Pierwszy „Wielki Kraków” – proces „pęknięcia” murów obronnych Krakowa 1791–1802

Abstrakt

THE FIRST “GREAT KRAKOW” – THE PROCESS OF “SPLITTING” OF THE DEFENSIVE WALLS OF KRAKOW 1791–1802

The year 1802 forms an extremely important caesura in the history of Krakow. The date marks the turning point in the spatial development of Cracovian settlements and is the key to understanding of many issues from history, architecture and urban planning of Krakow. It was the year in which the medieval town boundaries finally “split”; their real and at the same time symbolic determinant was the defensive walls. New, demarcated then boundaries covered the area several times bigger then the existing one. Pre-town areas were annexed to Krakow, which had been forming throughout several past centuries, creating their own administrative structures. Groble, Nowy Świat, Grabary or Piasek, Biskupie, Pędzichów and Wesoła, having so far their own characteristics and living with a separate identity, became the areas of rapid, but not completely consistent urban planning activity. Simultaneously two town organisms were incorporated into the area of Krakow: Kazimierz and Kleparz, which having the 14th century origins of their location history, met the new territorial shape without enthusiasm, and even with some hostility. This conditions engendered on the one hand certain difficulties, and on the other set the directions of further development of Krakow, which to some extent apply until today. Characteristic for the spatial development of Krakow from the end of the 18th century until the half of the 19th century is the constant tendency of the growth of the city along the axis of the Prądnik cone – i.e. in the direction northsouth. The attempts to enlarge Krakow in the southern direction beyond the boundary of the Vistula – Zakazimierki, were effectively prevented by political events, in particular by the 1st partition of Poland, and then by the fall of the Duchy of Warsaw. Beginning at the end of the 18th century a project appeared, and then attempts to include in Krakow’s boundaries villages from the western foregrounds of the city (Czarna Wieś and Zwierzyniec). The intention was not in fact realised, but at the time of the spatial development of Krakow during Julisz Leo’s presidency (1909-1915) precisely the communities in the western suburbs of the city were the most convinced and the most prepared for it. They expressed least worries and protests related to the incorporation into Krakow’s boundaries. The complete lack of interest in the eastern suburbs of Krakow is noteworthy, in particular in the villages Grzegórzki and Dąbie, connected with the city since the 14th century. The character of enlargement of Krakow’s boundaries from 1802 permanently retained the city centre in the area of the Old Town and the Main Market. According to popular belief the enlargement of Krakow’s boundaries during Juliusz Leo’s presidency had the greatest influence on the development of Krakow. The Great Location of 1257 and the creation of Juliusz Leo’s “Great Krakow” are two key events in the history of Krakow, with which others so far do not bear comparison.