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Old Synagogue
At the southern end of ul Szeroka is the fine Old Synagogue, which dates back to the end of the 15th century, the oldest Jewish house of worship in the country. Damaged by fire in 1557, it was reconstructed in Renaissance style by the Italian architect Matteo Gucci.
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Pauline Church of SS Michael & Stanislaus
If you begin at the base of Wawel Hill and walk south along the river bank, just past the Grundwald Bridge you'll see the Pauline Church of SS Michael & Stanislaus, commonly known to Poles as the Skałka (Rock) due to its location; it was built on a rocky promontory, which is no longer pronounced. Today's mid-18th-century Baroque church is the third building on the site, previously occupied by a Romanesque rotunda and later a Gothic church. It is associated with Bishop Stanisław (Stanislaus) Szczepanowski, canonised in 1253 and now patron saint of Poland. You can even see the tree trunk (on the altar to the left and encased in glass), believed to be the same one on which King Bolesław Śmiały (Boleslaus the Bold) beheaded the bishop in 1079.
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Plac Mariacki
To the south of the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady is the small, charming Plac Mariacki , which until the early 19th century was a churchyard.
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Remuh Synagogue
Near the northern end of ul Szeroka is the Remuh Synagogue, the Jewish quarter's smallest synagogue and the only one regularly used for religious services. The synagogue was established in 1558 by a rich merchant, Israel Isserles, but is associated with his son Rabbi Moses Isserles, a philosopher and scholar.
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Rynek Główny
Measuring 200m by 200m, Kraków's Rynek Główny is the largest medieval town square in Europe and one of the finest urban designs of its kind. Its layout, based on that of a castrum (Roman military camp), was drawn up in 1257 and has been retained to this day, though the buildings have changed substantially over the centuries.
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Town Hall Tower
The Town Hall Tower, on Rynek Główny (the Main Market Square) southwest of the Cloth Hall, is all that is left of the 15th-century town hall that was dismantled in the 1820s. The 70m-tall tower can be climbed in summer.
