View allAll Photos Tagged capitals
A surprise awaits the visitor to Hoarwithy, for here is a church unlike any other in Herefordshire, or in the country for that matter. St Catherine's asserts its presence with a bell tower that might seem more at home in Tuscany than the rural Herefordshire countryside! The entire church is designed in a lavish Italian-inspired Neo-Romanesque and looks its best when bathed in the sunlight that most evokes the land that inspired it.
The present church is the result of the rebuilding of an existing chapel here in 1854 when William Poole was appointed vicar and J.P. Seddon subsequently appointed architect. Seddon's church is a remarkable vision complete with an apsed chancel and towering bell-tower and most memorable of all a covered 'cloister' colonnade wrapping itself around the south and west faces of the building to guide the visitor to the west entrance. There is a delight in detail here with carved capitals and mosaic floors that show no expense was spared on this project.
Inside the church the main nave is a large hall under an open wooden roof, (much of this part being a reworking of the previous chapel) whilst beyond the chancel is separated by three rounded arches with the mosaic-crowned apse beyond which is the most sumptuously adorned part of the building with intricate capitals and carved woodwork. There is some striking glass too, in fact my first ever visit here was back in 2000 as part of the team releading the windows in the west wall (subsequently this more recent visit was the first time I'd ever seen the church free of scaffolding!).
Hoarwithy church is a real gem, a delightful and little known oddity well worth seeking out. It is usually kept open and welcoming for visitors to enjoy, and on this occasion local artists were exhibiting here (rather good they were too, I was tempted so much I bought a couple of prints). For more on the church see below:-
www.visitherefordshirechurches.co.uk/st-catherines-hoarwi...
Sobre el mismo lugar que existió un monasterio benedictino en el siglo IX, se construyó esta ermita de Nuestra Señora del Valle, románica del siglo XII, en las afueras de Monasterio de Rodilla (Burgos) – Spain.
Los capiteles de la portada septentrional son una joya escultórica, representan animales, tales como leones que comparten sus cabezas, animales fantásticos afrontados y mochetas que representan a felinos.
Todos ellos bajo decoración geométrica y ajedrezada, realizada por canteros de gran calidad, que parecen estar influidos por el denominado segundo maestro de Silos.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On the same place that there was a Benedictine monastery in the ninth century, there was built this hermitage of Our Lady of the Valley, Romanesque twelfth century in the town of Monastery of Rodilla (Burgos) - Spain.
The capitals of the northern front are a sculptural jewel, representing animals, such as lions share their heads, fantastic animals faced and rabbet representing felines.
All under geometric and checkered decoration, made by high quality quarrymen that seem to be influenced by the so-called second master Silos.
(further pictures and information you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Palais Ephrussi
1, University Ring 14
Architect Theophil Hansen 1873
Family:
Address: Franzensring to Universitätsring
Progenitor Ephrussi-Sephardic Greek from Russia
Family tree - family vault at the Central Cemetery
Ignaz leaves the palace built on the ring
Viktor is arrested by the Nazis
The hare with amber eyes
Palais:
A small but fine Heinrichshof - Förstersche group
The neighbor: Palais Lieben
Piano nobile in inconspicuous 1 floor
Interior of Hitler's Professor
Location: Story of the Schottentor
From Franzensring to Universitätsring
The Ephrussi family name is relatively unknown in Vienna.
The Palais Ephrussi, so the building at the ring road, however, many Viennese is familiar, was there but housed the administration of Casinos Austria from 1969 to 2009 housed. The company inscription 'decorates' still the facade.
Today, the property is home of a law firm, led by the President of the Bar Association Gerhard Benn-Ibler.
Students across the university is probably more known McDonald, who has rented the ground floor of the adjacent house.
At that time the palace was at Franzensring. It began at the Parliament and reached to the university. In 1934 one part of it was renamed in Dr. Karl Lueger-Ring. This remained so until 2012. Now it's called University Ring.
The other part even had a more eventfull naming:
1934 Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Ring
1940 Josef Bürckel-Ring
1945 Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Ring
1949 Parliament-Ring
1956 Dr. Karl Renner Ring
Palais Ephrussi, opposite the University
Progenitor Ephrussi - Sephardic Greek from Russia
Ephrussi sounds strange and a bit exotic. One does not really know how to write the word, if you have not seen it before. Hardly anyone suspects that the ancestor of the dynasty, Charles Joachim (1792 - 1864), from Odessa in Russia was - and yet less that this was a Sephardic Greek.
He built a business empire, beginning with grain exports from Ukraine, then investing in the construction of infrastructure: bridges, railways, port facilities. And this, of course, also included the establishment of a bank - with offices in Paris and Vienna.
