Kraków - Sukiennice

A legend attributes Kraków's founding to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a dragon, Smok Wawelski. The first written record dates to 965, when Kraków was described as a notable commercial center captured by a Bohemian duke Boleslaus I in 955. The first ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, took Kraków from the Bohemians.

In 1038, Kraków became the seat of the Polish government. By the end of the 10th century, the city was a center of trade. Brick buildings were constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle. The city was sacked and burned during the Mongol invasion of 1241. It was rebuilt and incorporated in 1257 by Bolesław V the Chaste who introduced city rights. In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols. The third attack in 1287 was repelled thanks in part to the newly built fortifications.

The city rose to prominence in 1364, when Casimir III founded the University of Kraków, the second oldest university in central Europe. But after Casimir´s death in 1370 the campus did not get completed.

As the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League, the city attracted craftsmen from abroad, guilds as science and the arts began to flourish. The 15th and 16th centuries are known as Poland's "Złoty Wiek" (Golden Age).

After childless King Sigismund II had died in 1572, the Polish throne passed to Henry III of France and then to other foreign-based rulers in rapid succession, causing a decline in the city's importance that was worsened by pillaging during the Swedish invasion and by an outbreak of bubonic plague that left 20,000 of the city's residents dead. In 1596, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa moved the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from Kraków to Warsaw.
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The "Cloth Hall" is located on Krakow's main square. This square "Rynek Główny" dates back to the 13th century, and at 3.79 ha (9.4 acres)it is the largest medieval town square in Europe.

The halls were built in the Middle Ages at the instigation of King Casimir the Great. The covered buildings served the trade of English and Flemish cloth, from which the halls got their name. In 1555, the Gothic building burnt down. During the Renaissance reconstruction, the cloth halls were given a circumferential attic with flat arcades designed by the Italian Santi Gucci. The halls occupy an area of 18 × 108 meters.

This was a major center of international trade. Merchants met there to discuss business and to barter.

In 1875-1878, the Cloth Halls were thoroughly rebuilt the long sides were given neo-Gothic arcades and exhibition rooms were created on the upper floor, which was the first seat of the Krakow National Museum.

Where once great deals were made, today postcards and souvenirs are sold to tourists.