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The Planty in Krakow 

The Krakow Old Town is surrounded by a green ring called the Planty Park (or Krakowskie Planty), gently separating the city center from the noisy outside world. The 52-acre park is a great place to sit in and regenerate after an exhausting tour of the Cracow Old Town. Taking the four-kilometer walk around the old Krakow is worthwhile – some of the city's jewels are hidden between the trees of the Planty.

A Park Instead of the City Walls

The Planty Park was created in the beginning of the 19^th century, when Krakow's City Walls were brought down, as a part of the Krakow Senate's plan to refurbish the city. The idea came from Feliks Radwanski, the same architect that saved the Florian Gate and the Barbican from being pulled down with the rest of the walls.

In the 1880s several monuments of famous Poles were erected inside the Planty Park. These include king Wladyslaw Jagiello and his wife Jadwiga, Copernicus, the painter Artur Grottger, and a few characters from the works of Polish writers, like Adam Mickiewicz or Juliusz Slowacki.

The Inspiring Force of the Planty Park

The Krakowskie Planty have always inspired artists. One of the best known examples is Stanislaw Wyspianski, who not only depicted the Planty park on a few of his paintings, but also came up with the idea of the “Chochol Straw Man”, a character from his masterpiece “Wesele” after seeing a rose in straw covering on a winter day in the Planty Park.

Devastation and Renovation of the Planty

During World War II the Planty Park was devastated, and after 1945 little had been done to restore it. The first major post-war restoration of the Planty took place in 1989 and from then on the park is once again one of Krakow's most popular spots. Apart from a general clean-up, the line of the old City Walls was marked, and there are plaques at the places where the towers used to be.

Walking around the Planty

The Planty Park is in fact composed of about thirty gardens, each of them having its own unique style. A walk around the city centre takes about an hour, but at virtually any moment you can decide to end it and just go back to the Old Town at a place of your choice. While strolling around the Planty Park, you will come across the Palace of Arts, the Juliusz Slowacki Theater and the Barbican. The Planty are also a very good way to reach the Wawel Castle.

Unfortunately, apart from university students, couples holding hands and other people taking a walk in the green, there are also some vodka-enthusiasts and other persons you wouldn't like to meet in a dark alley, so some darker parts of the Planty Park might feel a bit uncomfortable at nightime. Generally, though, the Planty are a safe, calm and charming place, not to be missed by anyone who visits Krakow.