Offices in Paris - Vienna - Odessa
Pedigree
1. generation
Charles Joachim (1792 - 1864)
2. generation
Ignaz (1829 - 1899)
Leon (1826 - 1878)
3. generation
Viktor (1860 - 1945)
Charles (1849 - 1905)
4. generation
Elisabeth Waal (1899 - 2001)
Ignaz Ephrussi 'Iggie' (1906 - 2011)
5. generation
Victor de Waal
6. generation
Edmund de Waal (1964 - )
Son Ignaz has built the palace
Son Ignaz (1829 - 1899) took over in 1860 the financial transactions in Vienna, his brother Leonid (1826 - 1878) went to Paris and became 'Leon'
As the progenitor Charles died, he was laid to rest in the family vault Ephrussi at the Central Cemetery, not far from the gate 1
(There were later also Ignaz and his wife Emilie, born Porges 1836-1900, buried.)
Ephrussi family vault at the Central Cemetery, Gate 1
Son Ignaz was now head of the Viennese house and reputable in society. He was knighted by the emperor, bestowed him in 1871 with the Order of the Iron Crown, Third Class - although Ignaz throughout his life remained Russian citizen.
Economically he experienced a further upswing, founded more stores, also in London. It is said that the Ephrussi were the second richest banking family after the Rothschilds.
Therefore Ignaz could afford it to take on one of the most successful Ringstrasse architects, Theophil Hansen, 1869 for the construction of his palace. This one had a year earlier started with the construction of the Palais Epstein.
Apart from that Hansen had by his Athens stays good contacts with the Greek society of Vienna and came so to orders such as the Palais Sina am Hohen Markt or the Greek Orthodox Church at the meat market (Fleischmarkt).
Hansen Memorial, Parliament (detail)
Netsuke figurines come in the family
Around the time of the Palais building acquired Ignaz' extremely art-loving cousin Charles (1849 - 1905), who could afford to live as a bohemian and did not have to work, a collection of small carved Japanese figures, netsuke. Those were used in the attachment of kimono belts and were made of ivory, jade or horn.
As heritage (Note: according to other sources, as a gift ) within the family this exotic extravaganza came to Vienna's Palais, where Ignaz resided with family.
Son Victor is arrested by Nazis
In the family Ephrussi it came again to an alteration of generations: Viktor (1860-1945) took over the house. He was with Emilie, called 'Emmy', a born Schey, married.
The marriage was not happy, allegedly, in a manner of speaking the bride was in love with another man. Nevertheless, rapidly three children were born, almost 20 years later, another son - the father was at this time, however, almost certainly Emmys lover (but it was not talked about it).
The family survived reasonably sound an safe to the end of the monarchy, the first World War and the interwar period. But in 1938 came the Nazis, arrested the nearly 80-year-old Viktor in his palace and looted his valuables .
Viktor von Ephrussi
Against the Gestapo violence there were no means, only stratagems: Viktor's maid Anna scurried over and over again among the henchmen.
She succeeded every time to hide some of the small netsuke figurines under her apron, which she then hid in her room.
And she did not say a word to any of them. Not even the stately family.
Viktor was arrested, interrogated in the Hotel Metropol at Morzinplatz and forced to renounce all of his possessions in order to obtain an exit permit.
For his wife Emmy finally all of this became too much. She swallowed an increased dose of heart medications and died.
The Hotel Metropol as an interrogation center
The hare with amber eyes
Viktor was able to flee to England, where he died shortly before the end of the war. His daughter Elizabeth married into the Dutch family de Waal.
She returned in 1945 after the war to Vienna. In the meantime offices of the U. S. Army had moved Into the palais. Vienna should now remain occupied for ten years. Some of the old furnitures were still there. And Anna, the maid.
She handed out Elizabeth the netsuke figures which she could hide then. 264 by the number. A courageous woman. And no one knows her last name. Nobody has asked her for it.
Elizabeth's grandson Edmund has written the story of six generations in the book 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes'. A bestseller: sold 200 000 times.
The Bestseller
Netsuke Figures (Bid: Asian shop Bräunerstraße)
The war-damaged palace was in 1950 returned to the family. Meanwhile impoverished, it had to sell it for only $ 30 000. Were deferred only a few tapestries and books. For the compulsory expropriation of the bank a compensation of $ 5,000 was paid out - with the commitment that they would make no further claims .
As the palace changed hands in 2009, a sum of about 30 million euros has been rumored.
A small but fine Heinrichshof
The Palais Ephrussi extends on the ring road side over nine window axes, on the Schottengasse eight window axes.
