Przemiany architektoniczne Kramów Bogatych i Kramów Bolesławowych

Abstract

ARCHITECTURAL ALTERATIONS OF THE RICH STALLS AND THE BOLESLAUS’ STALLS

The paper deals with the complexes of stalls located to the east of the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) in Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków between the 13th and the 19th centuries. Throughout the stages of their development the complexes retained their layout based along a centrally plotted internal passage, with a side passage that run across the facility (hence its name – the cross). The earliest structures were built in the second half of the 13th century as a stone and brick ground fl oor (basement) topped with timber-framed storey (or stories?). The complex was expanded eastwards by the mid-14th century at the latest. In the late 14th century the relics of the walls of the previously demolished stalls were used as the foundations for a new complex of commercial facilities, called the Rich Stalls (Kramy Bogate). Their layout consisted of four quarters, with 16 stalls in each quarter. The structure was walled off in stone and brick along its outline, while the internal partitions were still made of wood. All the 64 stalls had basements. Starting from the late 15th century, the wooden partitions were gradually replaced by brick walls, while the basements and stalls were roofed with vaults, leaving the wooden ceilings here and there. In the modern era the stalls were provided with attics (mezzanines). It was not later than in the 18th century that the internal passage and the cross were roofed as well. The stalls were knocked down in 1868. The archaeological survey carried out in the years 2005–2010 resulted in unearthing and researching major fragments of the Rich Stalls.