document_title: Kraków

question_text: when did krakow become the capital of poland

question_tokens: when did krakow become the capital of poland

text: Kraków

text: Etymology[edit]

text: The name of Kraków is traditionally derived from Krakus (Krak, Grakch), the legendary founder of Kraków and a ruler of the tribe of Lechitians. In Polish, Kraków is an archaic possessive form of Krak and essentially means "Krak's (town)". Krakus's name may derive from "krakula", a Proto-Slavic word[17] meaning a judge's staff, or a Proto-Slavic word "krak" meaning an oak, once a sacred tree most often associated with the concept of genealogy. The first mention of Prince Krakus (then written as Grakch) dates back to 1190, although the town existed as early as the 7th century, inhabited by the tribe of Vistulans.[4]

text: The city's full official name is Stołeczne Królewskie Miasto Kraków,[18] which can be translated as "Royal Capital City of Kraków". In English, a person born or living in Kraków is a Cracovian (Polish: krakowianin). While in the 1990s the English version of the name was often written Cracow, the most widespread modern English version is Krakow.[19]

text: History[edit]

text: Kraków's early history begins with evidence of a Stone Age settlement on the present site of the Wawel Hill.[20] A legend attributes Kraków's founding to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a dragon, Smok Wawelski. The first written record of the city's name dates back to 965, when Kraków was described as a notable commercial centre controlled first by Moravia (876–879), but captured by a Bohemian duke Boleslaus I in 955.[21] The first acclaimed ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, took Kraków from the Bohemians and incorporated it into the holdings of the Piast dynasty towards the end of his reign.[22]

text: In 1038, Kraków became the seat of the Polish government.[4] By the end of the 10th century, the city was a leading centre of trade.[23] Brick buildings were constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle with St. Felix and Adaukt Rotunda, Romanesque churches such as St. Adalbert's, a cathedral, and a basilica.[24] The city was sacked and burned during the Mongol invasion of 1241.[25] It was rebuilt practically identical,[26] based on new location act and incorporated in 1257 by the high duke Bolesław V the Chaste who following the example of Wrocław, introduced city rights modelled on the Magdeburg law allowing for tax benefits and new trade privileges for the citizens.[27] In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols. A third attack in 1287 was repelled thanks in part to the new built fortifications.[28] In 1335, King Casimir III of Poland (Kazimierz in Polish) declared the two western suburbs to be a new city named after him, Kazimierz (Casimiria in Latin). The defensive walls were erected around the central section of Kazimierz in 1362, and a plot was set aside for the Augustinian order next to Skałka.[29]

text: The city rose to prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded the University of Kraków,[30] the second oldest university in central Europe after the Charles University in Prague. King Casimir also began work on a campus for the Academy in Kazimierz, but he died in 1370 and the campus was never completed. The city continued to grow under the joint Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellon dynasty. As the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League, the city attracted many craftsmen, businesses, and guilds as science and the arts began to flourish.[31] The royal chancery and the University ensured a first flourishing of Polish literary culture in the city.[32]

text: Kraków's "Golden Age"[edit]

text: The 15th and 16th centuries were known as Poland's Złoty Wiek or Golden Age.[33] Many works of Polish Renaissance art and architecture were created,[34][35] including ancient synagogues in Kraków's Jewish quarter located in the north-eastern part of Kazimierz, such as the Old Synagogue.[36] During the reign of Casimir IV, various artists came to work and live in Kraków, and Johann Haller established a printing press in the city[37] after Kasper Straube had printed the Calendarium Cracoviense, the first work printed in Poland, in 1473.[38][39]

text: In 1495, King John I Albert expelled the Jews from the city walls of Kraków; they moved to Kazimierz (now a district of Kraków).[40] However, they were still allowed to trade on the Main Square.[40]

text: In 1520, the most famous church bell in Poland, named Zygmunt after Sigismund I of Poland, was cast by Hans Behem.[41] At that time, Hans Dürer, a younger brother of artist and thinker Albrecht Dürer, was Sigismund's court painter.[42] Hans von Kulmbach made altarpieces for several churches.[43] In 1553, the Kazimierz district council gave the Jewish Qahal a licence for the right to build their own interior walls across the western section of the already existing defensive walls. The walls were expanded again in 1608 due to the growth of the community and influx of Jews from Bohemia.[44] In 1572, King Sigismund II, the last of the Jagiellons, died childless. The Polish throne passed to Henry III of France and then to other foreign-based rulers in rapid succession, causing a decline in the city's importance that was worsened by pillaging during the Swedish invasion and by an outbreak of bubonic plague that left 20,000 of the city's residents dead. In 1596, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa moved the administrative capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from Kraków to Warsaw.[45]

text: 19th century[edit]

text: Already weakened during the 18th century, by the mid-1790s the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had twice been partitioned by its neighbors: Russia, the Habsburg empire, and Prussia.[46] In 1791, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II changed the status of Kazimierz as a separate city and made it into a district of Kraków. The richer Jewish families began to move out. However, because of the injunction against travel on the Sabbath, most Jewish families stayed relatively close to the historic synagogues. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko initiated an unsuccessful insurrection in the town's Main Square which, in spite of his victorious Battle of Racławice against a numerically superior Russian army, resulted in the third and final partition of Poland.[47] In 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte captured former Polish territories from Austria and made the town part of the Duchy of Warsaw. Following Napoleon's defeat, the 1815 Congress of Vienna restored the pre-war boundaries but also created the partially independent Free City of Kraków.[48] An insurrection in 1846 failed,[49] resulting in the city being annexed by Austria under the name the Grand Duchy of Cracow (Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Krakowskie, German: Großherzogtum Krakau).[50]

text: In 1866, Austria granted a degree of autonomy to Galicia after its own defeat in the Austro-Prussian War.[51] Politically freer Kraków became a Polish national symbol and a centre of culture and art, known frequently as the "Polish Athens" (Polskie Ateny) or "Polish Mecca".[52] Many leading Polish artists of the period resided in Kraków,[53] among them the seminal painter Jan Matejko,[54] laid to rest at Rakowicki Cemetery, and the founder of modern Polish drama, Stanisław Wyspiański.[55] Fin de siècle Kraków evolved into a modern metropolis; running water and electric streetcars were introduced in 1901, and between 1910 and 1915, Kraków and its surrounding suburban communities were gradually combined into a single administrative unit called Greater Kraków (Wielki Kraków).[56][57]

text: At the outbreak of World War I on 3 August 1914, Józef Piłsudski formed a small cadre military unit, the First Cadre Company—the predecessor of the Polish Legions—which set out from Kraków to fight for the liberation of Poland.[58] The city was briefly besieged by Russian troops in November 1914.[59] Austrian rule in Kraków ended in 1918 when the Polish Liquidation Committee assumed power.[60][61]

text: 20th century to the present[edit]

text: With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic, Kraków resumed its role as a major academic and cultural centre, with the establishment of new universities such as the AGH University of Science and Technology and the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, including a number of new and essential vocational schools. It became an important cultural centre for the Polish Jews with a Zionist youth movement relatively strong among the city's Jewish population.[62] Kraków was also an influential centre of Jewish spiritual life, with all its manifestations of religious observance from Orthodox, to Chasidic and Reform flourishing side by side.

text: Following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in September 1939, the city became part of the General Government, a separate administrative region of the Third Reich, and from 4 November 1939; it became the capital of this administration. The General Government was ruled by Hans Frank who was based in the city's Wawel Castle. The Nazis envisioned turning Kraków into a completely Germanised city; after removal of all the Jews and Poles, renaming of locations and streets into the German language, and sponsorship of propaganda trying to portray it as a historically German city.[63] During an operation called "Sonderaktion Krakau", more than 180 university professors and academics were arrested and sent to Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps, though the survivors were later released on the request of prominent Italians.[64][65] The Jewish population was first confined to a ghetto in which many died of illness or starvation. Those in the ghetto were later murdered or sent to concentration camps, including Płaszów and Auschwitz.[66] Roman Polanski, the film director, is a survivor of the Kraków Ghetto, while Oskar Schindler selected employees from the ghetto to work in his enamelware plant, Deutsche Emailwaren Fabrik (Emalia for short) saving them from the camps.[67][68] Although looted by occupational authorities, Kraków remained relatively undamaged at the end of World War II,[69] sparing most of the city's historical and architectural legacy. Soviet forces entered the city on 18 January 1945, and began arresting Poles loyal to the Polish government-in-exile or those who had served in the Home Army.[70]

text: After the war, under the Polish People's Republic, the intellectual and academic community of Kraków was put under complete political control. The universities were soon deprived of printing rights and autonomy.[71] The Stalinist government ordered the construction of the country's largest steel mill in the newly created suburb of Nowa Huta.[72] The creation of the giant Lenin Steelworks (now Sendzimir Steelworks owned by Mittal) sealed Kraków's transformation from a university city, into an industrial centre.[73] The new working-class, drawn by the industrialisation of Kraków, contributed to rapid population growth.

