Plac Nowy in the Jewish quarter. Flee Market on Sundays. - Kraków Poland - ECTV

Eric Clark’s travel videos - Kraków Poland - Plac Nowy in the Jewish quarter. Great Food and Shops.
While Kraków’s main square, Rynek Główny, makes all the postcards and photographs, Plac Nowy has established itself as the spiritual centre of Cracovian subculture. Lacking the splendour of the Old Town, Plac Nowy is actually something of an eyesore - a concrete square lined with cars and filled with food hatches, metal market stalls and rat-like pigeons. If you want something completely different from the Old Town, however, here it is.
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Incorporated into the Jewish quarter in the late 17th century, Plac Nowy (New Square) didn't really begin assuming its shape until the early 19th century, with its central landmark, the Okrąglak (rotunda), added as late as 1900. For generations this square was referred to by locals as Plac Żydowski (Jewish Square); not only was it the primary marketplace of the Jewish quarter, but the rotunda served as a ritual slaughterhouse for poultry right up until Nazi occupation. Today butcher shops still occupy the interior, but the real activity is outside where hungry locals line-up in front of the dozen or so hole-in-the-wall food hatches that operate around the rotunda, eager to taste arguably the best 'zapiekanki' in Poland. Essentially a French bread pizza with the toppings of your choice, you’ll find everyone from police blokes ignoring emergency calls on their walkie-talkies to stick-thin party girls getting their week's worth of calories waiting outside the rotunda for this this legendary Cracovian street food. Visiting Kraków without eating a Plac Nowy zapiekanka would be like visiting Dublin without having a Guinness.
Kazimierz - the district south of the Old Town between the Wisła River and ul. Dietla (where a tributary of the Wisła once flowed) was the centre of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years, before it was systematically destroyed during World War II. In the communist era it became one of Kraków’s dodgiest districts while gradually falling into disrepair. Rediscovered in the 1990s, thanks to the fall of the regime and worldwide exposure through the lens of Steven Spielberg, Kazimierz has rebounded and is today Kraków’s most exciting district - a bustling, bohemian neighbourhood packed with historical sites, atmospheric cafes and art galleries. Well-known for its associations with Schindler and Spielberg, traces of Kazimierz’s Jewish history have not only survived, but literally abound in the form of the district’s numerous synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. In fact, no other place conveys a sense of pre-war Jewish culture in Europe better than Kazimierz. As a result, the district has become a major tourist draw and pilgrimage site for Jews, which has led to the return of contemporary Jewish culture in the area.
Each summer since 1988 the massively popular Jewish Culture Festival has filled Kazimierz’s streets and cafes with music, while educating Kraków’s residents and guests about the city’s pre-war Jewish history and celebrating modern Jewish culture. The fact that it’s one of the year’s biggest parties proves that there’s more to Kazimierz than sepia photographs and old synagogues. Here you’ll find the heart of Kraków’s artistic, bohemian character behind the wooden shutters of dozens of antique shops and art galleries. Peeling façades and obscure courtyards hide dozens of bars and cafes, many affecting an air of pre-war timelessness. Centred around the former Jewish square now known as Plac Nowy, Kazimierz has emerged as the city’s best destination for cafe culture and nightlife. Alternative, edgy and packed with oddities, Kazimierz is an essential point of interest to any visitor.
Also read our features on: Best Bars in Kazimierz | Best Restaurants in Kazimierz
A Brief History of Kazimierz
The history of Kazimierz can be traced back to 1335 when it was officially founded on an island outside of Kraków by King Kazimierz the Great. It was not until 1495 when Jews began to be expelled from Kraków that they started to move over the river to Kazimierz en masse. Awarded its Magdeburg Rights, which allowed markets to be held on what is now Plac Wolnica, Kazimierz prospered and became one of the most influential Polish towns during the Middle Ages. By the 17th century Jewish life was flourishing and numerous synagogues had been constructed when the plague hit in 1651. Four years later Kazimierz was ransacked by Swedish invaders, famine, floods and anti-Jewish riots followed in quick succession, and a mass migration to Warsaw began, leaving the once vibrant Kazimierz a shadow of its former self.
My name is Eric Clark and I am a world traveler. I have been around the world a few times and decided to help fund my travels by sharing my videos and pictures. I have been to almost every country and would be glad to give tips and pointers. Drop me a note. = )