Welcome to Cracow in Poland

Nativity scenes created in the Kraków area owe their beauty and formal uniqueness to the local architecture, since the craftsmen who create those fantastic structures amply draw from the bottomless well of inspiration provided by Kraków monuments and edifices. Even the untrained eye will surely recognize the steeples of St Mary’s Church, or the cupola of Sigismund’s Chapel featuring in many of these cribs. Over the past few years, nativity scene makers have been prone to using elements of lay architecture, such as the Barbican, the Town Hall Tower, City Defence Walls, St Florian’s Gate, or the Cloth Hall. It is thanks to those sources of inspiration that Kraków nativity scenes – magical and fantastic as they are – seem at the same so very close and familiar to the local audience.



Every year on first Thursday of December large numbers of nativity scene makers pour into the Main Market Square in Kraków bringing along their latest creations prepared especially for that annual contest. Some of the works submitted by the competitors are enormous, their height reaching up to 3 m, while others are miniature masterpieces measuring only about a few cm. The contest is open for everyone, which means that anyone, regardless of their age, education, or place of residence can participate. Thus, along with the works of the old masters – the many times champions of the contest – each year there are many nativity scenes created by students and children.



At 12.00 am sharp nativity scene makers form a colourful procession and march to the Krzysztofory Palace – the seat of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków – where they deposit their works. Already on the same day, around 2.00 pm, the jury meets to select the winners. Three days later, on the following Sunday, the director of the Museum officially announces the results, thus opening the contest exhibition.

Exhibition opening times
December 8, 2008 to February 15, 2009
Sunday to Thursday 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
Friday to Saturday 9.00 am to 7.00 pm
The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków
Krzysztofory Palace
Rynek Główny 35
www.mhk.pl

See it on map:

Wyświetl większą mapę

Admission charges:
Adults PLN 6
Concessions PLN 4
Groups PLN 3.50
Family ticket PLN 12
Photo permit PLN 10

Tags: cracow, historical muzeum, KRakow, main market square, museum, nativity scenes, szopka, szopki

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Performances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.