text: In an effort that spanned two decades, Karol Wojtyła, cardinal archbishop of Kraków, successfully lobbied for permission to build the first churches in the newly industrial suburbs.[73][74] In 1978, Wojtyła was elevated to the papacy as John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In the same year, UNESCO placed Kraków Old Town on the first-ever list of World Heritage Sites.

text: Geography[edit]

text: Kraków lies in the southern part of Poland, on the Vistula River, in a valley at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, 219 m (719 ft) above sea level; halfway between the Jurassic Rock Upland (Polish: Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska) to the north, and the Tatra Mountains 100 km (62 mi) to the south, constituting the natural border with Slovakia and the Czech Republic; 230 km (143 mi) west from the border with Ukraine. There are five nature reserves in Kraków, with a combined area of ca. 48.6 hectares (120 acres). Due to their ecological value, these areas are legally protected. The western part of the city, along its northern and north-western side, borders an area of international significance known as the Jurassic Bielany-Tyniec refuge. The main motives for the protection of this area include plant and animal wildlife and the area's geomorphological features and landscape.[75] Another part of the city is located within the ecological 'corridor' of the Vistula River valley. This corridor is also assessed as being of international significance as part of the Pan-European ecological network.[76] The city centre is situated on the left (northern) bank of the river.

text: Climate[edit]

text: Kraków has a humid continental climate (Dfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system, which can be classified as an oceanic climate (Cfb) using the −3.0 °C (27 °F) isotherm. The Kraków climate is influenced by its far inland position, with significant temperature differences between seasons. Average temperatures in summer range from 17.0 to 19.2 °C (63 to 67 °F) and in winter from −2.0 to −0.6 °C (28 to 31 °F). The average annual temperature is 8.7 °C (48 °F). In summer temperatures often exceed 25 °C (77 °F), and even 30 °C (86 °F), while winter drops to −5 °C (23 °F) at night and about 0 °C (32 °F) at day; during very cold nights the temperature can drop to −15 °C (5 °F). Since Kraków lies near the Tatra Mountains, there are often occurrences of halny blowing (a foehn wind), causing temperatures to rise rapidly, and even in winter reach up to 20 °C (68 °F).

text: The climate table below presents weather data from the years 2000–2012 although the official Köppen reference period was from 1981–2010. According to ongoing measurements, the temperature has increased during these years as compared with the last series. This increase averages about 0.6 °C over all months. Warming is most pronounced during the winter months, with an increase of more than 1.0 °C in January.

text:
[hide]Climate data for Kraków (1981–2010)

Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year

Record high °C (°F)
15.0
(59)
19.4
(66.9)
23.0
(73.4)
30.0
(86)
32.6
(90.7)
33.7
(92.7)
35.5
(95.9)
37.3
(99.1)
30.2
(86.4)
27.1
(80.8)
20.5
(68.9)
19.3
(66.7)
37.3
(99.1)

Average high °C (°F)
1.0
(33.8)
2.5
(36.5)
7.5
(45.5)
14.0
(57.2)
19.4
(66.9)
21.9
(71.4)
24.2
(75.6)
23.7
(74.7)
18.4
(65.1)
13.6
(56.5)
6.5
(43.7)
1.8
(35.2)
12.9
(55.2)

Daily mean °C (°F)
−2.0
(28.4)
−0.6
(30.9)
3.3
(37.9)
8.8
(47.8)
14.4
(57.9)
17.0
(62.6)
19.2
(66.6)
18.4
(65.1)
13.8
(56.8)
9.1
(48.4)
3.4
(38.1)
−0.7
(30.7)
8.7
(47.7)

Average low °C (°F)
−4.9
(23.2)
−4.0
(24.8)
0.6
(33.1)
3.9
(39)
8.8
(47.8)
11.9
(53.4)
13.7
(56.7)
13.2
(55.8)
9.3
(48.7)
4.8
(40.6)
0.3
(32.5)
−3.6
(25.5)
4.4
(39.9)

Record low °C (°F)
−29.6
(−21.3)
−27.0
(−16.6)
−17.0
(1.4)
−7.0
(19.4)
−4.0
(24.8)
−3.8
(25.2)
3.0
(37.4)
4.0
(39.2)
−2.0
(28.4)
−7.4
(18.7)
−17.0
(1.4)
−24.8
(−12.6)
−29.6
(−21.3)

Average precipitation mm (inches)
39
(1.54)
33
(1.3)
39
(1.54)
47
(1.85)
82
(3.23)
90
(3.54)
85
(3.35)
74
(2.91)
61
(2.4)
41
(1.61)
41
(1.61)
38
(1.5)
670
(26.38)

Average precipitation days
18
17
15
15
15
16
14
13
13
13
17
20
186

Average rainy days
8
7
10
14
15
16
14
13
13
13
13
12
148

Average snowy days
13
12
7
3
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
12
55

Average relative humidity (%)
85
82
78
71
72
74
74
76
81
83
87
87
79.2

Source #1: pogoda.ru.net[77]

Source #2: bestplaces.net[78]

text: Cityscape[edit]

text: Developed over many centuries, Kraków provides a showcase setting for many historic styles of architecture. As the city expanded, so too did the architectural achievements of its builders. It is for this reason that the variations in style and urban planning are so easily recognisable.

text: Built from its earliest nucleus outward, and having escaped much of the destruction endured by Poland during the 20th-century wars, Kraków's many architectural monuments can typically be seen in historical order by walking from the city centre out, towards its later districts. Kraków is one of the few medieval towns in Poland that does not have a historic Ratusz town hall in its Main Square, because it has not survived the Partitions of Poland.

text: Kraków's historic centre, which includes the Old Town, Kazimierz and the Wawel Castle, was included as the first of its kind on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1978.[79] The Stare Miasto is the most prominent example of an old town in the country.[80] For many centuries Kraków was the royal capital of Poland, until Sigismund III Vasa relocated the court to Warsaw in 1596. The whole district is bisected by the Royal Road, the coronation route traversed by the Kings of Poland. The Route begins at St. Florian's Church outside the northern flank of the old city-walls in the medieval suburb of Kleparz; passes the Barbican of Kraków (Barbakan) built in 1499, and enters Stare Miasto through the Florian Gate. It leads down Floriańska Street through the Main Square, and up Grodzka to Wawel, the former seat of Polish royalty, overlooking the Vistula river. Old Town attracts visitors from all over the World. Kraków historic centre is one of the 13 places in Poland that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The architectural design of the district had survived all cataclysms of the past and retained its original form coming from the medieval times. The Old Town of Kraków is home to about six thousand historic sites and more than two million works of art.[81] Its rich variety of heritage architecture includes Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings. Kraków's palaces, churches, theatres and mansions display great variety of color, architectural details, stained glass, paintings, sculptures, and furnishings.

text: In addition to the old town, the city's district of Kazimierz is particularly notable for its many renaissance buildings and picturesque streets, as well as the historic Jewish quarter located in the north-eastern part of Kazimierz. Kazimierz was founded in the 14th century to the south-east of the city centre and soon became a wealthy, well-populated area where construction of imposing properties became commonplace. Perhaps the most important feature of medieval Kazimierz was the only major, permanent bridge (Pons Regalis) across the northern arm of the Vistula. This natural barrier used to separate Kazimierz from the Old Town for several centuries, while the bridge connected Kraków to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and the lucrative Hungarian trade route. The last structure at this location (at the end of modern Stradom Street) was dismantled in 1880 when the northern arm of the river was filled in with earth and rock, and subsequently built over.[29][82]

text: By the 1930s, Kraków had 120 officially registered synagogues and prayer houses that spanned across the old city. Much of Jewish intellectual life had moved to new centres like Podgórze.[83] This in turn, led to the redevelopment and renovation of much of Kazimierz and the development of new districts in Kraków. Most historic buildings in central Kazimierz today are preserved in their original form. Some old buildings however, were not repaired after the devastation brought by the Second World War, and have remained empty. Most recent efforts at restoring the historic neighborhoods gained new impetus around 1993. Kazimierz is now a well-visited area, seeing a booming growth in Jewish-themed restaurants, bars, bookstores and souvenir shops.

