Kraków has grown from a stone-age settlement to one of the largest and most important cities in Poland. Until 1795, Kraków was the official capital of Poland (now Warsaw is the capital). Spectacular reminders of the prehistoric times of Kraków are two mounds called Krakus and Wanda (the names of a legendary king Krak and his daughter). Similarly to other ancient structures such as Stonehenge in the UK, the mounds are believed to be constructed with astronomy and religious beliefs in mind. The present old town was located in 1257 based on Magdeburg law, and since then it was growing and constantly being rebuilt to a large urban system of relatively small buildings and narrow streets, dotted with churches and small monasteries. The very center of Kraków (now the Main Square) was dedicated to a trading market, culminating in the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), now one of the architectonic attractions of Kraków. The Kraków market was once an important distribution hub for salt trading, with the nearby royal Wieliczka and Bochnia mines being the main source of this precious commodity. Now, visits to Kraków are usually combined with a one-day trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, the UNESCO world heritage.  
 Kraków was many times plundered by alien armies, forcing its citizens to surround the city with massive walls connected to a modern (at that times) system of fortifications and defensive barriers. One of them, a circular fortified outpost called the Barbican, is one of the few such structures in the world that survived until the present. The city walls were removed in the 19th century to manage the city (now the walls are replaced by a circular green area called Planty), but their parts with the St. Florians gate still face the barbican. The gate was once the main entrance to the city, and it starts the so-called Royal Road, which travels across the old town, along Florianska street, The Main Square, and along Grodzka street, to the Royal Castle on the Wawel hill (note, in Polish you pronounce W as V in English). The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally important sites in Poland. It used to be the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood. Some also believe that the cave that goes deep into the Wawel hill (you can visit the cave) was once the home of a gigantic endemic predator called Smok Wawelski (eng. Wawel Dragon).
The modern Kraków is much larger than the old town, and it has grown from assimilation of surrounding villages and towns. The remains of this expansion are small Christian shrines that can be unexpectedly encountered throughout Kraków or distinct districts of the city that look like separate towns (the old Jewish town called Kazimierz, the forgotten Podgórze, or a Stalin-style Nowa Huta). In this way, a walk in Kraków crosses Polish history together with distinct places once inhabited by completely different communities.