Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków tickets: which one to buy

The Franciscan church stands across the street from the bishop's palace in Krakow, five minutes from the main square, and it is free to enter. There is nothing to book. Walking tours of the old town include it, usually briefly, and the tours that concentrate on Krakow's art nouveau go into it properly, which is the right approach: the reason to come is the decorative scheme by Stanislaw Wyspianski, who was a painter, playwright and designer and the central figure of the Young Poland movement.

Tours about John Paul II also stop here, since the palace opposite was his residence and he prayed in this church regularly; his pew is marked. The cloister, entered separately and usually open, holds a gallery of bishops' portraits. The church closes during services, which are frequent, and photography is restricted. The cloister entrance is around the corner from the main door and is easy to miss.

Visiting Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków: what to see

The Franciscans arrived in the thirteenth century and their church was consecrated before 1269, one of the first tall brick buildings in the city. Mongol invasions, fires and rebuilding have left little of the medieval fabric visible, and what dominates now is the work of the 1890s. Wyspianski covered the walls and vaults with stylised plant forms, flowers and geometric borders in strong colours, and filled the windows with stained glass of his own design.

The great west window shows God the Father at the moment of creation, an enormous figure in swirling drapery with the words let it be beneath, and it is among the most powerful pieces of stained glass made anywhere in that period. Other windows show the elements and a series of saints. The Gothic cloister beside the church keeps fifteenth-century wall paintings and the portrait gallery of Krakow bishops. A chapel of the Passion off the north aisle holds a confraternity's black-draped interior used in Lent.

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków opening hours and the best time to go

Stained glass needs afternoon light from the west, so the great window is at its best in the second half of the day and is disappointing on a grey morning. The church is open through the day and closed to visitors during mass. Krakow's peak is summer and the Christmas market in December, when the square nearby is full from midday. Easter and the anniversary of the pope's death in early April bring crowds to this street in particular.

The old town is flat and compact, with the castle ten minutes south and the Jewish quarter fifteen minutes beyond that. Winter afternoons are short and cold, but the interiors are warm and well lit. Allow half an hour in the church and twenty minutes in the cloister. Evening organ recitals are held in summer and the west window is lit from outside for them.