St. Florian's Gate

This guide to St. Florian's Gate in Kraków starts with the demolition crews of the early 1800s, tearing down the city's medieval walls under Austrian rule, gate by gate, until only this one is left standing. It follows Feliks Radwański, a Jagiellonian University professor who pleaded with Kraków's Senate not to level every trace of the old defenses. Along the way you'll hear about the Baroque dome added after Swedish troops battered the original roof, and about kings once passing beneath this same archway on their way to be crowned at Wawel. Look up at the rococo relief of St. Florian above the arch before you take in the dome.