The building is a scaled down version of the Heinrichshof which Hansen 1861-63 had built for the brick Baron Heinrich Drasche opposite the Court Opera (destroyed in 1945).
Heinrichshof, 1863
Palais Ephrussi on the left, then the Förstersche group
Theophil Hansen renounced of an accentuation of the center in favor of monumental tower-like corner projections giving the impression that the building stands free. The corner risalit was a characteristic of the baroque palace architecture (example: Schloss Belvedere). It was Hansen's innovative idea to incorporate this motif into the housing. In the business office at the corner of Schottengasse moved in the large, as well furnished by Hansen Café Hembsch.
University (left), Förstersche group (middle), Café Landtmann (right)
Hansen worked very closely with the architects of the adjacent building groups, which also had familial backgrounds: He was with Sophie, sister of Emil Foerster (1838 -1909) married. The brother took over the design on the ring road side, Carl Tietz on the back side at the Palais Lieben. In the literature, this complex of buildings of aesthetic and formal unity went down in history as the 'Förstersche group'.
Unfortunately, the part of the building complex (No. 10, to Mölkerbastei) was severely damaged by bombing in World War II and replaced by a new building.
Palais Ephrussi with caryatids, next to # 12
University Ring No. 10: New in 1966, Carl Appel
The neighbor: Palais Lieben
View Schottengasse:
Left Palais Lieben (8 window axes), right Palais Ephrussi (8 window axes)
One is inclined to attribute the Palais Ephrussi the entire complex. But on the side Schottengasse it includes only the first eight window axes.
If you look closely you can clearly see this on the basis of the color difference of the facade and the gilded, or not gilded balcony lattices.
Ephrussis' immediate neighbors were at the corner Schottengasse/Mölkerbastei the Lieben family, on the ring road side the Iron Baron Mayr-Melnhof (No. 12), No. 10 owned Theresa Blum (destroyed in 1945).
Corner Mölkerbastei/Schottengasse
Piano nobile in inconspicuous 1st floor
Italian flair with plenty of balconies
University Ring (above), Schottengasse (right)
The palace is through ledges horizontally divided into three zones ( base, 'piano nobile', Attica), nevertheless dominates the vertical order: pilasters embrace the second and third floor and the optical impression is further extended by the Terrakottakaryatiden (Terracotta caryatides) that carry the woodwork.
The entire attic floor lies something set back and is circumscribed by a gilded tendrils grid (the thus created balcony room provides surely a nice residential feeling, moreover, perhaps with a view to the Vienna Woods.)
The color scheme of the facade is particularly eye-catching and gives an Italian flair: red brick color with yellow stucco.
Hansen accentuates with the Palais Ephrussi in the first floor the main entrance and the sides with columns, wearing balconies. The shape of the balusters will be taken up later in the opposite University.
The lower floors were rusticated in the neo-Renaissance style, the appear massive and simple.
On the first floor, above the balcony, were the apartment of the landlord and the representative rooms - and not, as one might suspect, a floor above.
Terracotta Jewelry: The head of Mercury protrudes from the Arkanthusblättern (arcanthus leaves) of the capital. Fruit garlands adorn the tower walls between the pilaster capitals.
Detail balcony lattices
Interior of Hitler's Professor
Entrance hall
Transversely embedded courtyard with a glass roof
1 bedroom
2 Damensalon (ladie's salon)
3 dance lounge (including main entrance)
4 reception room
5 smoking-room, billiard room
6 Dining Room
(Note: In the Palais no tours are possible, only the reception area on the ground floor can be visited during business hours.)
Floor plan main floor
Ignaz Ritter von Ephrussi expressly wished from the architect to his main floor a separate staircase, which must not beeing used by any other house party. For the tenants were to build three floors with a convenient main and kitchen stair. On the ground floor a stable for four horses was provided. There are two basement levels.
For the interior design none other than Christian Griepenkerl was taken that equipped the main floor with painting cycles.
Later this one will Adolf Hitler refuse admission to the Academy of Arts because of "insufficient sample drawings".
The ceiling paintings in the Palais show Greek Zeus adventures and Jewish themes (images from the Book of Esther). In other respects, too, it was made sure that nothing was lacking: precious wood floors, expensive fireplaces, elegant marble - and a lot of gold. Inside and outside.
In sunlight, the balcony lattices shine far into the distance. No other Ringstraßenpalais (ring road palais) afforded this beauty .
Terracotta decorations, detail (Mercury)
Location - history from Schottentor
View before 1900 with still intact Gehtor (walking gate) of the Schottentor (gate).
Tor - Tower - Residential House
In the Middle Ages the Babenberg Jasomirgott took Irish-Scottish monks to Vienna. They founded on the ancient Roman road (traffic artery) leading to the west a convent and a school. The name Schottenviertel became customary.
