Prancing Around in Poland: St. Mary's Basilica

After spending the morning in the Kazimierz district, we thought that we had enough of seeing Jewish sites for the day, and therefore we headed back to the Old Town. Back in the main square, we checked what our options were, and somehow we ended up visiting the St. Mary's Basilica, a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the main square.

The towers of this church are imposing. After getting tickets to enter from across the street, we opened the doors, and were immediately glad that we opted to visit this church. The interior is just simply magnificent!

The altar was just immensely decorated, it was very flashy, as you can see above. The altarpiece by Veit Stoss which are depicted by my photos above is actually a Polish national treasure. It was carved between 1477 and 1489 by a German sculptor Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) who lived in Krakow for many years. It was shipped to Germany during the Nazi occupation, and was found in Bavaria in 1946. After being restored, it was placed back in the basilica 10 years later.

As is typical for Catholic churches, there are little chapels on the sides of the altar. There is one dedicated to Pope John Paul II, who had strong connections to the city.

As we explored the rest of the building, I couldn't help but get fascinated at the interior design. Some churches can be rather plain and bland, but this one definitely has plenty of eye-catching elements that sometimes one doesn't know where to look.