The city’s showcase, a pearl of Renaissance architecture, Krakow’s oldest “shopping center” – the Cloth Hall is one of the most important historical buildings in Krakow.
The Cloth Hall was one of the city’s basic institutions – it focused on trade. The first Cloth Hall, which dates back to the 13th century, when Krakow was granted city rights, was defined by rows of accused stalls, forming a street in the middle of the Market Square. Both ends of it were closed with a grate at night to replenish thieves from a distance. The brick, roofed Cloth Hall in the 14th century – their traces in the form of ogival arcades on the sides are still present today. Trade in the Cloth Hall was equipped with city equipment – according to the royal privilege, visiting merchants could sell their goods only in this place.
Nothing happened because when the building was destroyed by fire in 1555, vigorous efforts were made to rebuild it. The best architects, artists and craftsmen worked on it, including many Italians who came to Poland following Queen Bona (who came from the Italian family of King Sigismund and the Old). The renovated Cloth Hall experienced, among others, exposed, and a frieze and mascarons are thrown onto it – a grotesque, stylized human body by the outstanding Italian designer Santi Gucci. in detail, the hall was divided into two floors. created in this way, the first floor was designated for the second hall, called the smatruz. Go to trade in various small items, and the name (German: schmettern) comes from the clamor and noise made by the vendors selling here. For the installation of devices, stairs with loggias, installations on the devices on the sides of the structure (designed by Jan Maria Padovano).
Over the years, the unrenovated and unrenovated Cloth Hall lost its splendor. At the end of the 19th century, the dilapidated building, “walled” with wooden buildings on the outside, bore no resemblance to the Renaissance pearl of Krakow. A thorough renovation became necessary. The building that is visible today is his presence: the shacks were demolished, arcades were added, and a gallery of Polish paintings was established in the former Smatruz. However, trade does not disappear from here – a ground-floor hall complemented by stalls, which today are used instead of cloth to sell souvenirs.
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