What is the best way to get to know a city? As an old saying goes, you can only do that if you have lived in it for two hundred days. But even if it was possible, could we really get the grasp of its true nature? Certainly not, as no city is homogenous. When you explore it, walking down its picturesque streets and admiring old townhouses, you discover your own city, private and unique.
And it is exactly this multitude of emotions evoked by Cracow that makes it so attractive to explore. It is said that a city is noteworthy only if you can get lost in it. And you can definitely be lost here, lost for words and lost in admiration.
Mists and mysteries
Administratively, Cracow is divided into 18 districts marked with Roman numerals; however, the names of historical districts are commonly used instead. Cracovians are also likely to mention the river bank on which they live, a thing not unusual in a city intersected by a river.
Once called a royal town due to its glorious past and important functions, Cracow lies at the junction of three geographical regions, namely the Sandomierz Valley, Cracow-Częstochowa Upland and Cracow Gate. Situated in the Vistula valley, it is divided by its tributaries: the Prądnik, Rudawa, Dłubnia, Drwina Długa and Wilga rivers.
The average annual air temperature is 8°C (3°C in January and 18°C in July), whereas the average annual rainfall stands at 706 mm. Cracow is also very foggy, immersed in mist for over 61 days per year, which only adds to the air of mysteriousness about this unique place.
Cracow in numbers
The total area of Cracow is almost 327 sq km and the number of city dwellers is estimated at 757,000.
As becomes a true treasury of his-tory, Cracow has 5971 listed buildings in-cluding 87 churches, 88 palaces, man-sions, castles and residences, and 46 historic cemeteries. For nature lo-vers, there are 112 parks, gardens and alleys.
Visitors can choose from over 100 places of accommodation, play tennis at one of 72 courts, visit 26 museums and 17 cinemas. As many as 10,000 academic teachers give lectures and classes for 160,000 students attending 18 institutions of higher education.
Cracow boasts 15 indoor and 10 outdoor swimming pools and one white-water track. Shopping can be done in 10,000 shops, where you can spend your money taken from more than 300 ATMs. If you need a ride, just pick up one of 4,000 Cracow's taxis.
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