The Schottentor was a part of the fortification. Mentioned it is for the first time in 1276, from 1291 on it was called the Schottenburgtor (Scottish castle gate), later only Schottentor.
The above the gate situated tower was extended in 1418, 1716 were converted into a house gate and tower, which belonged 1775-95 to the couple Eva and Anton Prohaska and 1812 to Protomedicus Edward Guldner von Lobes.
1839 has been demolished.
Old Schottentor Schottenkloster (monastery) 1683
Already in 1656 had been built a new (outer) gate in front of the old Schottentor. 1840 it was replaced by a neoclassical building, similar to the exterior castle gate.
However, as so inconvenient The five passages at Schottentor proved that the new gate soon, " the 5 follies " was the nickname . Supposedly, have been held to narrow the driving gates. And for pedestrians , it was a zig- zag course .
The new Schottentor was already 20 years after its establishment , in 1862 , demolished, only a Gehtor has been preserved until 1900. Then they demolished the remaining groups together with four houses of Mölkerbastei .
The term Schottentor found today on any street sign, only the metro station at the University bears the name - much to the chagrin of some Vienna tourists from the next station - can be misleading - Scots ring.
Old Schottentor to 1839
Schottentor , plan 1799
â–²
New Schottentor 1840
View Schottengasse with Schottentor ( direction Votive Church ) , circa 1840
View Schottentor - outside, around 1840
View Schottentor - outside, around 1840
Outside, around 1840
Outside, around 1840
â–²
New ablation Schottentor 1862
left: Palais Ephrussi
1875 - 1920 : Maximilian Course ( Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, initiated the building of the Votive Church )
1920 - 1934 : Liberty Square
1934 - 1938 : Dollfußplatz
1938 - 1945 : Hermann Goering place
1945 - 1946 : Liberty Square
1946 - Roosevelt Square ( with Sigmund Freud Park )
After the 2nd World War I circulated the following joke in Vienna: A visitor from the provinces asks in a Viennese tram :
" What is the name of the place over there? " "That is the Town Hall Square , formerly Adolf- Hitler-Platz . " A little further asks the visitors again :
" And what is there in the building? " "This is the Parliament , formerly County House . " Again, the tram runs a piece .
" And what is this place?" "This is the Stalin Square , formerly Schwarzenberg Platz . " The visitor gets out and says goodbye with the words:
"Goodbye , formerly Heil Hitler . "
View after 1900
â–²
external link : Image Indoors on f1.online
Link :
Alphonse Thorsch
A banker was almost as rich as Rothschild - the extinction
Tomb of Thorsch family , Central Cemetery , Gate 1
â–²
sources:
Dehio S 336 , Czeike , Archives Publishing
Viennese palace , W. Kraus, P. Müller, Blanck stone Verlag, 1991
The Ringstrasse , a European architectural idea , Barbara Dmytrasz , Amalthea Verlag, 2008
Vienna in old postcards, Czeike , 1989
Vienna pictures from the youth of our Emperor , Gerlach, 80 born FJ
The Press : The Ephrussi family scattered to the winds
The Standard : Prison of gold
Church of St. Giles in Kraków (Polish: Kościół św. Idziego w Krakowie) is a Roman Catholic church of the Dominican Order located on Grodzka Street in Kraków. Its history dates to 11th century; it has been rebuilt many times since.
This is the only Roman Catholic church in Krakow with Holy Mass in English every Sunday. Thus, it caters to foreigners living in Krakow and tourists visiting the city.
Grodzka Street (Polish: Ulica Grodzka, lit. Gord Street) - one of the oldest streets in Kraków, Poland. Grodzka was part of a former north-south trade route. The street is part of the Royal Route, used by Polish kings to reach Wawel Castle. The earliest documents referencing its name date from the thirteenth century.
Part of the street was destroyed by the Kraków Fire of 1850. In the later half of the 19th century, a tramway track was laid on Grodzka Street
Kraków, also seen spelled Cracow or absent Polish diacritics as Krakow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town with Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second-most-important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was reported by Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, a 10th-century merchant from Córdoba, as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. As of 2023, the city has a population of 804,237, with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius of its main square.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau (Kraków District) became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.
