Krakow Woodcut

von Michel Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff (Text: Hartmann Schedel)
Hartman Schedel, Liber Chronicarum Nuremberg 1493
University Library of Thorn, Sign.Pol.IV.26
Eigenes Werk (scan from original book), Lizenziert unter Gemeinfrei über Wikimedia Commons

This view from the Schedel Liber Chronicarum shows the Polish capital Krakow with its houses, churches, and fortifications reminiscent of a fairy tale. Towering over the city is the Wawel, the building complex that comprises both the royal residence and the cathedral. The city’s skyline is also dominated by the Church of Our Lady. The left part of the composition shows Kazimierz, a well-known quarter of Krakow. It was founded in the fourteenth century by King Kasimir the Great and is surrounded by a side-arm of the River Vistula. In the lower right is the quarter of Kleparz with the Church of St. Florian. Outside the city walls we see the monastery of the Norbertanerinnen at Zwierzyniec and the Benedictine monastery at Tyniec.
Anna Ziemlewska