text: As the city of Kraków began to expand further under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the new architectural styles also developed. Key buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries in Kraków include the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, the directorate of the Polish State Railways as well as the original complex of Kraków Główny railway station and the city's Academy of Economics. It was also at around that time that Kraków's first radial boulevards began to appear, with the city undergoing a large-scale program aimed at transforming the ancient Polish capital into a sophisticated regional centre of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. New representative government buildings and multi-story tenement houses were built at around that time. Much of the urban-planning beyond the walls of the Old Town was done by Polish architects and engineers trained in Vienna. Some major projects of the era include the development of the Jagiellonian University's new premises and the building of the Collegium Novum just west of the Old Town. The imperial style planning of the city's further development continued until the return of Poland's independence, following the First World War. Early modernist style in Kraków is represented by such masterpieces as the Palace of Art by Franciszek Mączyński and the 'House under the Globe'. Secession style architecture, which had arrived in Kraków from Vienna, became popular towards the end of the Partitions.[85]

text: With Poland's regained independence came the major change in the fortunes of Kraków—now the second most important city of a sovereign nation. The state began to make new plans for the city development and commissioned a number of representative buildings. The predominant style for new projects was modernism with various interpretations of the art-deco style.[86] Important buildings constructed in the style of Polish modernism include the Feniks 'LOT' building on Basztowa Street, the Feniks department store on the Main Square and the Municipal Savings Bank on Szczepański Square. The Józef Piłsudski house is also of note as a particularly good example of interwar architecture in the city.[87]

text: After the Second World War, new government turned toward Soviet influence and the Stalinist monumentalism. The doctrine of Socialist realism in Poland, as in other countries of the People's Republics, was enforced from 1949 to 1956. It involved all domains of art, but its most spectacular achievements were made in the field of urban design. The guidelines for this new trend were spelled-out in a 1949 resolution of the National Council of Party Architects. Architecture was to become a weapon in establishing the new social order by the communists.[88] The ideological impact of urban design was valued more than aesthetics. It aimed at expressing persistence and power. This form of architecture was implemented in the new industrial district of Nowa Huta with apartment blocks constructed according to a Stalinist blueprint, with repetitious courtyards and wide, tree-lined avenues.[89]

text: Since the style of the Renaissance was generally regarded as the most revered in old Polish architecture, it was also used for augmenting Poland's Socialist national format. However, in the course of incorporating the principles of Socialist realism, there were quite a few deviations introduced by the communists. One of these was to more closely reflect Soviet architecture, which resulted in the majority of works blending into one another. From 1953, critical opinions in the Party were increasingly frequent, and the doctrine was given up in 1956 marking the end of Stalinism.[91] Currently the soc-realist centre of Nowa Huta is considered to be a meritorious monument of the times. This period in postwar architecture was followed by the mass-construction of large Panel System apartment blocks, most of which were built outside the city centre and thus do not encroach upon the beauty of the old or new towns. Some examples of the new style (e.g., Hotel Cracovia) recently listed as heritage monuments were built during the later half of the 20th century in Kraków.[92]

text: After the Revolutions of 1989 and the birth of the Third Republic in the later half of the 20th century, a number of new architectural projects were completed, including the construction of large business parks and commercial facilities such as the Galeria Krakowska, or infrastructure investments like the Kraków Fast Tram, giving the city a great deal of quality solutions blending with its centuries-old heritage. A good example of this would be the 2007-built Pawilon Wyspiański 2000,[90] which is used as a multi-purpose information and exhibition space, or the award-winning Małopolski Garden of Arts (Małopolski Ogród Sztuki), a multi-purpose exhibition and theatre complex located in the historic Old Town.[93]

text: Parks and gardens[edit]

text: There are about 40 parks in Kraków including dozens of gardens and forests.[94] Several, like the Planty Park, Botanical Garden, Park Krakowski, Jordan Park and Błonia Park are located in the centre of the city; with Zakrzówek, Lasek Wolski forest, Strzelecki Park and Park Lotników (among others) in the surrounding districts.[94] Parks cover about 318.5 hectares (2002) of the city.

text: The Planty Park is the best-known park in Kraków. It was established between 1822 and 1830 in place of the old city walls, forming a green belt around the Old Town. It consists of a chain of smaller gardens designed in various styles and adorned with monuments. The park has an area of 21 hectares (52 acres) and a length of 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), forming a scenic walkway popular with Cracovians.[95]

text: The Jordan Park founded in 1889 by Dr Henryk Jordan, was the first public park of its kind in Europe.[96] The park built on the banks of the Rudawa river was equipped with running and exercise tracks, playgrounds, the swimming pool, amphitheatre, pavilions, and a pond for boat rowing and water bicycles. It is located on the grounds of a larger Kraków’s Błonia Park.[97] The less prominent Park Krakowski was founded in 1885 by Stanisław Rehman but has since been greatly reduced in size because of rapid real estate development. It was a popular destination point with many Cracovians at the end of the 19th century.[98]

text: Environment[edit]

text: There are five nature reserves in Kraków with a total area of 48.6 ha.[99] Smaller green zones constitute parts of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland Jurassic Landscape Parks' Board, which deals with the protection areas of the Polish Jura. Under its jurisdiction are: the Bielany-Tyniec Landscape Park (Park Bielańsko-Tyniecki), Tenczynek Landscape Park (Park Tencziński) and Kraków Valleys Landscape Park (Park Krajobrazowy Dolinki Krakowskie), with their watersheds. All natural reserves of the Polish Jura Chain are part of the CORINE biotopes programme due to their unique flora, fauna, geomorphology and landscape. The western part of Kraków constitute the so-called Obszar Krakowski ecological network, including the ecological corridor of the Vistula river. The southern slopes of limestone hills provide conditions for the development of thermophilous vegetation, grasslands and scrubs.

text: The city is spaced along an extended latitudinal transect of the Vistula River Valley with a network of tributaries including its right tributary Wilga, and left: Rudawa, Białucha, Dłubnia and Sanka. The rivers and their valleys along with bodies of water are some of the most interesting natural wonders of Kraków.

text: Governance[edit]

text: The Kraków City Council has 43 elected members,[100] one of whom is the mayor, or President of Kraków, elected every four years. The election of the City Council and of the local head of government,[101] which takes place at the same time, is based on legislation introduced on 20 June 2002. The current President of Kraków, re-elected for his fourth term in 2014, is Jacek Majchrowski.[102] Several members of the Polish national Parliament (Sejm) are elected from the Kraków constituency.[103] The city's official symbols include a coat of arms, a flag, a seal, and a banner.[104]

text: The responsibilities of Kraków's president include drafting and implementing resolutions, enacting city bylaws, managing the city budget, employing city administrators, and preparing against floods and natural disasters.[101] The president fulfills his duties with the help of the City Council, city managers and city inspectors. In the 1990s, the city government was reorganised to better differentiate between its political agenda and administrative functions. As a result, the Office of Public Information was created to handle inquiries and foster communication between city departments and citizens at large.[105]

text: In 2000, the city government introduced a new long-term program called "Safer City" in cooperation with the Police, Traffic, Social Services, Fire, Public Safety, and the Youth Departments. Subsequently, the number of criminal offences went down by 3 percent between 2000 and 2001, and the rate of detection increased by 1.4 percent to a total of 30.2 percent in the same period.[106] The city is receiving help in carrying out the program from all educational institutions and the local media, including TV, radio and the press.

text: Districts[edit]

text: Kraków is divided into 18 administrative districts (dzielnica) or boroughs, each with a degree of autonomy within its own municipal government.[107] Prior to March 1991, the city had been divided into four quarters which still give a sense of identity to Kraków – the towns of Podgórze, Nowa Huta, and Krowodrza which were amalgamated into the city of Kraków as it expanded, and the ancient town centre of Kraków itself.[107]

text: The oldest neighborhoods of Kraków were incorporated into the city before the late-18th century. They include the Old Town (Stare Miasto), once contained within the city defensive walls and now encircled by the Planty park; the Wawel District, which is the site of the Royal Castle and the cathedral; Stradom and Kazimierz, the latter originally divided into Christian and Jewish quarters;[108] as well as the ancient town of Kleparz.

text: Major districts added in the 19th and 20th centuries include Podgórze, which until 1915, was a separate town on the southern bank of the Vistula, and Nowa Huta, east of the city centre, built after World War II.

text: Among the most notable historic districts of the city are: Wawel Hill, home to Wawel Castle and Wawel Cathedral, where many historic Polish kings are buried; the medieval Old Town, with its Main Market Square (200 metres (660 ft) square); dozens of old churches and museums; the 14th-century buildings of the Jagiellonian University; and Kazimierz, the historical centre of Kraków's Jewish social and religious life.[109]

text: The Old Town district of Kraków is home to about 6,000 historic sites, and more than 2,000,000 works of art.[81] Its rich variety of historic architecture includes Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic buildings. Kraków's palaces, churches and mansions display great variety of colour, architectural details, stained glass, paintings, sculptures, and furnishings.

text: In the Market Square stands the Gothic St. Mary's Basilica (Kościół Mariacki). It was rebuilt in the 14th-century and features the famous wooden altar (Altarpiece of Veit Stoss), the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world,[110] carved by Veit Stoss. From the church's main tower a trumpet call (hejnał mariacki), is sounded every hour. The melody, which used to announce the opening and closing of city gates, ends unexpectedly in midstream. According to legend, the tune was played during the 13th-century Tatar invasion by a guard warning citizens against the attack. He was shot by an archer of the invading Tatar forces whilst playing, the bugle call breaking off at the moment he died.[111] The story was recounted in a book published in 1928 called The Trumpeter of Krakow, by Eric P. Kelly, which won a Newbery Award.[112]

text:
District
Population
Area (2009)[113]

Stare Miasto (I)
41,121
559.29 ha (5.5929 km2)

Grzegórzki (II)
30,441
586.18 ha (5.8618 km2)

Prądnik Czerwony (III)
46,621
638.82 ha (6.3882 km2)

