Jagiellonian University, Public university in Kraków, Poland
The Jagiellonian University is a higher education institution in Kraków, with its main campus located near the medieval Market Square in the city center. The institution spreads across many buildings throughout the Old Town and surrounding neighborhoods.
King Casimir III the Great founded the institution on May 12, 1364, making it the first university in Poland. Władysław II Jagiełło later expanded it, giving the place the foundation for its current prominence.
The name honors King Władysław II Jagiełło, who renewed the institution in the late 14th century and granted it fresh privileges. Students and faculty gather in the historic courtyards, where Latin inscriptions on the walls still recall the old academic traditions.
The buildings lie within the Old Town and are reachable on foot from the main square. Many courtyards and entrances open directly from the narrow streets, making it easy to walk through the grounds.
During the Second World War, German forces arrested 183 professors in an operation called Sonderaktion Krakau, yet teaching continued underground. Nicolaus Copernicus studied here in the late 15th century and later developed his theory of the heliocentric system.
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