Must-SeeSight · Sacred SitePaidRainy Day

St. Mary's Basilica

The Gothic brick church on the Main Square, with Veit Stoss's carved altarpiece and an hourly trumpet call from its tower.

Official Website
Photo: Zygmunt Put · CC BY-SA 4.0
Open
Every day for visitors: from late morning, and Sunday afternoons
Price
Paid for visitors; tickets from the office across Plac Mariacki
Time Needed
45 minutes
Address
Plac Mariacki 5, 31-042 KrakówDirections
Getting There
On the Main Square.

Why Go

Veit Stoss carved its altarpiece from 1477 to 1489, the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world, with life-size figures of the Virgin's death and the apostles around her. Its painted wings are opened just before noon each day.

Every hour a trumpeter plays the hejnał from the taller tower, stopping mid-note: legend says a watchman was shot through the throat by a Tatar arrow while sounding the alarm.

Tips

  • Arrive by 11:50 on weekdays to see the altarpiece opened.

Nearby in Kraków

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