Dan Snow and History Hit’s very own medieval expert Eleanor Janega are in the medieval city of Kraków, visiting the streets, towers, museums, and mines to discover how it became a trading powerhouse.

Together, they navigate the truth behind the medieval myths to reveal the real history of this astonishing city, from fire-breathing dragons to 300-metre-deep salt mines. Dan and Eleanor discover the secrets of a medieval shopping mall sitting in Europe’s largest market square. As well as the underground city that lays beneath it, which gives us so much more information about daily life in Kraków in its medieval golden age.

Inside the beautiful but battle-scarred basilica that overlooks the market square, Dan discovers this breathtaking building is the perfect setting to tell the story of how medieval Tatars invaded and burnt the city to the ground, only for it to be rebuilt block by block, from impressive stained glass windows to the Gothic structures we see today. Dan gets hands on making traditional stained glass and trying his hand at baking Kraków’s iconic obwarzanek, a dough ring tied to the remarkable story of a teenage girl who ruled not as queen, but as King, Jadwiga.

But no exploration of Kraków’s medieval past is complete without uncovering the substance that transformed this wooden city into stone: salt. Dan is visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine to discover how this 'white gold' supercharged Kraków’s economy into one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.

Fancy finding out more? Listen to Dan interviewing Eleanor in Krakow on Dan Snow's History Hit podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Wl9thq2JV442SihGXJHDG

If you'd like to visit any of the locations in this episode do check out: https://visitmalopolska.pl/en_GB

This documentary was made in association with the Polish National Tourist Office, with huge thanks to Mirosław Bartyzel, Dorota Wojciechowska and the Malopolska Tourism Organisation.