CRACOW, kril•ki!, (Pol. Krakou, Ger. Krakau, Fr. Crarorie, La t. Crocoria. ('arodunum said to he named after its founder, Krakus, a legend ary Slavic chief). The ancient capital of the Kingdom of Poland and residence of the Polish kings, now a fortified city of the Austrian C•own land of Galicia (Map: Austria, h 1). It is situ ated on the left hank of the Vistula, at its conflu ence with the Iludowa, about If) miles from the frontier of Russian Poland and 256 miles north east of Vienna. Cracow, with its numerous churches, towers. and old castle, presents an im posing aspect from without. It consists of the inner town and a number of suburbs. The old walls surrounding the inner town have been de molished, and promenades laid out on their site. Cracow is one of the oldest cities of Poland, and hears the marks of its are in its imposing build ings as well as in its general appearance. First among the numerous churches of Cracow is the old Gothic cathedral, situated near the castle. It was erected under Casimir the Great, in the fourteenth century, and is famous for the numer ous tombs of Polish kings and heroes it contains, including those of Sobieski, Poniatowski, and liosciuszko. It is also adorned with numerous monuments, several of them by Thorwaldsen, and its treasury contains some remnants of the former splendor of Poland. The Church of Saint Mary, a Gothic basilica, was founded in the thirteenth century, and several times rebuilt since then. Tt contains a magnificent high altar by Veit Stoss, and a number of monuments. Besides these churches there are a number of very interesting medkeval ones. Among the interesting secular buildings is the former royal castle, situated on a broad hill at the southwest ern end of the town; it was built in the thirteenth century, and suffered greatly from conflagra tions: its remnants are used as barracks and a hospital. The old cloth-hall, dating from the thirteenth century, is now used as an art mu seum, and contains paintings by Polish artists. such as Matejko. Siemiradzki, and others. In front of the cloth-hall is a bronze statue of Mickiewiez, one of Poland's greatest poets. Among other notable buildings and historical monuments are the university. the old and new theatres, and the RondeIL a relic of the old for tifications. The chief educational institution is the famous university, styled the JageBonin]] University, founded by Casimir the Great in 1364. It developed very rapidly, and eventually became the intellectual centre of Poland. At present it has faculties of jurisprudence, philosophy, and theology, with an attendance of over 1300 stu dents. The university library contains over 300, 000 volumes, besides numerous manuscripts, en gravings. ancient documents, etc. Attached to
the university are also an observatory, a botanical garden. a natural history museum, and a number of other institutions. Among other prominent educational establishments are the Royal Acad emy of Sciences, and the art school (until 1S93 under the supervision of 3iatejko), several semi naries. and a number of artistic and literary so cieties. The Czarto•yski Museum contains a col lection of sculptures and antiquities and a fine picture gallery, with samples of the Italian and Dutch schools.
Economically Cracow is only of slight impor tance. The manufacturing industries include the production of machinery, textiles, leather, chemicals, etc. The trade is mostly in raw prod ucts, such as grain, wood, salt, animals. In the vicinity of the city is situated Kosciuszko a mound 65 feet high, erected in 1820-23 by the residents of Cracow-, in honor of Kosciuszko. and since converted into a fort. The fortifications of Cracow are very extensive. Population. in 1890. 74.593: in 1900. 91,310: consisting mostly of Catholic Poles and Jews.
Cracow rose into importance in the 3liddle Ages as the seat of a bishopric and a centre of com merce and trade, its prosperity being enhanced by the influx of German immigrants. It suffered terribly at the hands of the Tatars in the thir teenth century. It became the capital of Poland in 1320, and after having been superseded by War saw in 1610, it still remained the place where the Polish kings were crowned and buried. It later became exceedingly impoverished, so that at the end of the eighteenth century its population was only about 10,000. In 1655 and 1702 the town was taken by the Swedes. If was the start ing-point of the rising of the Poles for independ ence under Kosciuszko in 1794, and came into the possession of Austria at the third partition of Poland, in 1795. From 1809 to 1815 Cracow formed a part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The short-lived Republic of Cracow, established at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, under the pro tectorate of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, was the last remnant of an independent Poland. It consisted of the city of Cracow and some ad jacent territory. with a total population of about 140,000. The participation of a portion of the population in the Polish uprising of 1830 gave Russia an opportunity for military occupa tion. After that Cracow was repeatedly occu pied by foreign troops. The little republic took a leading part in the Polish insurrection of 1846. The patriots were at first successful, but their overthrow soon ensued. and Cracow was annexed to Austria in the same year. in 1S49 it was incorporated with Galicia. Cracow remains to the present clay a great focus of Polish national life.