966, the building has been used by the Monument Conservation Workshop.
This building standing next to The High Synagogue once was a house of studying Torah.
Ancient and modern attributes side by side on the same wall.
Between the synagogue and the school there is this small cozy cafe. In Kazimierz, there are many cafes and restaurants for different tastes and budgets.
This is the youngest synagogue in Kazimierz - the Temple Synagogue. It was built in the second half of the 19th century for a community of progressive Jews. Liturgies were held here in Polish and German. The interior of the synagogue has been restored thanks to the World Heritage Fund. It is incredibly beautiful, it is a pity that we could not see it, since the doors were closed.
By this point, I was starving. I didn’t even feel like having ice cream. To save time, I planned to eat something quick, light, and healthy. Not sandwiches or panini — maybe a soup or a salad. So, we set off in search of food.
And we ended up in this cafe. Don't ask me why. And the food we ate there was nothing like soup or salad. 😁
To be fair, Kazimierz isn’t just about synagogues. Let’s take a walk through the Catholic part. You’ve already seen the Augustinian Monastery in my previous posts 1 2.
Corpus Christi Basilica. The most impressive one. This is one of the largest (and tallest?) churches in Krakow, founded by Casimir the Great. It combines various architectural styles: late Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.
The Ghetto Heroes Square.
The history of Jewish Kraków would be incomplete without mentioning one of its famous tourist sites. So, let’s take a few minutes to cross to the other side of the Vistula River, to the Podgórze district. Founded in 1784 as the Free Royal City of Podgórze, it only became part of Kraków in 1915.
Once, this was a marketplace where livestock was sold, which is why it was called the Small Market Square. Later, after being incorporated into Kraków, it was renamed Concord Square.
The square received its current name after World War II. In 2005, an unusual monument was installed here — 33 metal and 37 wooden chairs. The architects P. Lewicki and K. Łatak were inspired by the book The Pharmacy in the Kraków Ghetto. Some chairs face the pharmacy, while others face Lvivska Street, where a fragment of the ghetto wall still stands. The chairs are arranged in rows, symbolizing how people stood here for days without food or water.
I'd like to end with the words of Irene Sendler:
"People should be divided into good and bad.
Neither race, ethnicity, religion, education nor wealth
have any importance.
Only who they are at heart."
That's all folks!