Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Krakow

After a short break people watching along the Vistula River in Krakow, I decided to carry on with my exploration. I didn’t have a fixed itinerary. I knew that Krakow itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site and I was just going around the old town. So far, the old town didn’t seem to be that impressive. There were a lot of rather more recent buildings as I was walking through the town. I was thinking that maybe I still haven’t hit the really old parts of town. There were signs of this old history of the town and probably none more prominent than the churches.

Outside the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Krakow

The first church I encountered in Krakow is the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi. I actually wasn’t that impressed with the church. It was rather “ordinary” but I didn’t know that it was very old. There was a church here which was consecrated way back in 1269. It was continuously expanded over the years until a fire destroyed it in 1850. The fire destroyed numerous precious artifacts included church records. Maybe using candles all the time isn’t such a good idea. I wanted to enter the church but I wasn’t able to find an open door. I didn’t know that it possessed a certified copy of the Shroud of Turin, which is said to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

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