The permanent exhibition "Everyday Life and Commerce on Krakow's Main Square (thirteenth to eighteenth centuries)" presents various aspects of city life. On display are moveable relics of material culture, uncovered during archaeological digs all over the Square (e.g. objects of historical craftsmanship from the period of the eleventh to eighteenth centuries) enriched with realistic reconstructions which allow the visitor to travel back in time to the atmosphere of Krakow in the Middle Ages or the Age of Discovery. The stone remains of the oldest commercial buildings of incorporated Krakow, laying alongside medieval cobbles and rising over them the stone walls of the earliest building of the Kramy Bogate, a building which once stood neighbouring the first version of the Sukiennice; together these artefacts form a scenic and monumental picture of the development of the largest public commercial space in Europe - Krakow's Main Square.
The raw architecture of the five vaulted cellars of the Sukiennice (on the eastern side) is the site of the exhibition "Forum Polonorum - the Main Square in the History of the Polish Nation". In this part of the museum, separate from the other sections, visitors can encounter events connected with the Square that had a profound impact on the history of Poland and Europe. This part of the exhibition, referred to as the "time capsules", creates the illusion of travelling back in time thanks to the screening of dramatized films, and is enriched by the exhibition programme, which complements the subject presented. The "time capsules" bring viewers closer to the setbacks and triumphs, the tributes and traditions of Krakow, the Magdeburg Law, and the patriotic events which have taken place here (including the oath of Tadeusz Kościuszko on the Square and the Kościuszko Uprising, the great patriotic protests, and the restoration of independence in 1918).
The basic mission of the tourist route "Tracing the European Identity of Krakow - The Tourist Route Under the Main Square" is to fulfil an educational role. Through lectures, workshops, educational games and other such activities, the visitors to the route through the underground of the Main Square in Krakow will be able to deepen their knowledge of this unique and extraordinary place.
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