Christmas Cribs and Christmas Market

Krakow’s ‘Szopka’ 
Christmas Cribs


Krakow’s famous ‘szopka’–pronounced ‘shopka’–Christmas cribs are portable theaters for traditional puppet Nativity plays. The ornate structures can be two meters high and three meters wide. Those colorful, ingenious, richly decorated and brightly illuminated extravaganzas take fantastic shapes inspired by Krakow’s architectural marvels, the bizarre spires of the church of Virgin Mary’s in the first place.

In the past the Christmas cribs were mostly works of Krakow masons in their idle weeks of the Polish rainy late autumn. Nowadays it is a pastime of many Krakow dwellers of all walks of life. And the city boasts several dynasties of Christmas-crib makers where two or three generations construct brand-new creches every year.

The Christmas Markets in the Old Town of Krakow attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from Poland and Europe every year. Browse the masterpieces made by Polish artists and craftsmen. Only during the Christmas season are these masterpieces available in the magic city of Krakow.