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Christmas

Although Easter is considered the most important Catholic Holiday, it certainly runs second to Christmas when it comes to popularity. Although Krakow and Poland in general have adopted much of the American way of celebrating Christmas – Santa drinking Coke from the second week of November – luckily, much of the Polish traditions survived.

Christmas Day

The most important part of Christmas in Poland is probably the Christmas Eve, with a big, family dinner and all the presents, as well as sharing the oplatek bread. December 25^th – Christmas Day (Boże Narodzenie) – and December 26^th (Drugie Święto, or „Second Holiday”) are public holidays, usually devoted to visiting one's family and friends. In the more religious (and musical) homes these visits are accompanied by carol singing.

Polish Christmas Carols

Although the Polish do sing some of the translated international Christmas Carols, among them obviously Silent Night (Cicha Noc in Polish) – and even attempts have been made to make a rendition of Jingle Bells – national carols are much more popular. The Polish Christmas carols are usually based on old, jolly folk songs, and are therefore lively and cheerful.

Krakow Christmas Market

A traditional Christmas market is organized on the Krakow Main Square (Rynek Glowny) every year, usually starting at the beginning of December. Around a giant Christmas Tree (probably cut down somewhere in the Tatry Mountains) small booths with different handicraft products, from wooden figures of saints to pottery – as well as quite a few ones with mulled wine.

Krakow Christmas Cribs

Another Krakow Christmas tradition are the beautiful Christmas Cribs (Szopka, pronounced Shopkah, in Polish), made by the city's burghers in their free time – although some of them are so complicated and masterful that one wonders, how much free time can one have in a year. In fact, some of the Crib makers have been in the business for generations and it's easy to see it in their work. The most beautiful Krakow Christmas Cribs are displayed every year in the Krzysztofory Palace (the City of Cracow Historical Museum's main building) on the Main Square.