St. Mary's Basilica

What makes it special

The altar is nearly 13 metres high and has five wings: a frame of hard oak, a larch background and figures in soft linden. The open centre shows the death of the Virgin Mary, known as the Dormition.

The reliefs on the wings show scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Below the wings, the base panel carries the Tree of Jesse, the ancestors of Christ, so look down as well as up. Veit Stoss finished the altar in 1489, and it was once opened only on major Church feasts.

Turn to the windows next. Only three keep their medieval glass; the rest is 19th-century work by artists including Stanisław Wyspiański and Józef Mehoffer.

Outside, the taller north tower is known as the Bugle Call Tower. Every hour a trumpeter plays the Hejnał from a window 54 metres up. The tune breaks off mid-phrase in memory of a watchman said to have been shot while sounding an alarm.

Visiting

Two entrances serve the church, and only the south one is for visitors. The main door on the Market Square leads to the area kept for prayer, confession and adoration, which is free to enter but not part of the visit.

Buy your ticket first at the visitor desk on Mariacki Square, where students and seniors pay a reduced rate. Then walk round to the south entrance, which opens to visitors at 11:30 from Monday to Saturday.

Take a place in the nave before 11:50, when the wings are opened; once open, they stay open until closing. On Sundays and holidays the times differ, so ask at the desk when the altar will be opened that day. On some feast days the altar is already open for the liturgy, with no opening to wait for.

Keep silent inside, and allow about an hour for the altar, the side chapels and the windows.

From May to October you can add the Bugle Call Tower. Its tickets are sold for that day only at the same desk, for small groups that go up every half hour, and its entrance is on the Floriańska Street side.

Tips

Cover your shoulders and knees before you go in, and take your hat off inside. If the tower is part of your plan, buy that ticket at the desk first thing, because in high season the day's slots can sell out by noon.

For the trumpet call, stand in the square a quarter of an hour before the hour to get a clear view of the tower window. Photograph the altar from the central aisle with a higher ISO setting, since flash and tripods are not allowed. If you would rather hear the church in use, the regular Masses are free to join.