In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II—the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Also that year, UNESCO approved Kraków's entire Old Town and historic centre and the nearby Wieliczka Salt Mine as Poland's first World Heritage Sites. Kraków is classified as a global city with the ranking of "high sufficiency" by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Its extensive cultural heritage across the epochs of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture includes Wawel Cathedral and Wawel Royal Castle on the banks of the Vistula, St. Mary's Basilica, Saints Peter and Paul Church and the largest medieval market square in Europe, Rynek Główny. Kraków is home to Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world and traditionally Poland's most reputable institution of higher learning. The city also hosts a number of institutions of national significance such as the National Museum, Kraków Opera, Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, National Stary Theatre and the Jagiellonian Library. The city is served by John Paul II International Airport, the country's second busiest airport and the most important international airport for the inhabitants of south-eastern Poland.
In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013, Kraków was officially approved as a UNESCO City of Literature. The city hosted World Youth Day in 2016 and the European Games in 2023.
Kraków is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with the urban population of 804,237 (June, 2023). Situated on the Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Timeline of Kraków
Historical affiliations
Vistulans, pre X century
Duchy of Bohemia, X century–ca. 960
Duchy of Poland, ca. 960–1025
Kingdom of Poland, 1025–1031
Duchy of Poland, 1031–1320
∟ Seniorate Province, 1138–1227
Duchy of Kraków, 1227–1320
Kingdom of Poland, 1320–1569
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795
Austrian Empire, 1795–1809
∟ Galicia
Duchy of Warsaw, 1809–1815
Free City of Cracow, 1815–1846
Austrian Empire, 1846–1867
Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918
∟ Grand Duchy of Kraków (subdivision of Galicia)
Republic of Poland, 1918–1939
General Government, 1939–1945 (part of German-occupied Europe)
Provisional Government of National Unity, 1945–1947
Polish People's Republic, 1947–1989
Poland, 1989–present
Early history
The earliest known settlement on the present site of Kraków was established on Wawel Hill, and dates back to the 4th century. Legend attributes the town's establishment to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a ravenous dragon, Smok Wawelski. Many knights unsuccessfully attempted to oust the dragon by force, but instead, Krakus fed it a poisoned lamb, which killed the dragon. The city was free to flourish. Dragon bones, most likely that of mammoth, are displayed at the entrance of the Wawel Cathedral. Before the Polish state had been formed, Kraków was the capital of the tribe of Vistulans, subjugated for a short period by Great Moravia. After Great Moravia was destroyed by the Hungarians, Kraków became part of the kingdom of Bohemia. The first appearance of the city's name in historical records dates back to 966, when a Sephardi Jewish traveller, Abraham ben Jacob, described Kraków as a notable commercial centre under the rule of the then duke of Bohemia (Boleslaus I the Cruel). He also mentioned the baptism of Prince Mieszko I and his status as the first historical ruler of Poland. Towards the end of his reign, Mieszko took Kraków from the Bohemians and incorporated it into the holdings of the Piast dynasty.
By the end of the 10th century, the city was a leading center of trade. Brick buildings were being constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle with the Rotunda of Sts. Felix and Adauctus, Romanesque churches, a cathedral, and a basilica. Sometime after 1042, Casimir I the Restorer made Kraków the seat of the Polish government. In 1079 on a hillock in nearby Skałka, the Bishop of Kraków, Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów, was slain by the order of the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous. In 1138, the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth came into effect upon his death. It divided Poland into five provinces, with Kraków named as the Seniorate Province, meant to be ruled by the eldest male member of the royal family as the High Duke. Infighting among brothers, however, caused the seniorate system to soon collapse, and a century-long struggle between Bolesław's descendants followed. The fragmentation of Poland lasted until 1320.
Kraków was almost entirely destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Poland in 1241, after the Polish attempt to repulse the invaders had been crushed in the Battle of Chmielnik. Kraków was rebuilt in 1257, in a form which was practically unaltered, and received self-government city rights from the king based on the Magdeburg Law, attracting mostly German-speaking burgers. In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols, 18 years after the first raid. A third attack, though unsuccessful, followed in 1287. The year 1311 saw the Rebellion of wójt Albert against Polish High Duke Władysław I. It involved the mostly German-speaking burghers of Kraków who, as a result, were massacred. In the aftermath, Kraków was gradually re-Polonized, and Polish burghers rose from a minority to a majority.
Further information: History of Poland in the Middle Ages
Medieval Kraków was surrounded by a 1.9 mile (3 km) defensive wall complete with 46 towers and seven main entrances leading through them (see St. Florian's Gate and Kraków Barbican). The fortifications were erected over the course of two centuries. The town defensive system appeared in Kraków after the city's location, i.e. in the second half of the 13th century (1257). This was when the construction of a uniform fortification line was commenced, but it seems the project could not be completed. Afterwards the walls, however, were extended and reinforced (a permit from Leszek Biały to encircle the city with high defensive walls was granted in 1285). Kraków rose to new prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded the Cracow Academy, the second university in central Europe after the University of Prague. There had already been a cathedral school since 1150 functioning under the auspices of the city's bishop. The city continued to grow under the joint Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellon dynasty (1386–1572). As the capital of a powerful state, it became a flourishing center of science and the arts.
