St. Florian's Gate - Royal Route

Royal Route

Kraków's Royal Road begins at St. Florian's Gate, and the gate is a terminating vista at its north end. Through it once entered kings and princes, foreign envoys and distinguished guests, and parades and coronation processions. They travelled up ulica Floriańska (St. Florian's Street) to the Main Market Square, and on up ulica Grodzka (Castle Street) to Wawel Castle.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the expanding city had largely outgrown the confines of the old city walls. The walls had been falling into disrepair for a hundred years due to lack of maintenance after the foreign Partitions of Poland. The stagnant moat fed by the Rudawa River was a dump for illegal garbage and posed health concerns for the city. Such dire circumstances inspired Emperor Franz I of Austro-Hungary to order the dismantling of the city walls. However, on January 13, 1817, Professor Feliks Radwański of Jagiellonian University managed to convince the Session of the Senate of the Republic of Kraków to legislate the partial preservation of the old fortifications—St. Florian's Gate and the adjoining barbican.