"Kościołów krakowskich i rzeczy w nich widzenia (...) godnych krótkie opisanie" - loca sacra Krakowa w najstarszym przewodniku po mieście

"A Short Description of the Cracow’s Churches and the Things Collected There that Are Worth Seeing’ ["Kościołów krakowskich i rzeczy w nich widzenia (...) godnych krótkie opisanie"] - Loca Sacra of Cracow in the oldest city guide

Summary: From the early Middle Ages Cracow was one of the most important pilgrimage centres of our country. Already in the 15th century the capital of Poland was called ‘the second Rome’ because of many sanctities collected in the numerous churches of the city. At the beginning of the 17th century in Cracow together with the adjacent lands there was the biggest concentration of secular and monastical clergy: in the area of twelve parishes there were 53 sacred objects: 32 churches and 21 convents, 16 of which had their own churches. Within this strongly connected to the city community stable church structure there were also cult centres of a special character and importance. They were the Cracow loca sacra. They gained the biggest popularity in the 17th century but already at the end of the 16th century the reputation of Cracow as a pilgrimage centre made a great number of pilgrims visit the capital. Then it was understood that the visitors needed a printed city guide that would make it easier for them to find the most precious sanctities of the city.
The Jubilee Year of 1600 was celebrated in Cracow with a delay of three years in 1603. This is also the year of the publication of the first in Poland description of the city, and practically a description of its churches, entitled: Przewodnik, abo kościołów krakowskich i rzeczy w nich widzenia i wiedzenia godnych krótkie opisanie, naprzód tych, które są w mieście Krakowie, potym tych, co są na Kazimirzu i na Stradomiu, a na koniec tych, co są w Kleparzu i po przedmieściach krakowskich.[A Guide or a Short Description of the Cracow’s Churches and the Things Collected There that Are Worth Seeing and Kowing, First Those that Are in the City of Cracow, Then Those that Are in Kazimierz and in Stradom and at the End Those that Are in Kleparz and the Cracow’s Suburbia]. It is the oldest city guide of Cracow. Cracow is described as the city of convents famous for the piety of the monks and nuns that lived there, as well as the city of churches full of relics and other sanctities gathered there throughout the ages. The guide is an interesting and credible document of the Cracow’s religious life.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2003, z.14, s. 205-217.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922

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