Christmas in Kraków
The annual Kraków Christmas Market on Rynek Główny. | © Mariusz Cieszewski
Few places in Europe seem more suited for the holiday season than Kraków, a city which when donning a dusting of fresh snow and viewed through its own cheerful prism of holiday magic, quite convincingly transforms itself into an intricate village of gingerbread houses with candycane columns, gumdrop-topped gables and chimneys puffing cotton candy clouds over vanilla-iced rooftops. Give this snow-globe a shake and suddenly the sound of tourist trolleys zipping around blasting pop hits has been overcome by – what’s that on the horse carriages – sleigh-bells jingling? The smells of coal-smoke and pigeon dander have been replaced by caramelised sugar and hot spiced wine. The obwarzanki (Cracovian bagel) vendors are peddling toys and tinselly trinkets. The flower market is filled with wreaths and evergreens. Where that obnoxious guy used to shred guitar solos, costumed children are carolling. Where that gold-painted hobo used to stand motionless on a box all day for small change – why, it’s Saint Nicholas himself (doing the very same thing)! Indeed, when Kraków decks its halls for the holidays it seems to rather effortlessly embody all the magic that Hollywood has taught us Christmas is supposed to have. It’s not all rum-pa-pum-pum and reindeer games, however. Poland has a full calendar of holiday customs and traditions, many of them Catholic in character, that stretch from early December all the way into January, and which will surely make your experience here a unique, and even at times completely foreign one. We help you get into the local spirit by detailing them below, so you’ll be wellread and ready when you find yourself smitten in mittens beneath the mistletoe. 6
THE MARKET SQUARE CHRISTMAS FAIR (UNTIL DEC. 26) Undoubtedly the highlight of the local holiday season, the tradition of this annual Christmas fair began before WWII, was paused during the PRL era and then rekindled after the fall of communism (you know, when people were allowed to buy and possess things again). Occupying almost half of the enormous Rynek Główny, the fair features stall upon wooden stall selling all kinds of folk art and Christmas ornaments, candies and sweets, regional products, knitwear, toys, souvenirs, jewellery, pottery, partridges, pear trees and more. Food vendors also dish up hot regional food, which families share over picnic tables, while keeping warm with hot mulled wine (called ‘grzaniec’) dispensed from enormous wooden barrels on the square. A cultural stage presents a nearly constant flow of carollers, folk acts, theatrical performances and random acts of holiday spirit. Integral to the holiday experience in Kraków, and simply impossible to miss.Q I-5, www.kiermasze.com. pl. Open 10:00-20:00. SZOPKI KRAKOWSKIE The creation of ‘Christmas cribs’ or ‘szopki’ is one of Kraków’s most unique and Christmas traditions. While many churches across the country display elaborate nativity scenes during the holiday season, ‘szopki krakowskie’ (as the local variety are called) are so idiosyncratic that they were just added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Something of a strange and garish cross between a nativity scene, gingerbread house and dollhouse, szopki krakowskie are the bizarre result of
