- Most of the oldest cities in Europe have been constructed in a similar way, a castle on a hill and a town spreading out near the hill and the castle. Castle of course has been surrounded by the defensive walls and towers, as has been the town too. Krakow in this sense is no exception and it's not an exception also in the fact, that it has destroyed most of the historical walls and towers that surrounded the city, to make way to the modern age. 

- The area of Krakow has been settled at least from the Stone Age, but in the year 1038 it became the capital of Poland. After gaining this prestige position as a capital of the nation, the fortification effort was started in 13th century, when the construction of the city walls and towers began.

- The walls were even as high as ten meters and 2,5 meters thick. Along with these massive walls, there was a second line of walls, which was a bit lower and went alongside with the bigger walls. Both of these walls were additionally protected by a 22 meters wide moat, which was eight meters deep. 

- In the early part of the 19th century the demolition of the city walls was started, as they had lost all of their meaning as a defensive structures. Also there was a constant need to have new roads leading to the city and out from it, which also was one major factor to start tearing down the walls. Only three towers, along with the main gate to the city, Brama Florianska, survived the demolition and are still standing today. The walls that are going between the towers, were left intact also, along with the old city arsenal and the huge barbican, which was the mightiest in Europe.

- Other than that, everything else is gone and Krakow follows the same pattern as most of the other cities in Europe, where the walls and towers has been destroyed. This most likely is the busiest place in Krakow and no matter how hard you would like to hear the past whispering to you here, it's just not unfortunately possible...

- The main gate of Great Barbican leading inside the barbican and finally away from the city. Behind me is the Brama Florianska gate which lead to the city itself. Along this road, the King's and Queen's walked towards the city gate to enter the town and make their way towards the Wawel Hill, where the royal castle was located.

- The Great Barbican was the mightiest in Europe with three meter thick walls and covering a total space of 24,4 meters in diameter. If the enemy would have tried to cross the 30 meter wide moat, the defenders would have opened fire from the 130 loopholes, which were arranged in four rows. If for some reason the attack would have succeeded and the attacker would have managed to enter the barbican, they would have been trapped inside of it and subjected to firing from all sides by the muskets, archers and cannons. The connection to the city gate, Brama Florianska, was protected by a walled passage and a bascule bridge.