Warunki hydrogeologiczne rejonu Rynku Głównego w Krakowie

Abstrakt

STRUCTURE AND OPERATION OF THE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM IN KRAKOW UNTIL THE MID-17TH CENTURY

A plentiful supply of water has always been one of the fundamental determinants of the foundation and development of major agglomerations of people, and Kraków was not an exception. In the 14th century the city was already a large and developed centre of craftsmanship and trade. The local watercourses reinforced Kraków’s defensive system and served as a supplementary source of water for the dwellers. Water was necessary not only for consumption and household purposes, but also for all types of economic and industrial activities. Until the end of the 14th century the city dwellers were drawing water mainly from the numerous wells, both municipal and private ones. Water was also delivered from nearby rivers and ponds; the deliverers were the city’s water carriers (woziwoda). With the development of Kraków and a growth in its population, the poorly effi cient water supply system had to be modernized. The idea to build waterworks emerged probably in the last quarter of the 14th century; not long afterwards the city decided to undertake a massive and complicated investment, i.e. to build a system fit for the distribution of water under pressure. The privilege of building a waterworks, which also determined the conditions for that project, was granted by the proprietor of a municipality; in the royal cities, such as Kraków, the privilege was awarded by the monarch himself. Unfortunately no document has survived to this day that would inform about the exact time and the circumstances of beginning the construction of the first waterworks in Kraków. However, it was already in the mid-1380s that the first mention of a pipe master (rurmistrz) specializing in the construction and operation of a water system appeared in the city records. The main works related to the construction of a water supply system began probably in 1399. The most important element of the system was the rurmus, an assembly for drawing and elevating water. It was located outside the city walls, to the west of the Sławkowska Gate, at a fork in the Rudawa River, which had been directed towards the north-western boundaries of the city from the direction of Łobzów. One of the branches in that fork had been connected with the city moat that stretched along the northern and the eastern sections of the city walls, while the other branch skirted Kraków in the west. From the outside the building of the rurmus resembled a water mill; inside there was a complex mechanism used to lift water from the river level to an elevated container. Thanks to its location at an adequate height, the container ensured producing the pressure necessary to supply the water to the city through pipes. The rurmus was powered by an overshot water wheel driven by the current of the banked-up branch in the Rudawa. The water from the rurmus was distributed in the city through wooden pipes adapted for carrying water under pressure. The piping network ran along the main streets and supplied water to the sumps that had been built in numerous locations across the city, and above all in Main Market Square. The sumps were rather small wooden containers from which the dwellers could draw water for their purposes. Their users did not have connection to the system nor their own well. The burghers could have branches connected to their houses from the main water pipes that ran along the streets. Anyone willing to have a connection had to obtain prior permit from the City Council; the permits were chargeable. At first private connections were very rare and mostly owned by city councillors or the more important citizens. Other dwellers were using a sump or a public well. The number of connections increased with time. The city levied a special tax on using the waterworks. The 15th and 16th centuries saw a boost in the city’s development. Trade and craftsmanship prospered dynamically. During the 16th century the water system covered practically the whole city. Water consumption increased as well. Faced with a growing scarcity of the supply, the municipal authorities decided to have another rurmus built on the Vistula; the works on the project were abandoned for an unknown reason shortly afterwards. The construction of yet another rurmus began probably at the beginning of the second quarter of the 16th century, this time on the Nieciecza, the branch of the Rudawa that intersected the Błonia meadow. Unfortunately not much is known of that structure, and neither is it known how long it was in use; however, documents from the second half of the 16th century mention only the rurmus “across the Sławkowska Gate”. The water system in Kraków was defi nitely among the oldest structures in its category in the territory of Poland. The system worked without major obstacles until the mid-17th century, supplying water for the numerous population of Kraków. Its life came to an end in 1655, with the siege and the successive occupation of the city by Swedish army. These events proved catastrophic for the water supply system that dated back to the Middle Ages, and the city itself stood on the precipice of economic collapse. Due to its general ruination and impoverishment over the more than 200 years that followed, Kraków was unable to undertake such a highly expensive investment as the reconstruction of the destroyed waterwork.