St Mary’s Basilica in Cracow is probably known all over the world for its magnificent late gothic carved main altarpiece – a masterpiece by Veit Stoss, completed in 1477-1489. It has been restored lately and the restoration project was granted European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award 2023. Meanwhile, in…
Virgin Mary beats the devil!
There are legends that just live in European culture for centuries, since ancien Times till nowadays. There are motifs that keep coming back. One of those motifs – especially in Christian culture – is a story about a man who sold his soul to the devil. Source of inspiration for…
Beating St Nicholas
This December – more than ever before – many families discuss financial issues. Christmas is an expensive event, after all, but pandemics brought a global crisis and a huge inflation. So, we all worry about the money. As it happens, St. Nicholas – a figure that evolved into Santa Claus…
Lesser known legends about Saints and dragons
Lately I have written about the western entrance to the Cracow Cathedral, which has been decorated with sculpted depictions of St Margaret and St Michael (post is available HERE). Those two were famous for dealing with dragon, and it became their attribute, just as it is an attribute of St…
Medieval beasts you want to avoid
Some time ago I have written about animals from medieval bestiaries (post available HERE) and back then I have mentioned that this topic is a subject for more than one post. That post focused on “real” animals described in medieval books, so now it is time to take a look…