Town Hall Tower, Kraków

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Coordinates: 50°3.682894823879934′N, 19°56.17445860121997′E Town Hall Tower in Kraków, Poland (Polish: Wieża ratuszowa w Krakowie) is one of the main focal points of the Main Market Square in the Old Town district of Kraków.

Town Hall Tower in Kraków

The Tower is the only remaining part of the old Town Hall (Ratusz, see painting, below) demolished in 1820 as part of the city plan to open up the Main Market Square. Its cellars once housed a city prison with a Medieval torture chamber. The top floor with an observation deck is open to visitors. [1]

Built of stone and brick at the end of the 13th century, the massive Gothic tower of the old Town Hall stands 70 meters tall and leans just 55 centimeters, the result of a wind storm in 1703. [2]

See the red brick Town Hall with white bastion still standing on a 1797 painting by Franciszek Smuglewicz

The old Gothic helmet adorning the Tower was consumed by fire caused by a lightning in 1680. The reconstruction of the tower took place between 1683 and 1686. The work was directed by the royal architect Piotr Beber, who designed new and imposing Baroque helmet, which survived only 'till 1783. At that time, the helmet begun to crumble, and was replaced by a smaller structure (right) sponsored by Archbishop Kajetan Sołtyk.

The Tower is a division of the Historical Museum of Kraków featuring the permanent display of Photographs of the Market Square Exhibition.