Kraków was a member of the Hanseatic League and many craftsmen settled there, established businesses and formed craftsmen's guilds. City Law, including guilds' depictions and descriptions, were recorded in the German language Balthasar Behem Codex. This codex is now featured at the Jagiellonian Library. By the end of the thirteenth century, Kraków had become a predominantly German city. In 1475 delegates of the elector George the Rich of Bavaria came to Kraków to negotiate the marriage of Princess Jadwiga of Poland (Hedwig in German), the daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon to George the Rich. Jadwiga traveled for two months to Landshut in Bavaria, where an elaborate marriage celebration, the Landshut Wedding took place. Around 1502 Kraków was already featured in the works of Albrecht Dürer as well as in those of Hartmann Schedel (Nuremberg Chronicle) and Georg Braun (Civitates orbis terrarum).
During the 15th century extremist clergymen advocated violence towards the Jews, who in a gradual process lost their positions. In 1469 Jews were expelled from their old settlement to Spiglarska Street. In 1485 Jewish elders were forced into a renunciation of trade in Kraków, which led many Jews to leave for Kazimierz that did not fall under the restrictions due to its status as a royal town. Following the 1494 fire in Kraków, a wave of anti-Jewish attacks took place. In 1495, King John I Albert expelled the Jews from the city walls of Kraków; they moved to Kazimierz (now a district of Kraków).
Renaissance
The Renaissance, whose influence originated in Italy, arrived in Kraków in the late 15th century, along with numerous Italian artists including Francesco Fiorentino, Bartolommeo Berrecci, Santi Gucci, Mateo Gucci, Bernardo Morando, and Giovanni Baptista di Quadro. The period, which elevated the intellectual pursuits, produced many outstanding artists and scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus who studied at the local Academy. In 1468 the Italian humanist Filip Callimachus came to Kraków, where he worked as the teacher of the children of Casimir IV Jagiellon. In 1488 the imperial Poet Laureate and humanist Conrad Celtes founded the Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana ("Literary Society on the Vistula"), a learned society based on the Roman Academies. In 1489, sculptor Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) of Nuremberg finished his work on the high altar of St. Mary's Church. He later made a marble sarcophagus for his benefactor Casimir IV Jagiellon. By 1500, Johann Haller had established a printing press in the city. Many works of the Renaissance movement were printed there during that time.
Art and architecture flourished under the watchful eye of King Sigismund I the Old, who ascended to the throne in 1507. He married Bona Sforza of a leading Milan family and using his new Italian connections began the major project (under Florentine architect Berrecci) of remaking the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Wawel Castle, into a modern Renaissance palace. In 1520, Hans Behem made the largest church bell, named the Sigismund Bell after King Sigismund I. At the same time Hans Dürer, younger brother of Albrecht Dürer, was Sigismund's court painter. Around 1511 Hans von Kulmbach painted a series of panels for the Church of the Pauline Fathers at Skałka and the Church of St. Mary. Sigismund I also brought in Italian chefs who introduced Italian cuisine.
In 1558, a permanent postal connection between Kraków and Venice, the capitals of the Kingdom of Poland and the Republic of Venice respectively, was established and Poczta Polska was founded. In 1572, King Sigismund II died childless, and the throne passed briefly to Henry of Valois, then to Sigismund II's sister Anna Jagiellon and her husband Stephen Báthory, and then to Sigismund III of the Swedish House of Vasa. His reign changed Kraków dramatically, as he moved the government to Warsaw in 1596. A series of wars ensued between Sweden and Poland.
After the partitions of Poland
In the late 18th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned three times by its expansionist neighbors: Imperial Russia, the Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia. After the first two partitions (1772 and 1793), Kraków was still part of the substantially reduced Polish nation. In 1794 Tadeusz Kościuszko initiated a revolt against the partitioning powers, the Kościuszko Uprising, in Kraków's market square. The Polish army, including many peasants, fought against the Russian and Prussian armies, but the larger forces ultimately put down the revolt. The Prussian army specifically took Kraków on 15 June 1794, and looted the Polish royal treasure kept at Wawel Castle. The stolen regalia, valued at 525,259 thalers, was secretly melted down in March 1809, while precious stones and pearls were appropriated in Berlin. Poland was partitioned for the third time in 1795, and Kraków became part of the Austrian province of Galicia.
