Park Krakowski, Kraków

Park Krakowski is a historic Kraków park founded in 1885 and inspired by Vienna’s public gardens. Its surviving ornamental pond and fountain recall its original leisure-park design, while abstract works by Polish modern sculptors have made it an outdoor sculpture park since 1974.

Park Krakowski is a historic city park, and its lawns double as an open-air gallery. It began in 1885, when councillor Stanisław Rehman created it on land leased from the military. The plan took its cue from Vienna’s fashionable public parks, and Kraków’s fin-de-siècle residents made it a favourite place to spend time.

This was once an extravagantly equipped park: visitors could find a concert amphitheatre, summer theatre, zoo, skating and cycling tracks, a pool, bowling, restaurant, and seasonal cafés. Development after the First World War cut the park down in size, but the ornamental pond and fountain remain from the original design. Notice the fountain at the pond’s centre, then let the paths lead you among the sculptures.

Since 1974, Park Krakowski has served as a contemporary sculpture park. Its abstract works come from Polish modern artists including Stanisław Borzęcki, Antoni Hajducki, Wincenty Kućma, Jerzy Sękowski, and Jan Siek. The result is a place where a nineteenth-century pleasure park has become a changing conversation between water, trees, and modern forms.