The Cloth Hall is located in the center of Krakow's most important square, Rynek Główny, and is the largest building on the square. It is so called because it was originally built to serve as a center for the textile trade, but due to a fire in 1555 it was almost entirely destroyed and later rebuilt.
It can be described as the oldest commercial center in the world, where you can find not only textiles, but also amber jewellery, lace, handmade textiles, wood carvings, sheepskin rugs and all sorts of Polish souvenirs and trinkets.
The ground floor is now used for selling souvenirs and handicrafts, while the first floor is occupied by the Gallery of 19th-century Polish paintings. A branch of the National Museum, its exhibits include works by Jan Matejko, Piotr Michałowski, Jacek Malczewski, Henryk Siemiradzki, Józef Chełmoński and others.