When Napoleon Bonaparte of the French Empire captured part of what had once been Poland, he established the Duchy of Warsaw (1807) as an independent but subordinate state. West Galicia, including Kraków, was taken from the Austrian Empire and added to the Duchy of Warsaw in 1809 by the Treaty of Schönbrunn, which ended the War of the Fifth Coalition. The Congress of Vienna (1815) restored the partition of Poland, but gave Kraków partial independence as the Free City of Cracow.
The city again became the focus of a struggle for national sovereignty in 1846, during the Kraków Uprising. The uprising failed to spread outside the city to other Polish lands, and was put down. This resulted in the annexation of the city state to the Austrian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Cracow, once again part of the Galician lands of the empire.
In 1850 10% of the city was destroyed in the large fire.
After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria granted partial autonomy to Galicia, making Polish a language of government and establishing a provincial Diet. As this form of Austrian rule was more benevolent than that exercised by Russia and Prussia, Kraków became a Polish national symbol and a center of culture and art, known frequently as the "Polish Athens" (Polskie Ateny) or "Polish Mecca" to which Poles would flock to revere the symbols and monuments of Kraków's (and Poland's) great past. Several important commemorations took place in Kraków during the period from 1866–1914, including the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald in 1910, in which world-renowned pianist Ignacy Paderewski unveiled a monument. Famous painters, poets and writers of this period, living and working in the city include Jan Matejko, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Jan Kasprowicz, Juliusz Kossak, Wojciech Kossak, Stanisław Wyspiański and Stanisław Przybyszewski. The latter two were leaders of Polish modernism.
The Fin de siècle Kraków, even under the partitions, was famously the center of Polish national revival and culture, but the city was also becoming a modern metropolis during this period. In 1901 the city installed running water and witnessed the introduction of its first electric streetcars. (Warsaw's first electric streetcars came in 1907.) The most significant political and economic development of the first decade of the 20th century in Kraków was the creation of Greater Kraków (Wielki Kraków), the incorporation of the surrounding suburban communities into a single administrative unit. The incorporation was overseen by Juliusz Leo, the city's energetic mayor from 1904 to his death in 1918 (see also: the Mayors of Kraków).
Thanks to migration from the countryside and the fruits of incorporation from 1910 to 1915, Kraków's population doubled in just fifteen years, from approx. 91,000 to 183,000 in 1915. Russian troops besieged Kraków during the first winter of the First World War, and thousands of residents left the city for Moravia and other safer locales, generally returning in the spring and summer of 1915. During the war Polish Legions led by Józef Piłsudski set out to fight for the liberation of Poland, in alliance with Austrian and German troops. With the fall of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poles liberated the city and it was included with the newly reborn Polish state (1918). Between the two World Wars Kraków was also a major Jewish cultural and religious center (see: Synagogues of Kraków), with the Zionist movement relatively strong among the city's Jewish population.
World War II
Poland was partitioned again at the onset of the Second World War. The Nazi German forces entered Kraków on September 6, 1939. The residents of the city were saved from German attack by the courageous Mayor Stanisław Klimecki who went to meet the invading Wehrmacht troops. He approached them with the call to stop shooting because the city was defenseless: "Feuer einstellen!" and offered himself as a hostage. He was killed by the Gestapo three years later in the Niepołomice Forest. The German Einsatzgruppen I and zbV entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles. On September 12, the Germans carried out a massacre of 10 Jews. On November 4, Kraków became the capital of the General Government, a colonial authority under the leadership of Hans Frank. The occupation took a heavy toll, particularly on the city's cultural heritage. On November 6, during the infamous Sonderaktion Krakau 184 professors and academics of the Jagiellonian University (including Rector Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński among others) were arrested at the Collegium Novum during a meeting ordered by the Gestapo chief SS-Obersturmbannführer Bruno Müller. President of Kraków, Klimecki was apprehended at his home the same evening. After two weeks, they were sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and in March 1940 further to Dachau. Those who survived were released only after international protest involving the Vatican. On November 9–10, during the Intelligenzaktion, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 120 Poles, including teachers, students and judges. The Sicherheitspolizei took over the Montelupich Prison, which became one of the most infamous in German-occupied Poland. Many Poles arrested in Kraków, and various other places in the region, and even more distant cities such as Rzeszów and Przemyśl, were imprisoned there. Over 1,700 Polish prisoners were eventually massacred at Fort 49 of the Kraków Fortress and its adjacent forest, and deportations of Polish prisoners to concentration camps, incl. Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, were also carried out. The prison also contained a cell for kidnapped Polish children under the age of 10, with an average capacity of about 70 children, who were then sent to concentration camps and executed. From September to December 1939, the occupiers also operated a Dulag transit camp for Polish prisoners of war.
