Kamienica Czyncielów, Kraków
Updated
Kamienica Czyncielów is the corner townhouse at Rynek Główny 4, meeting plac Mariacki 9 in Kraków’s Old Town. The building you see today was erected from 1907 to 1908 for Celestyn Czynciel, with construction by Rajmund Meus and the façades designed by Ludwik Wojtyczko. Its Art Nouveau frontage carries folk-inspired decoration and the caduceus, an emblem associated with Mercury and commerce.
Look for the commemorative plaque on the façade: it records that Stanisław Wyspiański rented a room here from 1898 to 1901, and wrote Wesele here around 1900 and 1901. The earlier townhouse was demolished in 1906; some historic details survived by being transferred to museums, including an eighteenth-century grille now held at the Jan Matejko House. The building also housed one of Kraków’s earliest modern department stores, with Bilewski’s shop on the ground floor until 1939.