Prądnik Biały (IV)
66,649
2,370.55 ha (23.7055 km2)

Krowodrza (V)
34,467
538.32 ha (5.3832 km2)

Bronowice (VI)
22,467
957.98 ha (9.5798 km2)

Zwierzyniec (VII)
20,243
2,866.9 ha (28.669 km2)

Dębniki (VIII)
56,258
4,671.11 ha (46.7111 km2)

Łagiewniki-Borek Fałęcki (IX)
15,014
573.9 ha (5.739 km2)

Swoszowice (X)
20,641
2,416.73 ha (24.1673 km2)

Podgórze Duchackie (XI)
52,522
1,065.24 ha (10.6524 km2)

Bieżanów-Prokocim (XII)
63,270
1,846.93 ha (18.4693 km2)

Podgórze (XIII)
32,050
2,516.07 ha (25.1607 km2)

Czyżyny (XIV)
26,169
1,229.44 ha (12.2944 km2)

Mistrzejowice (XV)
54,276
547.82 ha (5.4782 km2)

Bieńczyce (XVI)
44,237
369.43 ha (3.6943 km2)

Wzgórza Krzesławickie (XVII)
20,234
2,375.82 ha (23.7582 km2)

Nowa Huta (XVIII)
58,320
6,552.52 ha (65.5252 km2)

Total
760,700
32,680.00 ha (326.8000 km2)

text: The current divisions were introduced by the Kraków City Hall on 19 April 1995. Districts were assigned Roman numerals as well as the current name:[114] Stare Miasto (I), Grzegórzki (II), Prądnik Czerwony (III), Prądnik Biały (IV), Łobzów (V), Bronowice (VI), Zwierzyniec (VII), Dębniki (VIII), Łagiewniki-Borek Fałęcki (IX), Swoszowice (X), Podgórze Duchackie (XI), Bieżanów-Prokocim (XII), Podgórze (XIII), Czyżyny (XIV), Mistrzejowice (XV), Bieńczyce (XVI), Wzgórza Krzesławickie (XVII), and Nowa Huta (XVIII).

text: Map of districts of the City of Kraków

text: Interactive map. For more information, click on district number.

text: Economy[edit]

text: Kraków is one of Poland's most important economic centres and the economic hub of the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) region.[115][116] Since the fall of communism, the private sector has been growing steadily. There are about 50 large multinational companies in the city, including Google, IBM, Royal Dutch Shell, Motorola, Delphi, MAN SE, General Electric, ABB, Aon Hewitt, Cisco Systems Hitachi, Philip Morris, Capgemini,[117] and Sabre Holdings,[118] along with other British, German and Scandinavian-based firms.[115][119] The city is also the global headquarters for Comarch, a Polish enterprise software house. In 2005, Foreign direct investment in Kraków has reached approximately US$3,500,000,000. Kraków has been trying to model itself as a European version of Silicon Valley,[120] based on the large number of local and foreign hi-tech companies.[115] The unemployment rate in Kraków was 4.8% in May 2007, well below the national average of 13%.[116][121] Kraków is the second most-visited city in Poland (after Warsaw).[115][116] According to the World Investment Report 2011 by the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Kraków is also the most emergent city location for investment in global BPO projects (Business Process Outsourcing) in the world.[122]

text: In 2011, the city budget, which is presented by the Mayor of Kraków on 15 November annually, has a projected revenue of 3,500,000,000 złoty.[123] The primary sources of revenue were as follows: 14% from the municipal taxation on real estate properties and the use of amenities, 30% in transfers from the national budget, and 34% in state subsidies. Projected expenditures, totaling 3,520,000,000 złoty, included 21% in city development costs and 79% in city maintenance costs. Of the maintenance costs, as much as 39% were spent on education and childcare. The City of Kraków's development costs included; 41% toward construction of roads, transport, and communication (combined), and 25% for the city's infrastructure and environment.[124] The city has a high bond credit rating, and some 60% of the population is under the age of 45.[116]

text: Knowledge and Innovation Community[edit]

text: Kraków is one of the co-location centres of Knowledge and Innovation Community (Sustainable Energy) of The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).[125]

text: InnoEnergy is an integrated alliance of reputable organisations from the education, research and industry sectors. It was created based on long standing links of cooperation as well as the principles of excellence. The partners have jointly developed a strategy to tackle the weaknesses of the European innovation landscape in the field of sustainable energy.[126]

text: Transport[edit]

text: Public transport is based on a fairly dense network of tram and bus routes operated by a municipal company, supplemented by a number of private minibus operators. Local trains connect some of the suburbs. The bulk of the city's historic area has been turned into a pedestrian zone with rickshaws and horse-drawn carriages; however, the tramlines run within a three-block radius (pictured).[127] The historic means of transportation in the city can be examined at the Museum of Municipal Engineering in the Kazimierz district, with many old trams, cars and buses.[128]

text: Railway connections are available to most Polish cities, e.g. Katowice, Częstochowa, Szczecin, Gdynia and Warsaw. International destinations include Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Lviv, Kiev, and Odessa (June–September).[129] The main railway station is located just outside the Old Town District and is well-served by public transport.

text: Kraków's airport, officially named John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (IATA: KRK), is located 11 km (7 mi) west of the city. Direct trains cover the route between Kraków Główny train station and the airport in 20 minutes. Kraków Airport served around 5,800,000 passengers in 2017[130]. Also, the Katowice International Airport is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) or about 75 minutes from Kraków.[131]

text:
Main Railway Station

Bombardier city tram

Underground tram station

Solaris Urbino city bus

text: In Autumn 2016 Poland's oldest Bicycle-sharing system was modernized and now offers 1,500 bikes at 150 stations under the name of Wavelo (pl), which is owned by BikeU of the French multinational company Egis.[132]

text: Demographics[edit]

text: Kraków had a recorded population of 762,508 in 2015. According to the 2006 data,[133] the population of Kraków comprised about 2% of the population of Poland and 23% of the population of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Selected demographic indicators are presented in a table (below), compiled on the basis of only the population living in Kraków permanently. The larger metropolitan area of the city encompasses a territory in which (in 2010) 1,393,893 inhabitants live.[134]

text: Already in the Middle Ages, the population of Kraków consisting of numerous ethnic groups, began to grow rapidly.[135] It doubled between 1100 and 1300 from 5,000 to 10,000, and in 1400 counted 14,000 inhabitants. By 1550, the population of metropolitan Kraków was 18,000; although it went down to 15,000 in the next fifty years due to calamity.[136][137] By the early 17th century the Kraków population had reached 28,000 inhabitants.[138]

text:
Population breakdown

 Demographic
indicators
 Years
 Kraków

Population
in thousands

1970
1978
1988
1995
2002

588,0
693,6
746,6
732,9
758,5

Population density
person/km²

1970
1978
1988
1995
2002

2,556
2,156
2,285
2,243
2,320

Number of women
per 100 men

1970
1978
1988
1995
2002

110
110
110
112
113

Population growth
per 1000

1998
1999
2000
2001

−1.3
−1.7
−1.5
−1.5

Source: Stat.gov.pl Tabl. 1 (27).[133]

text: In the historical 1931 census preceding World War II, 78.1% of Cracovians declared Polish as their primary language, with Yiddish or Hebrew at 20.9%, Ukrainian 0.4%, German 0.3%, and Russian 0.1%.[139] The ravages of history have greatly reduced the percentage of ethnic minorities living in Kraków. The official and unofficial numbers differ, as in the case of Romani people. Hence, according to the 2002 census,[140] among those who have declared their national identity (irrespective of language and religion) in Kraków Voivodeship, 1,572 were Slovaks, followed by Ukrainians (472), Jews (50) and Armenians (22). Romani people, officially numbered at 1,678, are estimated at over 5,000. Statistics collected by the Ministry of Education reveal that, even though only 1% of adults (as per above) officially claim minority status, as many as 3% of students participate in programmes designed for ethnic minorities.[141]

text: Religion[edit]

text: The metropolitan city of Kraków is known as the city of churches. The abundance of landmark, historic temples along with the plenitude of monasteries and convents earned the city a countrywide reputation as the "Northern Rome" in the past. The churches of Kraków comprise over 120 places of worship (2007) of which over 65 were built in the 20th century. More are still being added.[142] In addition to Roman Catholicism, other denominations present include Jehovah's Witnesses,[143] Mariavite Church, Polish Catholic Church, Polish Orthodox Church, Protestantism and Latter-Day Saints.[144]

text: Kraków contains also an outstanding collection of monuments of Jewish sacred architecture unmatched anywhere in Poland. Kraków was an influential centre of Jewish spiritual life before the outbreak of World War II, with all its manifestations of religious observance from Orthodox to Chasidic and Reform flourishing side by side. There were at least 90 synagogues in Kraków active before the Nazi German invasion of Poland, serving its burgeoning Jewish community of 60,000–80,000 (out of the city's total population of 237,000), established since the early 12th century.[145]

