From Wikitravel

Nowa Huta is a district of Krakow in Poland. It is situated in the east of the town north of the Vistula River. It is the largest Krakow district by area. Nowa Huta recently became one of the top tourist destinations in Krakow as a post-communist district with very typical socrealistic architecture.

[edit] Understand

The area of Nowa Huta was a fertile countryside landscape in the Middle Ages. In the 6th century a mound was erected there by the Vistula People, one of the Polish tribes. In the 12th century the monks erected a monastery in Mogila. After Poland was liberated and occupied by the Soviet Union the communists built the biggest European steelmill called Nowa Huta (New Steelmill) from 1949 to 1955. The new district was built around the Square Plac Centralny (Central Square) and the Allee Aleja Roz (Alley of Roses). It is one of the best examples of Socrealist architecture in Europe. Nowa Huta became the first atheist district in Poland, and it was not until the 1970s when the first church was built there and sanctified by then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II.

Andrzej Wajda's film Man of Marble [1] shows the life of bricklayers building Nowa Huta in the 50s and also the use of propaganda during the Stalinism period.

[edit][add listing] See

• The Wanda Mound (Kopiec Wandy). Considered a burial place of a legendary princess Wanda.

• Krakow Historical Museum - The History of Nowa Huta Quarter (Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Krakowa - Dzieje Nowej Huty), os. Słoneczne 16, ☎ (12) 425-97-75, [2]. shows the history of Nowa Huta before and after 1949.  edit

• PRL Museum (The People's Republic of Poland Museum), os. Centrum E 1 (the old Światowid cinema building), ☎ (12) 686-61-65, [3]. 9AM - 3PM. Museum is under construction so it's often closed, check the website before visiting.  edit

• Aviation Museum (Muzeum Lotnictwa), [4]. not exactly in Nowa Huta, but on the way there. Really interesting museum consisting of a new pavilion (good contemporary architecture) and few hangars filled with over two hundred historic gliders, aircrafts, helicopters and more. Among them is a collection of 22 extremely rare antique planes that once belonged to Hermann Göring. The museum stands on the grounds of the Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield, one of the oldest military airfields in Europe.  edit

[edit] Churches

• The Church of St Venceslaus - was built in 1266 by the bishop Prandota for the Cistercians who came to Mogila in 1220 invited by duke Leszek the White and bishop Iwo Odrowaz. The crossway was founded by Casimir the Great in the 14th century. The interior is painted by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik, considered to be the best Polish Renaissance painter, who himself was a Cysterian. It also has beautiful stained glass windows and a late gothic altar form 1514 by Szczodrowa. The stalls have fine baroque portraits. Inside the early baroque chapel of Stefan Żółkowski is the wonderful gothic Cross of Mogila. The fascade is late baroque.
• St. Bartholomew's Church stands opposite to the Cistercian Abbey. It is one of the oldest surviving examples of Polish wooden sacral architecture from the 15th century.
• Finding and Rising of the Holy Cross's Church - was built of wood in the 16th century in Renaissance style.
• "Lord's Ark" Church - the church built during the Seventies. Considered somewhat of a symbol of defiance against communist government.

[edit] Nowa Huta

Nowa Huta was a model city built by the Communist authorities to attract people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to the region as a counterweight to the middle class of Krakow who had decisively rejected Communism in the 1946 Polish People's Referendum. Nowa Huta, which means 'New Steel Mill', became the largest steel mill in Poland next to modern (for the time) apartments built in a way which mixed the Renaissance style with Soviet Realism. The steel mill had little economic rationale: coal had to be imported from Silesia and iron ore from the Soviet Union, while most of the finished steel was shipped elsewhere as there was little local demand. The original complex of apartment buildings is built on spokes which radiate out from the central square (Plac Centralny) which was recently renamed Ronald Reagan Central Square. Buildings constructed in Nowa Huta after 1956 are Modernist while those built in the 1970's and 1980's are mainly 'plattenbau', a technique which used pre-fabricated concrete plates and was common in East Germany.

[edit] Cemeteries

[edit][add listing] Do

If you looking for professional private tours of the former Communism District take Crazy Guides [5] or the Communism Guided Tour [6] of Nowa Huta in original cars from the communist times. With the reference of the Historical Museum of The City of Krakow and official Guides of Krakow.

• Teatr Ludowy (People's Theater), Osiedle Teatralne 34, ☎ +48 12 68 02 100, [7].  edit
• Teatr Łaźnia Nowa, os. Szkolne 25, [8].  edit
• Kino Sfinks (Sphinx Cinema), os. Górali 5, ☎ +48 12 644 27 65 w.32, [9]. one of the smaller, quite forgotten cinemas in Krakow, films usually arrive here a month after their premiere, but it's definitely not a multiplex experience.  edit

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Stylowa, os. Centrum C 3. located close to the Central Square, the oldest still working in Nowa Huta (opened in 1956) and considered 'cult' by some. Remodeled in 2000s but still has some 'communist' flavours. Very cheap compared to restaurants in Old City.  edit

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Klub Kombinator, os. Szkolne 25, ☎ 692 84 84 00, [10]. coffee, beer, vodka and board games. open till midnight.  edit

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Contact

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