Turkish Tenement House in Kraków

The Turkish Tenement House is a three-story building on Długa Street featuring a distinctive turret crowned by a dome and crescent, evoking a minaret. The structure blends typical European apartment-house proportions with oriental details, creating an unusual architectural statement in the old town.

The building was constructed in the second half of the 1800s as a two-story structure before undergoing significant reconstruction in 1910 under architect Henryk Lamensdorf. This renovation transformed it into the three-story form visible today.

The building takes its name from Artur Teodor Rayski, an Ottoman army officer who owned the property and left his mark on the city's architecture. This oriental-style design stood out sharply among the typical European townhouses of the neighborhood.

The building is located at Długa Street 31 in the heart of the old town and is easily reached on foot. It stands as an officially registered cultural monument, so visitors can view its distinctive exterior from the street level without needing interior access.

Local accounts suggest the original owner brought a muezzin from Egypt to perform daily prayer calls from the building's turret, a practice entirely unusual for Kraków at the time. This distinctive custom helped make the property one of the city's most talked-about addresses.