Kraków (German Krakau), city in southern Poland, capital of Kraków Province, on the Wisla (Vistula) River. The city is an industrial, cultural, and educational center of southern Poland, and is the third largest city in the country (after Warsaw and Lódz). Kraków is also a leading center of trade in coal, zinc, salt, timber, cattle, agricultural products, and wine. The most important industry in the city is the production of iron and steel in the Nowa Huta plant, one of the largest industrial complexes in eastern Europe. Other industrial establishments include plants manufacturing machinery, agricultural implements, soap, and tobacco. A network of road and rail lines connects Kraków with Warsaw and other Polish cities and with Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Kraków consists of an inner town and several suburbs; the inner town was surrounded by walls during the Middle Ages, but is now encircled by promenades. The city contains a large number of historic buildings. The most notable is the Gothic cathedral, consecrated in 1359 and dedicated to the memory of Saint Stanislaus, the patron saint of Poland, who had been slain in 1079 by order of Boleslaw II, the Polish king. His tomb is in the cathedral. The cathedral was long the site of the coronation ceremonies of the kings of Poland and is the burial place of famous people in Polish history, including King Jan III Sobieski, the revolutionary patriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the poet Adam Mickiewicz, and the statesman Józef Pilsudski. Other notable buildings are the Church of Saint Mary, a Gothic edifice dating from 1223, containing a celebrated altar executed by the German sculptor Veit Stoss, an outstanding artist of 14th-century Europe; and the Wawel Royal Castle, built in the early 16th century and established as a museum in 1930. A Gothic tower is all that remains of the medieval town hall. Among the important educational and cultural institutions in the city are Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364), Kraków Technical University (1945), several scientific institutes, and the National Museum (1862).
