Lajkonik, a procession through the Old Town, is a wonderful example of how Krakow celebrates age-old myths. Musicians, merrymakers, the young and the old follow a man dressed in Mongol costume and sporting a richly-decorated wooden hobby-horse round his waist.
The procession celebrates the defeat of the savage Tartars (the Mongol Hordes) in 1241. Lasting around three hours, it starts at the 12th-century Convent of St Norbet and ends at the Main Market Square, and the party continues into the early hours.
Another tradition celebrating the defeat of the Mongols is the Hejnal trumpet call, played every hour on the hour from a church tower in the Main Market Square. The tune is rudely interrupted and the legend goes that a trumpet player was shot through the throat as he was warning the medieval town of the approaching enemy. The fact that the tradition has continued for 700 years illustrates the devastating effect that the invaders had on the city.
This is an event that is not only worth seeing, but hard to avoid. Follow the crowds in the late evening to find lively bars and clubs that you never knew existed in Krakow's extensive underground cellar scene.
Another tradition celebrating the defeat of the Mongols is the Hejnal trumpet call, played every hour on the hour from a church tower in the Main Market Square. The tune is rudely interrupted and the legend goes that a trumpet player was shot through the throat as he was warning the medieval town of the approaching enemy. The fact that the tradition has continued for 700 years illustrates the devastating effect that the invaders had on the city.
This is an event that is not only worth seeing, but hard to avoid. Follow the crowds in the late evening to find lively bars and clubs that you never knew existed in Krakow's extensive underground cellar scene.
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