COLLEGIUM MAIUS AND JAGELLONIAN UNIVERSITY

Founded by King Casimir the Great in 1364 with the name Academia Croviensis (Academy of Krakow), the Jagiellonian University was the second largest university in Central Europe, after Prague. Falling into decline with the death of the king, it was renovated around 1390 and gained the status of a university it did not have before (it did not have a chair of theology, at the time the noblest knowledge and privilege granted by the pope, but then kept its name of Kraków Academy until 1818) by King Władisław Jagełło, who bought and formed the Collegium Maius, "the great college." The university has buildings all over the city center, so you'll often see students milling from one street to another, between classes.

All around the Collegium Maius stand the buildings of the Jagiellonian University. Opposite the Collegium Maius is the Collegium Kołłataja and, further south, the Collegium Minus. In front of the University Church of St. Anne is the Collegium Nowodworski (ul. św. Anny 12). Here studied King Jan III Sobieski, painters Jan Matejko and Stanisław Wyspiański and writer Joseph Conrad. Continuing down Gołębia Street, at n. 24, the Collegium Novum houses the neo-Gothic seat of the university (you can't get in, or you have to dodge the guards and play student). Opposite it stands the Collegium Witkowskiego and a statue of Copernicus.

The Gothic building of the Collegium Maius now houses the Jagiellonian University Museum with two collections, one historical and the other scientific. The historical section leads to a large hall of honor decorated with portraits of its most prestigious students such as Nicolaus Copernicus, King Jan III Sobieski, anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, and Karol Wojtyła. One then visits the Treasury Rooms and the Great Hall, the seat of great university ceremonies. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the oldest globe in the world, dated 1510, on which America is marked "newly discovered country." The scientific collection includes a series of instruments that would have been used by Nicolaus Copernicus.

The courtyard of the Collegium Maius is worth a visit. Every day at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00, one can watch the brief musical ride of the figures animated by the clock mechanism above the Golden Gate and representing the personalities who played an important role in the history of the university.