Crayfish House
ul. Szpitalna 7
You can really have no notion how delightful it will be,
When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!
(“Lobster Quadrille”, Lewis Carroll)
At Szpitalna Street* stands a Crayfish House dating back five hundred years, displaying an imposing crayfish above the entrance. The fresh-water cousins of lobsters were once such a popular snack that the building was once the site of a crayfish market! And it wasn’t even the only one in Kraków – another market was located between Szczepańska and Szewska streets.
* Why is the street named Szpitalna [Hospital – trans.]? Once upon a time, a hospital complex stood on the site of the present-day Juliusz Słowacki Theatre.
ul. Szpitalna 7