The church was founded in XIII century and is famous for Wit Stwosz’s Altar. This is an unique gothic art, well known in the whole world. It made up of 200 gold-plated, wooden figures. Stwosz used his contemporaries Cracow citizens as models. It’s worth to bare in mind that solemn opening of the alter is at noon.

The main scene of the alter, in the middle, is St Mary before going off the sleep and it had been taken from the Golden Legend – a very popular legend in the Middle Ages.
The rich citizens decided to found two towers. They asked two brothers to built them. The older brother finished his work earlier and his tower was extremely high with ideal proportions. Younger brother was building his tower slower, but it would have been much higher then the tower of his older brother. Once, brothers had a fight about the high of the towers and about a fame which this brings to one of them. During the fight the older brother killed the younger one…

The older brother wanted to commit a suicide, but he was captured and judged to death. On memory of this legend there is a knife above the entrance to Cloth Hall.
Every hour, from the top of the higher tower we can hear the bugle-call. It is played on 4 side of the world and it connected with another of Cracow’s legend. But this story must be listen after the bugle-call finishes.

From 1888 till 1891 Jan Matejko was the headmaster of renovation of St. Marian Church. He painted beautiful fresco with angels inside. Also the stained glasses are worth to seen, most of them are from XIV century. Thera are also modern,  projected by Stanisław Wyspiański and Józef Mehoffer.