Totallympics Annual International Song Contest 2021

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Now it's time to visit some well known/important places in Kraków, first one is...

 

Saint Mary’s Basilica (Kościół Mariacki in Polish) is a Brick Gothic church adjacent to the Main Market Square. Built in the 14th century, its foundations date back to the early 13th century and serve as one of the best examples of Polish Gothic architecture. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz). In 1978 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Historic Centre of Kraków.

 

 

On every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of Saint Mary's two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate a famous 13th century trumpeter who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before a Mongol attack on the city. 

 

Saint Mary's Basilica also served as an architectural model for many of the churches that were built by the Polish diaspora abroad, particularly those like Saint Michael's and Saint John Cantius in Chicago, designed in the Polish Cathedral style.

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Another important place to see is....

 

 

The Wawel Royal Castle is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard. The castle, being one of the largest in Poland, represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in the country.

 

The castle is part of a fortified architectural complex erected atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River, at an altitude of 228 metres above sea level. The complex consists of numerous buildings of great historical and national importance, including the Wawel Cathedral where Polish monarchs were crowned and buried. Some of Wawel's oldest stone buildings can be traced back to 970 AD, in addition to the earliest examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Poland. The current castle was built in the 14th-century, and expanded over the next hundreds of years. In 1978 Wawel was declared the first World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Kraków.

 

For centuries the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood, Wawel Castle is now one of the country's premier art museums. Established in 1930, the museum encompasses ten curatorial departments responsible for collections of paintings, including an important collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, prints, sculpture, textiles, among them the Sigismund II Augustus tapestry collection, goldsmith's work, arms and armor, ceramics, Meissen porcelain, and period furniture. The museum's holdings in oriental art include the largest collection of Ottoman tents in Europe. With seven specialized conservation studios, the museum is also an important center for the conservation of works of art.

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Another place worth to visit when you are in Kraków is....

 

 

The Kraków Cloth Hall (Sukiennice in Polish), dates to the Renaissance and is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the main market square in the Kraków Old Town, which since 1978 has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

It was once a major centre of international trade. Travelling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter. During its golden age in the 15th century, the hall was the source of a variety of exotic imports from the east – spices, silk, leather and wax – while Kraków itself exported textiles, lead, and salt from the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

 

In the immediate vicinity of the hall, the Great Weigh House and the Small Weigh House existed until the 19th century. Other, similar cloth halls have existed in other Polish as well as other European cities such as in Ypres, Belgium; Braunschweig, and in Leeds, England.

 

Kraków was Poland's capital city and was among the largest cities in Europe already from before the time of the Renaissance. However, its decline started with the move of the capital to Warsaw at the end of the 16th century. The city's decline was hastened by wars and politics leading to the Partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century. By the time of the architectural restoration proposed for the cloth hall in 1870 under Austrian rule, much of the historic city center was decrepit. A change in political and economic fortunes for the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ushered in a revival due to newly established Legislative Assembly or Sejm of the Land. The successful renovation of the Cloth Hall, based on a design by Tomasz Pryliński and supervised by Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz, Sejm Marshal, was one of the most notable achievements of this period.

 

The hall has hosted many distinguished guests over the centuries and is still used to entertain monarchs and dignitaries, such as Charles, Prince of Wales and Emperor Akihito of Japan, who was welcomed here in 2002. In the past, balls were held here, most notably after Prince Józef Poniatowski had briefly liberated the city from the Austrians in 1809. Aside from its history and cultural value, the hall still is still used as a center of commerce.

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There is plenty other places to see there, but time is running, it's reason why now we will present the last one worth to see place, about which our Danish friends mentions at the beginning of the thread, a place bit away from main part of Kraków.

 

 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine (Kopalnia soli Wieliczka), in the town of Wieliczka, southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area.

 

From Neolithic times, sodium chloride (table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. Throughout its history, the royal salt mine was operated by the Żupy Krakowskie (Kraków Salt Mines) company.

 

Due to falling salt prices and mine flooding, commercial salt mining was discontinued in 1996.

 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is now an official Monument of History and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.

 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine reaches a depth of 327 meters, and extends via horizontal passages and chambers for over 287 kilometers (178 miles). The rock salt is naturally of varying shades of grey, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white crystalline substance that might be expected.

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Now it's time to listen some class, always good, Polish songs

 

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We are slowly approaching to end of the ceremony, so, emotions are rising before Grand Final which will take place tomorrow, Mariah Carey knows something about it  It's time to listen TISC Anthem!

 

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But besides Mariah Carey's Emotions I can't forgot remind you the best (to date) Polish entry at TISC. Emotions of Peter and Jacob.

 

[dcro 10,182]

4 minutes ago, rybak said:

We are slowly approaching end of the ceremony, so, emotions are rising before Grand Final which will take place tomorrow, Mariah Carey knows something about it  It's time to listen TISC Anthem!

Shout-out to @Werloc who responded that time to @bestmen with this song. Everything else is history.

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It's oaths time! Oaths will be given with this art in the background:

 

 

Competitors' Oath

Weird Genius ft. Sara Fajira,  Indonesia

In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in

this Contest, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern TISC

- committing ourselves to a competition that values respect and the

true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of music and the honor of our nations!

 

 

Jury Members' Oath

@mrv86,  Mexico

In the name of all the jury members, I promise that we shall adjudicate

in our deliberations at this Contest with complete impartiality, respecting and

abiding by the rules which govern TISC in the true spirit of sportsmanship!

 

 

Hosts' Oath

@rybak,  Poland

I promise that I shall organize this Contest, respecting and abiding by the rules

that govern TISC - committing myself to overseeing a competition that values

respect and promotes the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of

music and the honor of our nations!

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It's time for the penultimate act.

 

Last Annual winner Shawn Mendes just arrived to Tauron Arena Kraków where the Grand Final will take place as a special guest!