For one fleeting morning each December, Cracow's Main Market Square hosts a much-loved competition for the prize for the most fabulous Christmas Crib - 'Szopki' in Polish. Anyone is free to enter, and there are three prizes, each related to size, as well as separate awards for children.
These iridescent concoctions resemble the sort of castle that you might find in a Slavic fairy tale. They are covered in brightly coloured foil, and the designs themselves take details from Cracovian architecture - medieval towers, turrets and domes for example - as their inspiration. These are imaginatively fused together to create an original whole.
On the first Thursday of December, the competing cribs - some of which rise to over four foot in height - are placed on the ledges of the Adam Mickiewicz statue on the eastern side of the Market Square. By lunchtime they have been removed to the Historical Museum of Cracow on the other side of the Square. Within a couple of days, the winners are announced.
If you miss the the initial pageant then never fear. The competing cribs remain on display for another two months at the Historical Museum. This grand palace, which also boasts a magnificent Renaissance arcaded courtyard, is open every day during these months.
Whilst the competition itself was first held in 1937, the tradition of building cribs stretches much further back into Cracovian history. During the nineteenth century, masons regularly constructed the miniature castles as a means of earning a little extra money during the long Polish Winter. They would sell the cribs to the homes of wealthy Polish families.
The Szopki exhibition (pronounced 'shopkee') can be visited at the following address:
The Museum of the History of Krakow
(The Krzysztofory Palace)
Rynek Glowny 35
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