text: Most synagogues of Kraków were ruined during World War II by the Nazis who despoiled them of all ceremonial objects, and used them as storehouses for ammunition, firefighting equipment, as general storage facilities and stables. The post-Holocaust Jewish population of the city had dwindled to about 5,900 before the end of the 1940s. Poland was the only Eastern Bloc country to allow free Jewish aliyah without visas or exit permits upon the conclusion of World War II.[146] By contrast, Stalin forcibly kept Soviet Jews in the USSR, as agreed to in the Yalta Conference.[147] In recent time, thanks to efforts of the local Jewish and Polish organisations including foreign financial aid from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, many synagogues underwent major restorations and serve religious and tourist purposes.[148]

text: Education[edit]

text: Kraków is a major centre of education. Twenty-four institutions of higher education offer courses in the city, with more than 200,000 students.[149] Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland and ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement as the second-best university in the country,[150][151] was founded in 1364 as Studium Generale[152] and renamed in 1817 to commemorate the Jagiellonian dynasty of Polish-Lithuanian kings.[153] Its principal academic asset is the Jagiellonian Library, with more than 4 million volumes, including a large collection of medieval manuscripts[154] like Copernicus' De Revolutionibus and the Balthasar Behem Codex. With 42,325 students (2005) and 3,605 academic staff, the Jagiellonian University is also one of the leading research centres in Poland. Famous historical figures connected with the University include Saint John Cantius, Jan Długosz, Nicolaus Copernicus, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Jan Kochanowski, King John III Sobieski, Pope John Paul II and Nobel laureates Ivo Andrić and Wisława Szymborska.[155]

text: AGH University of Science and Technology, established in 1919, is the largest technical university in Poland, with more than 15 faculties and student enrollment exceeding 30,000.[156] It was ranked by the Polish edition of Newsweek as the best technical university in the country in 2004.[157] During its 80-year history, more than 73,000 students graduated from AGH with master's or bachelor's degrees. Some 3,600 persons were granted the degree of Doctor of Science, and about 900 obtained the qualification of Habilitated Doctor.[158]

text: Other institutions of higher learning include Academy of Music in Kraków first conceived as conservatory in 1888, one of the oldest and most prestigious conservatories in Central Europe and a major concert venue;[159] Cracow University of Economics, established in 1925;[160] Pedagogical University, in operation since 1946;[161] Agricultural University of Cracow, offering courses since 1890 (initially as a part of Jagiellonian University);[162] Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest Fine Arts Academy in Poland, founded by the Polish painter Jan Matejko; Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts;[163] The Pontifical Academy of Theology;[164] and Cracow University of Technology, which has more than 37,000 graduates.

text: Scientific societies and their branches in Kraków conduct scientific and educational work in local and countrywide scale. Academy of Learning, Cracow Scientific Society, Association of Law Students' Library of the Jagiellonian University, Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists, Polish Geological Society, Polish Theological Society in Kraków, Polish Section of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Polish Society for Synchrotron Radiation have in Kraków their main seats.

text: Culture[edit]

text: Kraków was named the official European Capital of Culture for the year 2000 by the European Union.[165] It is a major attraction for both local and international tourists, attracting seven million visitors a year.[166] Major landmarks include the Main Market Square with St. Mary's Basilica and the Sukiennice Cloth Hall, the Wawel Castle, the National Art Museum, the Zygmunt Bell at the Wawel Cathedral, and the medieval St Florian's Gate with the Barbican along the Royal Coronation Route.[167] Kraków has 28 museums and public art galleries. Among them is the National Museum featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt.

text: Museums and national art galleries[edit]

text: Kraków's 28 museums are separated into the national and municipal museums; the city also has a number of art collections and public art galleries. The National Museum, established in 1879, as well as the National Art Collection on Wawel Hill, are all accessible to the general public and well patroned.

text: The National Art Collection is located at the Wawel, the former residence of three dynasties of Polish monarchs. Royal Chambers feature art, period furniture, Polish and European paintings, collectibles, and an unsurpassed display of the 16th-century monumental Flemish tapestries. Wawel Treasury and Armoury features Polish royal memorabilia, jewels, applied art, and 15th to 18th century arms. The Wawel Eastern Collection features Turkish tents and military accessories. The National Museum is the richest museum in the country with collections consisting of several hundred thousand items kept in big part in the Main Building at Ul. 3 Maja, although there are as many as eleven separate divisions of the museum in the city, one of the most popular being The Gallery of the 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice with the collection of some of the best known paintings and sculptures of the Young Poland movement. The latest division called Europeum with Brueghel among a hundred Western European paintings was inaugurated in 2013.[168]

text: Other major museums of special interest in Kraków include the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology (at M. Konopnickiej 26),[169] Stanisław Wyspiański Museum (at 11 Szczepanska St),[169] Jan Matejko Manor in Krzesławice,[54] – a museum devoted to the master painter and his life, Emeryk Hutten Czapski Museum,[170] and Józef Mehoffer Manor.[169]

text: The Rynek Underground museum, under the main square, is an evocative modern display of Kraków's 1000+ years of history though its streets, activities and artifacts. This followed the massively extended excavations which started in a small way in 2005[171] and, as more and more was found, ran on eventually to 2010.

text: A half-an-hour tram-ride takes you to the little-heralded Polish Aviation Museum considered eighth world's best aviation museum by CNN and featuring over 200 aircraft including a Sopwith Camel among other First World War biplanes; a comprehensive display of aero engines; and essentially a complete collection of airplane types developed by Poland after 1945.[172] Activities of small museums around Kraków and in the Lesser Poland region are promoted and supported by the Małopolska Institute of Culture; the Institute organises annual Małopolska Heritage Days.[173]

text: Performing arts[edit]

text: The city has several famous theatres, including the Narodowy Stary Teatr (the National Old Theatre),[174] the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, the Bagatela Theatre, the Ludowy Theatre, and the Groteska Theatre of Puppetry, as well as the Opera Krakowska and Kraków Operetta. The city's principal concert hall and the home of the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra is the Kraków Philharmonic (Filharmonia Krakowska) built in 1931.[175]

text: Kraków hosts many annual and biannual artistic events,[176] some of international significance such as the Misteria Paschalia (Baroque music), Sacrum-Profanum (contemporary music), the Cracow Screen Festival (popular music), the Festival of Polish Music (classical music), Dedications (theatre), the Kraków Film Festival (one of Europe's oldest short films events),[177] Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival (the oldest international art-film event in Poland), Biennial of Graphic Arts, and the Jewish Culture Festival. Kraków was the residence of two Polish Nobel laureates in literature, Wisława Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz; a third Nobel laureate, the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric, lived and studied in Kraków. Other former longtime residents include internationally renowned Polish film directors Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski, both of whom are Academy Award winners.

text: Music[edit]

text: Opera Krakowska[178] one of the leading national opera companies, stages 200 performances each year including ballet, operettas and musicals. It has, in its main repertoire, the greatest world and Polish opera classics. The Opera moved into its first permanent House in the autumn of 2008. It is in charge also of the Summer Festival of Opera and Operetta.

text: Kraków is home to two major Polish festivals of early music presenting forgotten Baroque oratorios and operas: Opera Rara,[179] and Misteria Paschalia.[180] Meanwhile, Capella Cracoviensis runs the Music in Old Cracow International Festival.

text: Academy of Music in Kraków, founded in 1888, is known worldwide as the alma mater of the contemporary Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and it is also the only one in Poland to have two winners of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw among its alumni. The Academy organises concerts of its students and guests throughout the whole year.[181]

text: Music organisations and venues include: Kraków Philharmonic,[182] Sinfonietta Cracovia (a.k.a. the Orchestra of the Royal City of Kraków), the Polish Radio Choir of Kraków, Organum Academic Choir, the Mixed Mariański Choir (Mieszany Chór Mariański), Kraków Academic Choir of the Jagiellonian University, the Kraków Chamber Choir, Amar Corde String Quartet, Consortium Iagellonicum Baroque Orchestra of the Jagiellonian University, Brass Band of T. Sendzimir Steelworks, and Camerata Chamber Orchestra of Radio Kraków.

text: Tourism[edit]

text: According to recent official statistics, in 2016 Kraków was visited by over 12 million tourists including 2.9 million foreign travelers. The visitors spent over 5.4 billion złoty (€1.2 billion) in the city (without travel costs and pre-booked accommodations). Most foreign tourists came from Great Britain, followed by German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Canadian and American visitors.[183] The Kraków tour-guide from the Lesser Poland Visitors Bureau indicated that not all statistics are recorded due to considerable number of those who come, staying in readily available private rooms paid by cash, especially from Eastern Europe.[184]

text: The main reasons for visiting the city are: its historical monuments, recreation as well as relatives and friends (placing third in the ranking), religion and business. There are 120 quality hotels in Kraków (usually about half full) offering 15,485 overnight accommodations.[185] The average stay last for about 4 to 7 nights. The survey conducted among the travelers showed that they enjoyed the city's friendliness most, with 90% of Polish tourists and 87% foreigners stating that they would personally recommend visiting it.[184] Notable points of interest outside the city include the Wieliczka salt mine, the Tatra Mountains 100 km (62 mi) to the south, the historic city of Częstochowa (north-west), the well-preserved former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, and Ojcowski National Park,[186] which includes the Renaissance Castle at Pieskowa Skała.[187] Kraków has been awarded a number of top international rankings such as the 1st place in the Top city-break destinations 2014 survey conducted by the British Which?.[188]

text:
Popular points of interest in and around Kraków

Wawel Castle

German concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Ojców National Park and Pieskowa Skała castle

