Description of the attraction
Florianska Street is a street in the Old Town of Krakow. It stretches for 335 meters from the Church of St. Florian to the Market Square. The street got its name from the Florian Gate, the ancient entrance to the city, the only surviving defensive tower of the eight that existed.
The street itself was laid down in the city plan as early as 1257, and in 1330 about 10 houses were built here. For more than 700 years of its existence, Florianskaya Street has repeatedly changed its appearance. Initially, buildings in the Gothic style were built here, later they were rebuilt in the styles of other eras: Renaissance, Baroque, Classics. In any case, the buildings on Florianskaya Street are distinguished by their wealth of architecture and elegance.
By the middle of the 15th century, most of the houses along the street were built of bricks. Here were the residential buildings of the wealthy middle class and nobility. Only from the end of the 18th century, Florianskaya Street began to be built up with hotels, restaurants and cafes, shops and salons began to open here. In 1882 the horse line was replaced by a tram line.
Many buildings located here are of particular interest to visitors to the city. The house at number 45 houses the famous Cracow café "Yama Michalika", which was opened in 1895. The owner of the confectionery gave his various desserts interesting names - Flirt, Mitskevich, thanks to which the creative intelligentsia began to gather in the cafe. Due to financial difficulties, many famous visitors paid with their paintings, which today can be seen on the walls of the institution.
House No. 41 houses the museum of the famous Polish artist Jan Matejka, who lived here almost his entire adult life. A little further is the oldest hotel in Krakow - "Under the Rose", where Balzac, the Russian Emperor Alexander I and other famous personalities stayed at various times.
