Podsumowanie wyników badań architektonicznych w pałacu Pod Krzysztofory 2003–2011

SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH CARRIED OUT AT KRZYSZTOFORY PALACE IN THE YEARS 2003–2011 Krzysztofory Palace, currently housing the headquarters of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, is deeply rooted in the city’s oldest architectural landscape. Its beginnings go back to the late 13th century when a tower structure was erected at the back of one of the corner settlement plots at the Market Square. By the end of the 13th century, another building was constructed in that plot, in what today constitutes the south wing of the palace. Over the 14th century, further changes were introduced: several more brick and stone buildings were erected along the frontages of the Market Square and Szczepańska Street. Construction works in this attractively located corner plot (the property of the wealthy Spicymir family at that time) were carried out on a grand scale. Already in the second half of the 14th century the theretofore freestanding “tower” and the other buildings were joined as parts of a new, larger architectural design. Despite the many alterations that were later introduced, especially on the higher storeys, the current outline of the projection of the eastern part of Krzysztofory Palace is almost identical with the original late-14th century architectural design. Surviving in the underground vaults are several mediaeval portals, as well as other architectural features, such as relics of antique heating systems and fragments of polychrome decoration on one of the ceilings, which signifies the stateliness of the building. Particularly noteworthy is the wide, mediaeval perron (German: Beischlag, Polish: przedproże), one of the grandest in Kraków. Beischläge became popular in Western Europe already from the mid-13th century onward. They were built in front of thresholds, along the front elevations of burgher houses. Many structures of this kind were added to the front walls of the houses standing at the Main Market Square in Kraków, and have been buried deep under layers of soil for centuries, but only one of them has been thoroughly researched so far.