Benedictine Tyniec Abbey

text: Sports[edit]

text: Kraków was the host city of the 2014 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship and 2016 European Men's Handball Championship. It has also been selected as the European City of Sport for 2014.[189]

text: Football is one of the most popular sports in the city.[190] The two teams with the largest following are thirteen-time Polish champion Wisła Kraków,[191] and five-time champion Cracovia,[192] both founded in 1906 as the oldest still existing in Poland.[193] They have been involved in the most intense rivalry in the country and one of the most intense in all of Europe, known as the Holy War (Święta Wojna).[194] Other football clubs include Hutnik Kraków, Wawel Kraków, and one-time Polish champion Garbarnia Kraków. There is also the first-league rugby club Juvenia Kraków. Kraków has a number of additional, equally valued sports teams including twelve-time Polish ice hockey champions Cracovia and the twenty-time women's basketball champions Wisła Kraków.

text: The Cracovia Marathon, with over a thousand participants from two dozen countries annually, has been held in the city since 2002.[195] Poland's first F1 racing driver Robert Kubica was born and brought up in Kraków, as was former WWE tag team champion Ivan Putski, and Top 10 ranked women's tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska.

text: The construction of a new Kraków Arena began in May 2011; for concerts, indoor athletics, hockey, basketball, futsal, etc. The Arena will be ready in 2013; the total cost is estimated to be 363 million Polish złoty.[needs update] It will accommodate up to 15 thousand viewers. In the case of a concert, when the stage is set on the lower arena, the facility will be able to seat up to 18 thousand people.[needs update]

text: Kraków was bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympics with Jasná but the bid was rejected by a majority (69.72%) of the vote in a referendum on 16 May 2014. The referendum was organised after a wave of criticism from citizens who believed that the Olympics would not promote the city. The organizing committee of "Krakow 2022" spent almost $40,000 to pay for a citizen-approved logo, but many citizens considered this a waste of public money. The committee was rumoured to have fraudulently used several million zlotys for unknown expenses.

text: International relations[edit]

text: Contemporary foreign names for the city[edit]

text: Kraków is referred to by various names in different languages. A traditional English name for the city is Cracow; though it has become less common in recent decades, some sources still use it. The city is known in Czech, Slovak and Serbian as Krakov, in Hungarian as Krakkó, in Lithuanian as Krokuva, in Finnish as Krakova, in German and Dutch as Krakau, in Latin, Spanish and Italian as Cracovia, in French as Cracovie, in Portuguese as Cracóvia and in Russian as Краков. Ukrainian and Yiddish languages refer to it as Krakiv (Краків) and Kroke (קראָקע) respectively.[196]

text: See also: Names of Kraków in different languages.

text: Twin towns and sister cities[edit]

text: Kraków is twinned, or maintains close relations, with 34 cities around the world:[197][198][199]

text:
Bordeaux, France (1993)[197]
 Bratislava, Slovakia[197][200]
 Budapest, Hungary (2005)[197]
 Cambridge, Massachusetts, US (1989)[201]
 Curitiba, Brazil (1993)[199]
 Cusco, Peru[197][202]
 Edinburgh, United Kingdom (1995)[197][203][204]
 Fes, Morocco (2004)[197]
 Florence, Italy (1992)[197]
 Frankfurt, Germany (1991)[197][205]
 Göteborg, Sweden (1990)[197]
 Grozny, Russia (1997)[206]
 Guadalajara, Mexico[207]
 Innsbruck, Austria (1998)[197]
 Kiev, Ukraine (1993)[198]
 La Serena, Chile (1995)[199]
 Leipzig, Germany (1995)[197][208]
 Leuven, Belgium (1991)[198]
 Lviv, Ukraine (1995)[197]
 Milan, Italy (2003)[198][209]
 Nuremberg, Germany (1991)[198]
 Orléans, France (1992)[197]
 Pécs, Hungary (1998)[197]
 Quito, Ecuador[199]
 Rochester, New York, US (1973)[197][210]
 Rome, Italy[197]
 St Petersburg, Russia (2006)
 San Francisco, US (2009)[197][211]
 Seville, Spain (2002)
 Solothurn, Switzerland (1990)
 Split, Croatia[211][212]
 Tbilisi, Georgia[197]
 Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (1975)
 Vilnius, Lithuania[197]
 Zagreb, Croatia (1975)[212][213]


document_title: Get Outta Dodge

question_text: where does the saying get out of dodge come from

root

text: Get Outta Dodge

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text:
Get Outta Dodge

Studio album by Huevos Rancheros

Released
September 30, 1996

Genre
Alternative rock
instrumental rock

Label
Mint Records

Huevos Rancheros chronology

Dig In!
(1995)Dig In!1995
Get Outta Dodge
(1996)
The Wedge
(1999)The Wedge1999

text: Get Outta Dodge is the third studio album by Huevos Rancheros, a Canadian indie rock band. It was released on September 30, 1996, on Mint Records. It was licensed out to Konkurrent Records in the Netherlands. The title refers to the expression "Get out of Dodge", an exhortation that on the drama series Gunsmoke was sometimes given to villains whom the heroes wanted out of Dodge City, Kansas.

tag: p

text: Get Outta Dodge was the first album with new bassist Tom Kennedy, who replaced Graham Evans.

text: The album was a Juno Award nominee for Best Alternative Album at the Juno Awards of 1998.[1]

text: Track listing[edit]

text: All songs written by Brent J. Cooper, Tom Kennedy and Richie Lazarowich, except where noted.

text:
"What a Way to Run a Railroad"
"Interstate Death Toll"
"Shadow of the Apache"
"Smartbomb" (Cooper/Evans/Lazarowich)
"Get Outta Dodge" (Cooper/Evans/Lazarowich)
"Night of the Iguana"
"The Lonely Bull" (Sol Lake)

tag: ol


document_title: New Hampshire (poetry collection)

question_text: when was looking for a sunset bird in winter written

text: New Hampshire (poetry collection)

text: New Hampshire is a 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of poems written by Robert Frost.[1] The book included several of Frost's most well-known poems, including "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening",[2] "Nothing Gold Can Stay"[3] and "Fire and Ice".[4] Illustrations for the collection were provided by Frost's friend, woodcut artist J. J. Lankes.[2]

text: Poems[edit]

text:
"New Hampshire"
"A Star in a Stone-Boat"
"The Census-Taker"
"The Star-Splitter"
"Maple"
"The Ax-Helve"
"The Grinderman"
"Paul's Wife"
"Gordon Brown"
"Wild Grapes"
"Place for a Third"
"Two Witches"
"An Empty Threat"
"A Fountain, a Bottle, a Donkey's Ears, and Some Books"
"I Will Sing You One-O"
"Fragmentary Blue"
"Fire and Ice"
"In a Disused Graveyard"
"Dust of Snow"
"To E.T."
"Nothing Gold Can Stay"
"The Runaway"
"The Aim Was Song"
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
"For Once, Then, Something"
"She was like chewing glass"
"Blue-Butterfly Day"
"The Onset"
"To Earthward"
"Good-by and Keep Cold"
"The Mill"
"Two Look at Two"
"Not to Keep"
"A Brook in the City"
"The Kitchen Chimney"
"Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter"
"A Boundless Moment"
"Evening in a Sugar Orchard"
"Gathering Leaves"
"The Valley's Singing Day"
"Misgiving"
"A Hillside Thaw"
"Plowmen"
"On a Tree Fallen Across the Road"
"Our Singing Strength"
"The Lockless Door"
"The Need of Being Versed in Country Things"

tag: ul


document_title: Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India

question_text: who is the chief economic advisor of india

text:
Chief Economic Adviser of Government of India

Emblem of India

Incumbent
Arvind Subramanian

Residence
North Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi

Appointer
Minister of Finance

Succession
Siddharth Tiwari

text: The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) is the economic advisor to the Government of India. The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service. The CEA is under the direct charge of the Minister of Finance.[1][2][3]

text: List of CEAs[edit]

text:
No
Name
Portrait
Term of office

1
JJ Anjaria

1956
1961

2
IG Patel

1961
1963

IG Patel

1965
1967

3
VK Ramaswamy

1967
1969

4
Ashok Mitra

1970
1972

5
Manmohan Singh

1972
1976

6
RM Honavar

1977
1980

7
Bimal Jalan

1981
1988

8
Nitin Desai

1988
1990

9
Deepak Nayyar

1990
1991

10
Shankar Acharya

1993
2001

11
Rakesh Mohan

2001
2002

12
Ashok K Lahiri

2002
2007

13
Arvind Virmani

2007
2009

14
Kaushik Basu

Dec 2009
July 2012

15
Raghuram Rajan

10 August 2012
4 September 2013

16
Arvind Subramanian

16 October 2014
Incumbent


document_title: Slave to the Rhythm (Michael Jackson song)

question_text: when did slave to the rhythm come out

question_tokens: when did slave to the rhythm come out

text: Background and leak[edit]

text: The song was written and recorded in 1991, with L.A. Reid and Babyface during sessions for the Dangerous album,[4] but didn't make the final cut. In 2010, a version of the song remixed by Tricky Stewart was leaked. This remix remains unreleased officially, but a snippet was played on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in the weeks before the release of Xscape. In 2013, another version of the song leaked (produced by Max Methods the Michael Jackson Estate had not authorized release of this recording, and has since made attempts to remove the song from as many sites and YouTube channels as possible.

