Poland - Cracow - Poland's Young Old Metropolis (69/151)

Poland - Cracow - Poland's Young Old Metropolis (69/151)

At present this is Poland's most frequently visited region - not least because of the old city of Cracow, former residence of Polish kings, which withstood the vicissitudes of war and has remained undistorted since the 13th century. Even today Cracow is still reminiscent of Poland's golden era when the land extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Since 1978 it has enjoyed the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The heyday of the city began after a Mongolian invasion that laid waste to the city. Cracow's special status attracted a host of new settlers - Germans, in particular, flocked into the burgeoning economic centre. Until 1311 German was the first official language. After the end of the Polish "Kleinstaaterei" - i.e. the division of the country into numerous mini-states - Cracow was once again chosen as the capital, but the city had to relinquish this status to Warsaw in the 16th century. The University, founded in 1364, is still a seat of learning and of research. One in seven of the 760,000 inhabitants is a student; young people exert a formative influence on life and the cultural programme. Despite the 100 churches and cloisters the atmosphere is not one of clerical solemnity, instead a cheerful, almost Mediterranean mood prevails. In the 16th century Cracow demonstrated its tolerance and cosmopolitanism in its treatment of the Jews: elsewhere they were subjected to pogroms, here the King granted them their own district, Kazimierz, and placed them under his personal protection. Our film tries to showcase the city's two-fold talent - to be found in the synthesis of old and new, of its rich traditions and its exciting present-day culture. Everything begins and ends in the Grand Square (Rynek Glowny), one of the largest and most beautiful in Europe. On a sortie into Malapolska (Lesser Poland) in the direction of the High Tatra the viewer discovers the charming hinterland, encounters the Gorals, the "wild" mountain-dwellers with their picturesque traditional costumes, sees village churches carved entirely out of wood and accompanies us on a rafting trip down the Dunajec.