A hundred years ago, a wedding at this little manor house inspired one of the best-loved of all Polish plays, 'Wesele' (quite simply, 'The Wedding'). At that time Cracow's artists were head over heels for folk culture, which they hoped would be a rejuvenating force for Poland. This fascination often crossed over into amatory adventures with buxom country girls, and a handful of Poland's greatest artists ended up marrying country lasses. One of these was the owner of this house, the poet Lucjan Rydel. His friend Stanislaw Wyspianski created the fantastical, patriotically charged play 'Wesele' soon after the party. Today the house is still looked after by Rydel's descendants and it has a delightful collection of art and artefacts from the turn of the century. The house used to be in the countryside, but modernity has crept up and Rydlowka is now a 30 minute tram-ride from central Cracow.
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