text: Release[edit]

text: In February 2014, Sony and Jackson's estate announced a partnership with Sony Mobile that saw the release of an ad incorporating a new version of the track "Slave to the Rhythm", which had been confirmed as one of the album tracks. The Re-tooled Version is produced by Timbaland and J-Roc.[5] The commercial advertisement was for Sony Mobile's Xperia Z2 mobile phone.[6] Both Xperia Z2 and M2 come with "Slave to the Rhythm" while users can download the rest of the album [7] The original version is found in the deluxe edition of the Xscape album.

text: Live performance[edit]

text: On May 18, 2014, a Pepper's ghost (incorrectly referred to as a hologram[8]) illusion of Michael Jackson performed "Slave to the Rhythm", for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. The selection of the song "Slave to the Rhythm" for the performance was made in late 2013.

text: The Talauega brothers, Rich and Tone, were brought on right after New Year's Day, and they started to draw up dance moves for Jackson and for the other dancers in the film. The brothers' involvement with Jackson dates back to the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards; they also were backup dancers for the HIStory World Tour in 1997. Jamie King was brought in to direct the video, which was produced by Pulse Evolution and Tricycle Logic.[9]

text: A day after the coverage, the live performance of "Slave to the Rhythm" was uploaded to Michael Jackson's VEVO YouTube Channel.[10] Among Jackson's fans, reception of the performance has been mixed; some fans believe that an impersonator was used.[11]

text: Charts[edit]

text:
Chart (2014)
Peak
position

Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12]
91

France (SNEP)[13]
119

Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14]
48

South Korea International Songs (Gaon)[15]
4

UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16]
98

US Billboard Hot 100[17]
45

US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[18]
12


document_title: Real Steel

question_text: who wins the final fight in real steel

question_tokens: who wins the final fight in real steel

text: Real Steel

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 2020, human boxers are replaced by robots. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a former boxer, owns "Ambush", but loses it in a fight against a bull belonging to promoter and carnival owner Ricky (Kevin Durand), who rigged the fight to mess with Charlie as he sees him as a joke, partially because he beat him up the last time they competed for bailing on the bet. Having made a bet that Ambush would win as a result, Charlie now has a debt to Ricky that he can't pay—which he runs out on.

text: After the fight, Charlie learns that his ex-girlfriend died and he must attend a hearing deciding the future of their son, Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo), whom Charlie has had almost zero contact with and complete apathy towards since he was born. There, Max's aunt, Debra (Hope Davis), and her wealthy husband, Marvin (James Rebhorn), request full custody, which Charlie concedes for $100,000, half in advance, on the condition that Charlie retains Max for three months while they are on vacation and the other half when they return. Thereupon, Charlie, Max, and Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), the daughter of Charlie's former boxing coach, acquire the once-famous "Noisy Boy", but it is destroyed in a subsequent fight against "Midas". As he and Charlie attempt to scavenge parts to make a new robot from a junkyard, Max discovers "Atom", an obsolete but intact sparring robot designed to withstand severe damage, that is capable of mirroring opponent and handler movements and storing them in its memory due to its rare "shadow function".

text: At Max's behest, Charlie pits Atom against "Metro", whom Atom overcomes. Max programs Noisy Boy's vocal-respond controls in Atom, and convinces Charlie to help him with Atom's fighting move memory, resulting in a series of victories and culminating to being offered a fight in World Robot Boxing against national champion "Twin Cities". After reaching the arena, the owner of global champion "Zeus" offers to buy Atom, which Max instantly rejects. Charlie disagrees, but eventually takes Max's side. The fight starts with Atom on the attack, but Twin Cities easily takes the offensive and corners Atom. While their opponent has no blind spot, Charlie notices a hitch whenever Twin Cities throws a right jab. Using this, Charlie is able to get Atom out of the corner and eventually win by knockout. Elated by their success, Max challenges Zeus, publicly, with the audience squarely on their side. After the fight, Ricky and his two henchmen ambush Charlie for bailing earlier and rob them of their winnings, prompting Charlie to return Max to Debra.

text: This upsets Max, and when Charlie tries to convince him that living without him is better for Max, Max says he always wanted Charlie to fight for him and be there as a father. After Max leaves, Charlie returns to Bailey. While talking with her about the events, the two kiss, revealing their attraction to each other. Persuaded by Bailey, Charlie arranges the challenge offered by Max and convinces Debra to allow Max to witness the fight.

text: Zeus starts the fight by knocking Atom down with its first punch, but Atom gets up, and Zeus continues its assault, knocking Atom down multiple times, but each time Atom gets back up, and eventually is able to land its first punch, a right uppercut. Atom survives the first round, stunning the audience. Ricky, who had made a bet with a friend of Charlie's of $100,000 that Atom would not last the round, tries to slip away, but is cornered by the fight's bookmakers. The two opponents go back and forth throughout the fight, Atom landing multiple punches but also getting knocked down many times, getting back up for each of them. Late in the fourth round, Atom's vocal-respond controls are damaged, forcing Charlie to use its "shadow function" to make it mimic his boxing skills. This, and the fact that Zeus starts running out of power from its constant offense, tip the odds in Atom's favor, forcing Zeus' programmer to manually control it, and Max and Bailey both watch Charlie doing what he was meant to do, and are touched by seeing him literally fighting for his son. Zeus gets a sound beating, once even hitting the ground and barely avoiding losing by knockout, but survives the final round and wins the match by the judges' decision. The technologically superior machine remains undefeated, but with the humiliation of being fought to a near-loss, to which Atom is hailed the "People's Champion".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton
Dakota Goyo as Max Kenton
Evangeline Lilly as Bailey Tallet
Anthony Mackie as Finn
Olga Fonda as Farra Lemkova
Karl Yune as Tak Mashido
Kevin Durand as Ricky
Hope Davis as Aunt Debra
James Rebhorn as Marvin
Gregory Sims as Bill Panner
Atom the Junkyard Dog as Atom

text: Production[edit]

text: Based on Richard Matheson's 1956 short story "Steel."[5] The original screenplay was written by Dan Gilroy and was purchased by DreamWorks for $850,000 in 2003 or 2005 (sources differ).[5][6] The project was one of 17 that DreamWorks took from Paramount Pictures when they split in 2008.[5] Director Peter Berg expressed interest in the project in mid-2009 but went no further.[6] Levy was attached to the project in September 2009,[7] and Jackman was cast in the starring role in November for a $9 million fee.[8] In the same month, Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider at DreamWorks greenlit the project.[5] Les Bohem and Jeremy Leven had worked on Gilroy's screenplay, but in 2009 John Gatins was working on a new draft.[6] When Levy joined the project, he worked with Gatins to revise the screenplay,[9] spending a total of six weeks fine-tuning the script. Advertising company FIVE33 did a two-hundred page "bible" about robot boxing. Levy said he was invited by Spielberg and Snider while finishing Date Night, and while the director initially considered Real Steel to have "a crazy premise," he accepted after reading the script and feeling it could be "a really humanistic sports drama."[10]

text: Real Steel had a production budget of $110 million.[2] Levy chose to set the film in state fairs and other "old-fashioned" Americana settings that would exude nostalgia and create a warm tone for the film's father-son story.[11] There was also an attempt for the scenery to blend in new and old technology.[10] Filming began in June 2010,[12] and ended by October 15, 2010.[13] Locations include areas around Detroit, Michigan, and across the state,[14] including at the Renaissance Center, the Cobo Arena, the Detroit Fire Department headquarters, the Russell Industrial Center, the Ingham County Courthouse in Mason, Michigan, the Leslie Michigan Railroad Depot, the former Belle Isle Zoo, and the Highland Park Ford Plant.[15]