Many relics and monuments of national culture were looted and destroyed (yet again), including the bronze statue of Adam Mickiewicz stolen for scrap. The Jewish population was first ghettoized, and later murdered. Two major concentration camps near Kraków included Płaszów and the extermination camp of Auschwitz, to which many local Poles and Polish Jews were sent. Specific events surrounding the Jewish ghetto in Kraków and the nearby concentration camps were famously portrayed in the film Schindler's List, itself based on a book by Thomas Keneally entitled Schindler's Ark. The Polish Red Cross was also aware of over 2,000 Polish Jews from Kraków, who escaped from the Germans to Soviet-occupied eastern Poland, and then were deported by the Soviets to the USSR.
The Polish resistance movement was active in the city. Already in September 1939, the Organizacja Orła Białego resistance organization was founded. Kraków became the seat of one of the six main commands of the Union of Armed Struggle in occupied Poland (alongside Warsaw, Poznań, Toruń, Białystok and Lwów). A local branch of the Żegota underground Polish resistance organization was established to rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
The Germans operated several forced labour camps in the city, and in 1942–1944, they also operated the Stalag 369 prisoner-of-war camp for Dutch, Belgian and French POWs. In 1944, during and following the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans deported many captured Poles frow Warsaw to Kraków.
A common account popularized in the Soviet-controlled communist People's Republic of Poland, held that due to a rapid advance of the Soviet armies, Kraków allegedly escaped planned destruction during the German withdrawal. There are several different versions of that account. According to a version based on self-written Soviet statements, Marshal Ivan Konev claimed to have been informed by the Polish patriots of the German plan, and took an effort to preserve Kraków from destruction by ordering a lightning attack on the city while deliberately not cutting the Germans from the only withdrawal path, and by not aiding the attack with aviation and artillery. The credibility of those accounts has been questioned by Polish historian Andrzej Chwalba who finds no physical evidence of the German master plan for demolition and no written proof showing that Konev ordered the attack with the intention of preserving the city. He portrays Konev's strategy as ordinary – only accidentally resulting in little damage to Kraków – exaggerated later into a myth of "Konev, savior of Kraków" by Soviet propaganda. The Red Army entry into the city was accompanied by a wave of rapes of women and girls resulting in official protests.
Post-war period
After the war, the government of the People's Republic of Poland ordered the construction of the country's largest steel mill in the suburb of Nowa Huta. This was regarded by some as an attempt to diminish the influence of Kraków's intellectual and artistic heritage by industrialization of the city and by attracting to it the new working class. In the 1950s some Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Nowa Huta.
The city is regarded by many to be the cultural capital of Poland. In 1978, UNESCO placed Kraków on the list of World Heritage Sites. In the same year, on October 16, 1978, Kraków's archbishop, Karol Wojtyła, was elevated to the papacy as John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
Kraków's population has quadrupled since the end of World War II. After the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the subsequent joining of the European Union, Offshoring of IT work from other nations has become important to the economy of Kraków and Poland in general in recent years. The city is the key center for this kind of business activity. There are about 20 large multinational companies in Kraków, including centers serving IBM, General Electric, Motorola, and Sabre Holdings, along with British and German-based firms.
In recent history, Kraków has co-hosted various international sports competitions, including the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship, 2017 Men's European Volleyball Championship, 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship and 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.
On a walk around the city catching on progress. Christchurch April 3, 2016 New Zealand.
Christchurch is ranked alongside New York, Barcelona, Berlin and London as one of the street art capitals of the world in a new Lonely Planet book.
The book names Christchurch as one of 39 cities around the world with a rich street art scene.
It credits the birth of the Christchurch street art scene with the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes and the RISE street art festival and exhibition in 2013.
For more Info and photos of Street Art: i.stuff.co.nz/travel/90284773/christchurch-ranked-as-a-gl...
Delicately carved capitals in San Vitale, Ravenna. The round medallion has lettering which forms the name of the bishop who commissioned the building in the early 6th-century.
The 23 meter high, three-aisled pillar basilica has over 100 expressive capitals, which are considered masterpieces of Romanesque architectural sculpture.
On the right, Samson is leaning forward, pushing with his shoulder against a decorated column surmounted by a kind of box representing the temple. Three impassive faces can be seen at two openings of the temple. A figure on the left (of which only the lower body remains (blinded Samson?) is led to the right.
Leominster Priory ...west door capitals...carving of the Herefordshire School, C12. Leominster had strong links to Reading Abbey.
Construction of the Corinthian-style capital I developed for a 4x4-wide column. Perhaps someone will benefit from the design.
The Pantheon, Rome, c. 125
46. AP* Art History
Learn more: www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/...
*AP Art History is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this content.