Forms of protection

He have a pleasure to present you the “Guidelines for the Management of the Historic Centre of Krakow, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the years 2023–2035”.

Last Wednesday morning, passers-by passing the Wawel Royal Castle saw smoke enveloping one of the towers and an overhang. The exercises accompanying the 2nd KOBED Heritage Security Congress were, of course, just a practical test of the security procedures in place. However, in view of the ongoing armed conflict in our part of Europe, the readiness to react quickly in the event of a threat to priceless heritage assets is becoming essential for all guardians of monuments and responsible organisational units – and even us as possible bystanders.

We kindly invite you to a meeting dedicated to the memory of Dr Marian Kornecki (1924-2001), an outstanding art expert, defender and populariser of wooden architecture. It will take place on 22 April 2024 (Monday) at 6 p.m. in the Karolina Lanckorońska Hall at the Jagiellonian University Institute of Art History (53 Grodzka Street). The meeting will be enriched by the screening of fragments of archival films unknown to a wider audience.

The ceremonial march of Jagiellonian University professors inaugurating the academic year has been added to the list of intangible cultural heritage. This is yet another entry from the capital of Malopolska after the Cracovian nativity scene, the Krakow bobbin lace, the Lajkonik parade and Polish national dances – and proof of the strength and vitality of Cracovian traditions.

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the inscription of Krakow on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which falls this year, the City of Krakow, in cooperation with the International Cultural Centre, has prepared a unique, bilingual publication in which specialists and enthusiasts involved in the heritage of the city under Wawel Hill play the role of “collective narrator”.

The 45th anniversary of Kraków being listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites is the perfect opportunity to look back at how far our city has travelled since 1978. It also allows us to answer the question whether present-day Kraków is as ambitiously self-aware as it was almost half a century ago.

In 1844, while moving one of the bookcases in the Jagiellonian Library, an inconspicuous sheet of paper slipped to the ground. Densely printed on one side in Gothic characters, it turned out to be the oldest known print in Poland.

“A Guide to the Architecture of 20th Century Krakow” can be understood as an invitation to discover “our own” Krakow. The one outside the tourist brochures, where the daily life of its inhabitants actually takes place.