Krakow is the ancient capital of Poland and for centuries coronations and burials of the country’s kings took place on the historic Wawel Hill. The city was the only major one in Poland to come through the Second World War largely undamaged and on the hill one can still visit the castle and the cathedral where so much Polish history has seeped into the very stones. Below the hill, the main square, called Rynek Glowny, is the largest of medieval Europe and houses the Renaissance Sukiennice (full of interesting stalls) and the Mariacki Church (where at 11 am each morning the trumpet melody called the Hejnal is abruptly halted in memory of the trumpeter in 1241 being killed by a Tartar arrow).