Nil est in
homine melius bona mente
Nothing is in man better than a good mind.
The house comes
from the 14th century. This building belongs to the John Paul II University.
Kanonicza 21
Procul este
profani
Keep away,
you profane ones.
The building comes
from the 16th century. The phrase is from 'Aeneid' (Aeneis VI,314) by Vergil.
These words were spoken by Sybilla.
The building comes
from 15th century. The restaurant 'Pod Nosem' is here. Above three windows
there are 3 maxims,
Fraude perit
virtus
Fraud power dies
The sentence comes
from Fasti by Ovid (II,227);
Nosce te ipsum
Know thyself
'Nosce te
ipsum' is a literal Greek translation
- γνωθι σεαυτόν [read gnothi seauton], which was the inscription at the temple
of Apollo in Delphi, then the Greek maxim became popular thanks to Socrates.
The Latin maxim was quoted by Cicero in the treaty 'Tusculanae
disputationes' (I, 22, 52) (Tusculan disputations).
Aurora musis
amica
Dawn is a friend to the Muses
The phrase was the
title of the couplet by John Christenius (1599-1672)
Mansuetioribus
Camoenis
To the Gracious Muses
The Hotel
'Copernicus' is here.
Kanonicza
18
The tenement house
comes from the 14th century. Above the windows there are 7 sentences. These
come from the works: Ovid, Cicero and Solo. Here is a collection of these
maxims:
Operosū ē cūctis placere
correct: Operosum est cunctis placere
Difficult to
please all.
Coscia mens
rectio˜ aridet
correct: Conscia mens rectioni(s) arridet
The mind
conscious of rightness laughs
Desperanda ne
tentes
Do not attempt if you in despair.
Virtutis premiū
gloria
correct: Virtutis premium gloria
Virtue's
award is glory
Perficienda
aggredere
Everything
should be done to the end.
Virtue
shines with work.
· Durum
alocū dis arceri
correct: Durum allocutum d(e)is arceri
Hard to
restrain to call on gods.
Kanonicza 7
Dominus adiutor
meus et protector meus
The Lord hears me and protects me
The tenement house
'Pod Trzema Koronami' comes from the 14th century. Above the gate there is the
verse from the psalm 17. Trattoria 'la Campana' is here.
The street
corner Kanonicza and Senacka
Senacka 7
Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea
Let Thy holy
Angels dwell herein
The tenement house
'Pod Aniołkami' comes from the 16th century. The cafe 'Pianola' is here. The
verse is from 'the Summa Theologica' (Summa Theologiae) (I a. 52, I, 7)
by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Grodzka 52 a, Saints Peter and Paul
Church
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
For greater glory of God.
Constitutiones Societatis Jezu.
The Constitutions of the Society of
Jezus.
On the facade there is the figure of the monk
with this phrase. The author is Ignatius Loyola. This is the motto of the Order
of the Jesuits.
Grodzka Street
Grodzka 58
Frustra vivit qui nemini prodest
In vain
one lives, who does not help anyone.
The Evangelical Church of Augsburg dedicated
to Saint Martin is here. The building comes from the XVIIth century.
Plac Wszystkich Świętych 3-4, the Town
Hall of Cracow
Labor et
dignitas
Labour et Dignity
The entrance portal to the building is
decorated with two sculptures Labour and Dignity.
Plac Wszystkich Świętych 3-4, the Town Hall
of Cracow, the inner yard
Praestantibus viris negligere virtutem
concessum non est.
Excellent men should not neglect the
virtue.
This sentence is located on the marble plate
above the gate from the side of the yard.
On
Saturdays, Sundays and on holidays the building is closed.
Rynek Główny 7 (the Main Square)
Tecum habita
Live with yourself
The author is Aulus Persius Flaccus – a Roman
satirist and moralist (Satire IV, 52). The building is named ‘The Italian
House’. It comes from the Middle Ages. The hostel and Nº7
Restaurant are here.
Rynek Główny (the Main Square),
Sukiennice (the Cloth Hall)
Two maxims are above the smaller windows from
the side of the old Town Hall.
One of them is a quotation from Ovid
...natale solum dulce(tu)dine cunctos
ducit et immemores non sinit esse sui.
Our native land charms us with
inexpressible sweetness and never allows us to forget that we belong to it.
Illa non est civitas cum leges in ea nihil
valent cum mos occidit patrius.
No state exists when laws in it are not
strong, when native customs are killed.
Plac Mariacki 4
Pateat amicis et miseris
Let it stand open for friends and the
poor.
The inscription is
on the building which belongs to Saint Mary's church.
Saint Mary’s
church, the wall from the side of Plac Mariacki.
Dies nostri sicut umbra supra terram et nulla est mora.
Our days as a shadow above the ground and without hope.
A quotation is
from 1 Chronicles (29,15). The inscription is on the sundial on the wall from
the Plac Mariacki. It shows not only hours but also the days of the year. This
type of the timer was made by Tadeusz Przypkowski. You can see this sundial not
only in Cracow or Warsaw, but also in Paris, Rome, Nice and Greenwich in
London. On the top on the left there is a word ‘Maria’, surrounded by
twelve stars. This symbol of twelve stars was located on the flag of the
European Union.
Saint Mary's
Church from the side of Floriańska Street.
Post tenebras
lux
After darkness,
light
The author is
Plautus, the best Roman writer of comedies. It is on the wall from the side of
Floriańska Street, above the old cemetery, nearer the main entrance to the
church. It is situated below the Latin epitaph dedicated to a woman named
Katarzyna (Catherine). There is a very small maxim.
Inter prospera
et adversa
Between
prosperity and adversity
Medio
tutissimus ibis
you will go
the middle the safest
Virtutis comes
invidia
envy
is a companion of virtue
Quae et bonos
sequitur.
this
follows good things
The
tenement house comes from the 16th century.
Mala nostra
pellit, bona cuncta poscit
Our evil
repels, all good asks
The gotic tenement
house comes from the 17th century. There is the figure of the Virgin Mary on
the house and a stoic motto.
Sustine et
abstine
Bear and forbear
św. Anny 1
Vita, quae fato debetur, patriae saluti solvatur
Life, that is due to fate, for nativeland can be lost.
In 1590 in this house lived the greatest poet of Hungarian Renaissance Balassi Balint (1554-1594)
(Hungarian version)
Floriańska Street
Floriańska 14
Stet domus haec donec fluctus formica mari(n)os ebibat et
totum testudo perambulet orbem.
Let this
house stand until the ant drinks up the sea waves and
the turtle
walks through the whole world.
The hotel ‘Pod
Różą’ is here. This hotel is the oldest hotel in Cracow. It has already
received visitors since the 17th century.
Pijarska street, between: św. Jana (Saint John) and Floriańska.
Sibi amico et posteritati
For me, for
a friend and for the future generations
De manu Dei
bona velle suscipere non autem mala rebellio
From the
hand of God to accept the goods however not evil because the rebellion.
The inscription is above but it is very
destroyed.
Gołębia 13, the statue of Nicolaus
Copernicus.
The statue of Nicolaus Copernicus in the
Planty, near Collegium Novum, in front of Witkowski Collegium. Around the
pedestal there are four plates. One of them is a quotation from ‘De rerum
natura’ by Lucretius (On the nature of things I, 72-75). This inscription is
from the side of Collegium Novum and Witkowski Collegum.
.....extra
processit longe flammantia moenia mundi atque omne immensum peragravit mente
animoque
…beyond the
flaming ramparts of the world, until he wandered the unmeasurable All.
