St Mary's Basilica dominates the Main Square with two mismatched towers — one 81 metres tall, the other 69 — which, according to legend, were built by two brothers in competition. The taller brother killed the shorter one and then, overcome with guilt, threw himself from his tower. The knife he used is supposedly hanging in the Cloth Hall as a warning. Whether any of this is true is beside the point — the towers are magnificent, and the asymmetry gives the church a personality that symmetrical buildings lack.
The interior is one of the most extraordinary church spaces in Central Europe. Every surface is painted — walls, ceiling, columns — in a polychrome scheme of blue, red, and gold that was restored to its medieval intensity by Jan Matejko in the 1890s. The effect is overwhelming, like walking into a jewelled box. But the centrepiece is the altarpiece — Veit Stoss's masterwork, carved between 1477 and 1489 from linden wood. At 13 metres tall and 11 metres wide when open, it's the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world. The central panel depicts the Dormition of the Virgin in figures so expressive that you can read individual emotions on faces carved over 500 years ago.
The altarpiece opens at noon every day in a ceremony that draws crowds — the wooden wings swing apart to reveal the painted interior panels, and the carved figures seem to emerge from the wood. Veit Stoss spent 12 years on the piece, and when the Nazis looted it during World War II, Poles dismantled and hid the individual figures before the Germans could ship the whole thing to Nuremberg. It was recovered after the war and restored to the basilica in 1957.
Verified Facts
The two towers are 81 metres and 69 metres tall respectively
Veit Stoss carved the altarpiece between 1477 and 1489
At 13 metres tall, it is the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world
The altarpiece was looted by Nazis and hidden by Poles during WWII
Jan Matejko restored the interior polychrome in the 1890s
Get walking directions
Plac Mariacki 5, Kraków
