Kraków - Kościół św. Wojciecha

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 Church of St. Adalbert is located on the main market square "Rynek Główny". It dates back to a first stone predecessor building from the 10th century.

According to archaeologists, the oldest remains point to a wooden structure built at the end of the 10th century, which was replaced by an original stone church from the 11th century. These walls served as the foundation for a new church built at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. Since the level of the square, which was covered with new pavement, rose between 2 and 2.6 meters, the church walls were raised and covered with stucco in the 17th century. The new entrance was built from the west side and the church was provided with a new baroque dome.

St. Adalbert's Church acquired its present appearance between 1611 and 1618, when it was remodeled in the Baroque style. The flat building was raised, the square nave was provided with round windows and the church was crowned with a dome and its lantern.