La Krakow Market Square it is the nerve center of the city and the largest medieval square in Europe. Its perimeter is dotted with cafes, restaurants and various shops.
In the center we find the old man Textile Market, which divides the square in two and is so called because in the past fabrics from all over the world were sold there, but which is currently home to many souvenir and local craft shops.
On one of the corners of Piazza del Mercato, you can see the beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria, flanked by two towers of different heights. From the highest tower, which once served as a watchtower, every day of the year and every hour, a trumpeter, in the direction of the four cardinal points, plays a melody abruptly interrupted in the middle of the bar four times, in memory of the sacrifice of a lookout who, in an attempt to warn the Krakowians of the impending invasion of the Tartars, was pierced in the throat by an arrow while sounding the alarm. This same melody, every day, at 12:00, is also broadcast by the Polish National Radio.
There is also another linked to the towers of the Basilica of Santa Maria legend. It is said that the towers were to have been built by two architect brothers, each by one of the two. The difference in height between the two towers would be due to one fierce competition between two. The elder of the brothers would have killed the younger, whose tower would have remained unfinished. Someone maintains that shortly afterwards, taken by remorse, the fratricide in turn took his own life. In memory of this episode, a rusty knife was hung from one of the arches of the building that houses the Textile Market.
