Below the sunny squares of Poland’s royal capital lies a shadowy world of legends and fantasy, music and cabaret… vodka and beer. Nick Hodge is your guide as we delve deep into the five best cellar joints in Krakow.
Beelzebub comes in many guises and, according to local legend, the Dark One once lurked beneath Krakow’s Market Square. Besides being a midget, this fellow was clearly bad news for, as chroniclers recounted, he sported a treacherous mix of Spanish and German garb.
It’s not surprising that ye olde Cracovians were a little jittery about what was going on down under the cobbles, because the city boasts an entire subterranean kingdom, an agreeable hang-out for ghouls, gremlins and other gobblers of the soul. Most of the cellars were once ground floors, yet due to the repeated rebuilding of houses after fires, and the constant laying of new roads, they eventually disappeared beneath the earth’s surface.
Since the coming of the free market in 1989, these delightful dungeons have enjoyed a new lease of life. Entrepreneurs have resurrected the spaces as bars, galleries and even swimming pools in the case of a few swish hotels. A trip to Krakow would be incomplete without a saunter down into one of these caverns. But remember, steer clear of vertically-challenged chaps promising pots of gold, especially if they’re wearing German-Spanish togs….
Chimera
ul. Sw. Anny 3
www.chimera.com.pl
Galeria Przyrody
This is one more quiet spot before we up the tempo. “The Gallery of Nature” is a little off the beaten track but all the better for it. Descend the stairs and find yourself in Captain Nemo’s Cracovian pied-a-terre. This is a non-smoking venue, so no seaweed cigars from the Captain’s table. Still, the aquaria provide plenty of oceanic eye candy, and there’s a royal roster of teas on offer from all corners of the globe. A recent addition is an enticing range of bottled Belgian beers. All-in-all a perfect place to go for a quiet chinwag.
ul. Studencka 15
Łódź Kaliska
ul. Florianska 15
www.lodzkaliska.pl
Camelot
You won’t spot any knights here, nor holy grails for that matter. But it’s certainly worth going on a quest to track down this venue. As it goes, the ground floor cafe and the gallery above both merit medals, but let’s stick to the nether regions for now. Camelot has a beautifully restored medieval cellar, and at weekends you can catch top calibre concerts by some of Cracow’s finest acts. Jazz and Klezmer are regular grooves, and for Polish-speakers, legendary compere Kazimierz Madej leads the wittiest cabaret in town.
ul. Sw. Tomasza 17
www.lochcamelot.art.pl
Alchemia
ul. Estery 5
www.alchemia.com.pl