Tokens of Love and Gratitude to Christ | Part 8
Originally posted on www.camelbackbible.com.
Exploring Krakow
Saying goodbye to our hosts, Tadeusz and Ewa, we drove south four hours to one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, Krakow, Poland. Unlike Warsaw, Krakow survived World War II relatively unscathed, and it is an architectural masterpiece, one of the first cities selected by UNESCO to adorn its World Heritage List.
Market Square, Krakow, Poland
Lady with an Ermine-photo courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org
Founded in the 7th century, it possesses outstanding buildings from the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Its castle, the Wawel, looms powerfully above the Vistula River, and houses a spectacular collection of crown jewels, medieval weaponry and armor, and the priceless Leonardo da Vinci painting ‘Young Woman with Ermine’ (1489).
Krakow is a leading center of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life, and is home to Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world and Poland’s most reputable institution of higher learning.
Oscar Schindler, pictured with his Jewish employees at their factory in Krakow. Famously, Schindler paid German authorities not to deport his workers to Auschwitz.
Rounding out its appeal is the largest medieval market square in Europe, the Rynek Glowny, and not far away one can visit the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine, built in the 13th century, which, until 2007, produced table salt continuously for 800 years! We descended a wooden shaft hundreds of steps to view stunning salt scultures, some the size of small cathedrals.
It was a blessing to spend a day and a night in this elegant city, drinking in the best of human creativity.
Blessings in Christ,
Tim
Read more posts in the series:
- Tokens of Love and Gratitude to Christ | Part 1
- Tokens of Love | Part 2: History of Poland
- Tokens of Love | Part 3: Through Our Suffering, God Can Work Mightily
- Tokens of Love | Part 4: Freedom in Jesus Christ
- Tokens of Love | Part 5: Poland’s Favorite Sons
- Tokens of Love | Part 6: Peace and Freedom
- Tokens of Love | Part 7: Assurance of Eternal Life
- Tokens of Love | Part 9: From Artistry to Depravity
- Tokens of Love | Part 10: The World Slowly Being Transformed into a Wilderness
- Tokens of Love | Part 11: New Life in Christ
- Tokens of Love | Part 12: Reaching Gypsies
- Tokens of Love | Part 13: Grieving the Empty Seats
- Tokens of Love | Part 14: The Greatest Work of All
- Tokens of Love | Part 15: The Kingdom Plans of the Lord
- Tokens of Love | Part 16: Until We Dance at the Foot of God’s Throne
- Tokens of Love | Part 17: Fullness of Life
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