text: Jason Matthews of Legacy Effects, successor to Stan Winston Studios, was hired to turn production designer Tom Meyer's robot designs into practical animatronic props. He said, "We have 26-and-a-half total live-action robots that were made for this film. They all have hydraulic neck controls. Atom has RC [radio-controlled] hands as well."[16] According to Jackman, executive producer Spielberg "actually said to Shawn, 'You should really have real elements where you can.' ... Basically if they're not walking or fighting, that's a real robot."[17] Levy added that Spielberg gave the example of Jurassic Park, where Winston's animatronic dinosaurs "got a better performance from the actors, as they were seeing something real, and gave the visual effects team an idea of what it would look like." As Real Steel was not based on a toy, Meyer said that "there was no guideline" for the robots, and each was designed from scratch, with an attempt to put "different personality and aesthetics," according to Levy. In Atom's case, it tried to have a more humanizing design to be an "everyman" who could attract the audience's sympathy and serve as a proxy to the viewer, with a fencing mask that Meyer explained served to show "his identity was a bit hidden, so you have to work harder to get to see him."[18] Executive producer Robert Zemeckis added that the mask "became a screen so we can project what we want on Atom's face." Damage was added to the robots' decoration to show how they were machines worn out by intense battles.[10]

text: For scenes when computer-generated robots brawl, "simulcam" motion capture technology, developed for the film Avatar, was used. As Levy described the process, "[Y]ou're not only capturing the fighting of live human fighters, but you're able to take that and see it converted to [CGI] robots on a screen instantaneously. Simulcam puts the robots in the ring in real time, so you are operating your shots to the fight, whereas even three, four years ago, you used to operate to empty frames, just guessing at what stuff was going to look like."[19] Boxing hall-of-famer Sugar Ray Leonard was an adviser for these scenes[11] and gave Jackman boxing lessons so his moves would be more natural.[20]

text: Release[edit]

text: Real Steel had its world premiere on September 6, 2011, in Paris at the Le Grand Rex.[21] The film had its United States premiere on October 2, 2011, in Los Angeles at the Gibson Amphitheatre.[22] It was commercially released in Australia on October 6, 2011,[23] followed by the United States and Canada on October 7, 2011. Its U.S. release, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures,[24] was originally scheduled for November 18, 2011,[12] but it was moved earlier to avoid competition with the first part of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.[25] The film was released in 3,440 theaters in the United States and Canada,[26] including 270 IMAX screenings. There were also over 100 IMAX screenings in territories outside the United States and Canada, with 62 screenings on October 7.[27]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: DreamWorks released the first trailer for Real Steel in December 2010 and was attached to Tron: Legacy.[28] In May 2011, DreamWorks released a second trailer. While the film features boxing robots, Levy said he wanted to show in the trailer "the father-son drama, the emotion Americana of it". He said, "We are very much the robo-boxing movie, but that's one piece of a broader spectrum."[29] In addition to marketing trailers and posters, DreamWorks enlisted the British advertising company Five33 to build large physical displays representing the film as it had done for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.[30] The studio also collaborated with Virgin America to name one of their Airbus A320s after the film, and one of the film's robots is pictured on its fuselage.[31] On September 19, Jackman appeared on the weekly sports entertainment program WWE Raw to promote the film.[32] In addition to Jackman making an appearance on the show, WWE named Crystal Method's "Make Some Noise" from the film's soundtrack as the official theme song for their returning PPV, Vengeance.

text: Jakks Pacific released a toy line with action figures based on Atom, Zeus, Noisy Boy, Midas and Twin Cities.[citation needed] The company has also released a one-on-one, playset fighting game with robots in a ring.[33] ThreeA released a line of high-end sixth-scale figures, as adapted by Australian artist Ashley Wood, based on Ambush, Atom, Midas, and Noisy Boy.

text: Jump Games released a fighting video game based on the film for Android and iOS devices,[34] and Yuke's made a game for the PS3 and Xbox 360.[35]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and both high-definition and standard-definition digital download on January 24, 2012, from Touchstone Home Entertainment. Additional material includes Disney Second Screen; deleted and extended scenes with introductions by director Levy; and a profile of film consultant Sugar Ray Leonard.[36][37]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Real Steel earned $85,468,508 in North America, and $213,800,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $299,268,508.[3] It had a worldwide opening of $49.4 million.[38] In North America, it topped the box office with $8.5 million on its opening day and $27.3 million in total on its opening weekend, claiming the number one spot, ahead of the other new nationwide release (The Ides of March) and all holdovers.[39] It managed first-place debuts in 11 countries including Hugh Jackman's native Australia ($4.2 million).[40]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Real Steel received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives a rating of 59% based on reviews from 211 critics, with a rating average of 5.9 out of 10. The website's consensus is, "Silly premise notwithstanding, this is a well-made Hollywood movie: Thrilling and exciting action with just enough characterization."[41] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a rating score of 56, based on 34 reviews.[42] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore during the opening weekend gave the film a grade A, on a scale from A plus to F.[43]

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film 3 stars out of 4, saying, "Real Steel is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, it has a compelling plot. Sometimes you go into a movie with low expectations and are pleasantly surprised."[44] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A-, saying director Levy "makes good use of his specialized skill in blending people and computer-made imaginary things into one lively, emotionally satisfying story".[45]

text: Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "Though the premise of fighting robots does seem a plausible and intriguing extension of the contemporary WWE world, Real Steel is hampered by leaden, clichéd moments in which a stubborn boy teaches his childish father a valuable lesson."[46] James White of the UK magazine Empire gave the film 3 of 5 stars, saying, "Rocky with robots? It's not quite in Balboa's weight class, but Real Steel at least has some heft. There's barely a story beat among the beat-downs that you won't expect, and sometimes the saccharine gets in the way of the spectacle, but on the whole this is enjoyable family entertainment."[47]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Nominee
Category
Result

People's Choice Awards
Hugh Jackman
Favorite Action Movie Star
Won

Young Artist Award[48]
Dakota Goyo
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor
Won

Saturn Award
Best Performance by a Young Actor
Nominated

Academy Awards
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, and Swen Gillberg
Best Visual Effects
Nominated

text: Music[edit]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: Real Steel's soundtrack consists of 13 tracks featuring artists including Tom Morello, Eminem, Royce da 5'9" (Bad Meets Evil), Yelawolf, 50 Cent, Limp Bizkit and Foo Fighters. Levy, a fan of The Crystal Method, invited that duo to contribute to the soundtrack; they recorded two new songs for it after viewing a rough cut of the film.[10]

text:
[show]Real Steel - Music From The Motion Picture[49]

No.
Title
Music
Length

1.
"Fast Lane"
Bad Meets Evil
4:12

2.
"Here's A Little Something For Ya"
Beastie Boys
3:09

3.
"Miss The Misery"
Foo Fighters
4:32

4.
"The Enforcer"
50 Cent
3:25

5.
"Make Some Noise (Put 'em Up)"
The Crystal Method
3:27

6.
"'Till I Collapse"
Eminem
4:59

7.
"One Man Army"
The Prodigy
4:15

8.
"Give It A Go"
Timbaland, Veronica
4:20

9.
"The Midas Touch"
Tom Morello
3:28

10.
"Why Try"
Limp Bizkit
2:53

11.
"Torture"
Rival Sons
3:37

12.
"All My Days"
Alexi Murdoch
4:56

13.
"Kenton"
Danny Elfman
1:40

Total length:
0:48:53

text: Score[edit]

text: The score album, "Real Steel: Original Motion Picture Score", consists of 19 tracks composed by Danny Elfman, and was released on November 1, 2011, in the US. Levy considered Elfman one of the few composers who could do a score similar to that of the Rocky franchise, alternating guitar-based ambient music and songs with a full orchestra.[10]

text: All music composed by Danny Elfman.

text:
[show]Real Steel[50]

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Charlie Trains Atom"
1:59

2.
"On The Move"
2:39

3.
"Into The Zoo"
1:02

4.
"Why We're Here (feat. vocal by Poe)"
0:55

5.
"Meet Atom"
3:17

6.
"It's Your Choice"
1:28

7.
"Safe With Me"
2:57

8.
"Atom Versus Twin Cities"
3:12

9.
"...For A Kiss"
0:56

10.
"Get In The Truck"
1:12

11.
"Bonding"
2:01

12.
"Twin Cities' Intro"
1:20

13.
"Parkway Motel (feat. vocal by Poe)"
1:47

14.
"This Is A Brawl"
1:48

15.
"You Deserve Better"
4:02

16.
"Into The Ring"
1:12

17.
"Taking A Beating"
1:33

18.
"Final Round"
6:53

19.
"People's Champion"
2:06

Total length:
0:42:19


document_title: Way Down in the Hole

question_text: who sings the wire season 5 theme song

question_tokens: who sings the wire season 5 theme song

text: Way Down in the Hole

text:
"Way Down in the Hole"

Song by Tom Waits

from the album Franks Wild Years

Length
3:30

Songwriter(s)
Tom Waits

text: "Way Down in the Hole" is a song written by the singer-songwriter Tom Waits. It was included on his 1987 album Franks Wild Years, which was later made into a stage production.

text: The song was used as the theme for HBO's The Wire.[1] A different recording was used each season. Versions, in series order, were recorded by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe, and Steve Earle. Season four's version, performed by the Baltimore teenagers Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse, was arranged and recorded specifically for the show.[2] An extended version of the Blind Boys of Alabama recording was played over a montage in the series finale.