Cracow Cribs

Some of us remember a music channel's series about the celebrities' houses, called cribs. Most of the time, we were confronted in this show with stars living in oversized houses in L.A. and everything went bling bling inside. It is high time for the one and only bling bling crib agenda from Cracow. On the occasion that the world doesn't end apparently and we are going to have Christmas this year, Kaska's snap shots is proudly presenting: The Cracow Cribs.

This is how a typical Cracow Crib looks like. It can be huge, up to 2 or 3 meters, it can be a minicrib which you could easily hide in your hand palm.

What you see already is that this crib is different from regular nativity scenes, it is something local and unique. People of Cracow build their cribs inspired by the city. The architecture plays here an important role and this is what we start with.

 The ultimate model for the construction of a crib is the beloved, admired, gothic church: St. Mary's, standing on the market square of Cracow. For Cracovians, it is the beginning and the end of the city. And it marks to the citizens of Cracow the core of the universe.  

 When you compare the two pictures below with pictures of the cribs, pay attention to details: windows, the way they are shaped, their size, the proportion to the rest of the building and where they are placed. St. Mary's is the blueprint.

It is definetely not the only church of the city but its architecture is being repeated in many other sacral buildings.

St. Mary's is the biggest example of Gothic architecture in Cracow and is the best example how this architecture style has been interpreted and complemented over centuries in the former capitol of Poland. The red brick way of building came from Germany with German craftsmen. 

Something significant for the local style happened however with the moment when the higher tower of the church was accomplished. The top of the construction has been covered with a quite exceptional and complicated roof, corresponding to its octagonal base. The roof makes the impression of laces or very light texture, together with the spires surrounding the construction it somehow looks like a crown. And this is where the bling bling magic starts. All of the spires carry a golden bowl on top. Starting with the tower decoration, downwards to the lowest roof elements, everything is crowned by the golden bowls.

  
The golden bowls provide the splendid, glamorous look not only to the church, they are being copied in the entire city. When you come to Cracow for the first time you cannot even really tell what is the source of the magical atmosphere, but at the second glimpse, you know, these architectonical elements are highlighting everything.

 

Golden bowls on the roof of Cloth Hall

Golden bowls are to be found on numerous roofs of the royal castle Wawel



Golden bowl on the top of the city hall tower - and now check the shape of the roof of the side towers of the crib below.

I keep on tracking further details. The clock of the crib below inspired me:

A shiny glitter clock similarly worked into the body of the tower is to be found on the city hall tower (see below):

 

And on the Cathedral tower at the Wawel castle:

Very popular and usefull in old Cracow were the so called attics - protection of roofs, decorated in the most creative ways. They were installed to prevent fire of hopping from roof to roof, once a building stood in flames. But practical architecture was beautiful too:

Cloth Hall

Wawel Castle

19th century architecture quoting the ancient elements, Slowacki Theater.

And below the attic of the crib made for the competition 2011 by school children:

And to be honest, I am even more amazed by the intuitive way the child (or the children) used the construction of an altar to create perspective and depth of a nativity scene.

This is the biggest medieval altar of the world. To the children of Cracow the pentaptych (five wings, a pair of them is hidden behind the front wings on this picture) is as self evident as St. Mary's Church, which is the setting for this work of art. The sculptor was Wit Stwosz (alias in German, as he migrated to the Polish capital from Nürnberg, Veit Stoss).

Here are some standards for how a king might look like by the way (at Wawel castle):

(not to forget another golden bowl)

And yet, there is even more inspiration for inscenisation in gold: St. Bernhard's church

A crib made by children

There is more into a Szopka (nativity scene, crib) than just architecture. Beside the typical participants of nativity scene like St. Mary, Jesus, St. Joseph, shepards, there are local guests visiting the holy family. Inspired by the folkloristic costumes of the region, by trading 

characters of the market square like the flower sellers, baby Jesus enjoys unexpected guests.

Pay attention to the colours:

 A flower seller

Lajkonik - a legendary character based on historical events of Mongol (Tatar) attacks on Cracow. Czartoryski museum in Cracow is full of gadgets that help developing the settings (17th century details of armors):

 

And here some further details:

This is Barbakan, one of the town's most important landmarks.
It is a part of medieval fortifications of the city.

In the following two cribs, I can see shapes and proportions of the famous Barbakan. I don't say, the children who made these nativity scenes were most definitely inspired by the very building. But I dare to say, you can see in this example a strong relationship between the cribs made in Cracow by artists, craftsmen, hobbyists and school children and the scenery of the place. 

On the picture below, you can see flower ornaments framing the arch, like in the nativity scene above.

And of course, let us not forget the dragon. Smok Wawelski (see former posts) being the most popular legend of Cracow and a beloved landmark of the city, wants to attend Christ's birth too. Especially children would not like to miss it in the crib. I personally love the idea the kids had to produce the dragon for the crib below:

It is so simple: tape and corrugated fiberboard! Brilliant!

Examples of dragons are everywhere - this picture above shows a rain gutter at the Wawel castle.

The tradition of crib building has been lasting in Cracow since the 19th century. It is a family business. Special techniques, secrets of construction and details are being conveyed from generation to generation. There is even a street in Cracow called after the crib makers: Szopkarzy. And the big showdown happens each year on the market square in front of St. Mary's: the competition of Szopki Krakowskie. For pictures from this year's competition, you can check this link:

http://www.gazetakrakowska.pl/artykul/714257,krakow-konkurs-szopek-2012-zdjecia,id,t.html

Or, when visiting Cracow, drop by the Historical Museum of the city of Cracow at the Market Square where the Szopki are being presented all year.

Merry Christmas to Everybody!