St. Mary’s Basilica – Krakow

The building of St Mary’s began in the 13th century until the 15th.  Remember they had wood scaffolding, rope, pulleys and muscle.  No cranes, no power, just humans.  And 700 years ago they felt that ‘this is a good idea and we can do this’!  These were not slaves but paid laborers and craftsmen. Built on the site of earlier churches dating to 1222 is a perfect example of Gothic Architecture in Poland with it’s 3 aisle basilica nave. the taller of the 2 towers is 81m/265′ with the shorter at 69m/226′.

St. Mary’s Basilica has the bells chime to tell the time.  One at 1/4 past 2 at 1/2, 3 at 3/4 and four at the hour followed by a different bell counting off the hour.  Meh, lots of churches do that. But here is the kicker: After the bells stop, a window in the top left tower opens and a person plays ” Hejnal Mariacki” or “St. Mary’s Dawn”, also known as the Krakow Anthem. It’s only 5 notes  repeated  but perfect ones. Then, wait for it, the trumpeter goes to 3 other windows in the cardinal directions and plays it again! 24/7

JPII is a really big deal in Poland, especially in his home of Krakow.