Krakow: Poland’s Enduring Capital of Culture : Saved from Nazi destruction, the city retains the essence of a rich medieval heritage.

Every hour on the hour, seven days a week, a bugler climbs the soaring tower of the 13th-Century Church of the Holy Virgin Mary in this old Polish capital’s Market Square to sound his clarion call four times, to the cardinal points of the compass. His few heart-rending notes are also played throughout the country on Polish radio to begin its programming every day at noon.

What makes the plaintive call so poignant to Poles even today is that the bugler never finishes, always ending abruptly on a broken note. It is a daily re-creation of the fate of a 13th-Century bugler who was trying desperately to warn Krakow’s people of an attack by Tatars when an enemy arrow ripped through his throat, ending his life and his warning, and creating a heroic legend for the city.

In a country brimming with glorious medieval cities from the Baltic to the Czech border, Krakow is surely the most magnificent, often called Poland’s Athens-Rome. First mentioned in the diary of a merchant from Cordoba in AD 965, it soon became a political center for southern Poland, and later the country’s capital for more than 600 years. The entire history of Poland and a spellbinding treasury of Polish culture remain within Krakow’s ancient walls.

For today’s visitor, all the splendors of Krakow’s 10 centuries are still here to enjoy, thanks to a fortuitous gift of fate: Due to a brilliant tactical maneuver by the Russian army in 1945, the fleeing Germans had no time to destroy Krakow’s priceless castles, palaces and glorious other buildings with explosives, as they had done with countless other Polish cities. The hasty Nazi retreat left the city relatively unscathed, although it was looted of many artistic treasures.

The lifeblood of Krakow pulses from Market Square, said to be the largest of its kind in Europe and certainly the most gigantic we’ve yet to see. Its four sides are each more than 330 yards long, and the sheer size (10 acres) would overwhelm the senses were it not for the 14th-Century Cloth Hall at the center, which divides the square to the eye and sensibilities.

So how does one ever hope to absorb the wonders of Krakow, and capture a sense of its turbulent history, during a short visit? Try stepping into Restaurant Wierzynek on Market Square. Here in 1364, the innkeeper Nicolaus Wierzynek and the Polish King Casimir the Great entertained the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, the kings of Hungary, Denmark and Cyprus, princes from Austria and other European nobility with a regal dinner on gold and silver service. Since then, and throughout 45 years of recent Russian occupation, Wierzynek’s has remained in private hands, outside Communist control.

We had two superb dinners of wild boar steak with all the trimmings and roasted duck with apples. All that 14th-Century royalty couldn’t possibly have dined any better in Poland’s oldest and most famous restaurant, not for $16.

How long/how much? At least two full days for Krakow, perhaps another two for visits to the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp (34 miles away) or to the town of Czestochowa, where the 15th-Century “Black Madonna” in the Jasna Gora Monastery is Poland’s holiest icon and the object of pilgrimages from around the world.

Lodging throughout Poland is very moderate in cost, while excellent and bountiful dining is little more than a pittance.

Getting settled in: While many Polish cities have their newer and better hotels on the outskirts, Krakow is blessed with two fine ones at the heart of Old Town. The very regal Grand was the palace of a 16th-Century prince, became a hotel in 1887 and now harks back to that opulent era with its fan-vaulted lobby, gilt wainscoting and stained-glass windows in the hallways. The Grand’s stately conservatory dining room, with its parquet floors, blends a cheerful brightness with a decided feeling of royal elegance.

Bedroom furnishings are in period style, and the fabrics are lustrous indeed. There is also color TV and other such amenities.

Just around the corner, Hotel Francuski opened in 1912 and was completely refurbished last year in a style approaching Art Deco. The lobby and bedrooms reflect this handsomely, and the restaurant is a warm and cozy room noted for its fine food.

Forum Hotel Cracow, located just across the Vistula River, Poland’s Danube, has a view of Wawel Hill that is nothing short of spectacular, particularly in late afternoon when the sun brings a warm glow to the towers and spires of the cathedral and Royal Castle.

The Forum is an enormous contemporary building set in a sea of manicured grass bordering the riverbank and its walkways. It is almost a city unto itself, with restaurants, bars, numerous shops, and indoor pool, rooftop cafe and nightclub. It is also rather pricey for Poland.

Regional food and drink: Polish food goes well beyond its cherished kielbasa sausage and potatoes, and kielbasa is raised to near gourmet heights when served hot off the grill with bigos , a heavenly mix of several kinds of cabbage, onions, mushrooms, a variety of meats and white wine. Most visitors to Poland eventually end up having this combination in a forest setting, the kielbasa roasted before an open fire, bigos served steaming from an iron pot.

No country of our acquaintance can approach Poland when it comes to making soups, most of them thick, hearty and redolent of their earthy ingredients. Since wild mushrooms grow abundantly everywhere in Poland, mushroom soup appears on every menu, with the luscious fungus half an inch deep in the bottom of the bowl. Barszcz (borscht) is a clear and beet-based soup almost always served with a meat-stuffed pastry on the side.

Pierogi , a dumpling with various fillings (meat, cabbage, cheese), ranks right up there as a national favorite, and they’re delicious in a calories-be-damned way. Excellent Polish beer goes with just about anything, but there is no domestic wine. Try the sturdy and inexpensive Bulgarian reds; they’re on a par with a very good vin ordinaire .

Good local dining: Join the ghosts of those 14th-Century crowned heads at Wierzynek’s (Market Square) for lunch or dinner in the formal Old World settings of any of its four rooms. The “clock room” has an interesting collection of antique timepieces on its walls; other rooms have wall murals, coffered ceilings and bowls of fresh flowers.

In addition to the very special wild boar and roast duck, Wierzynek’s has an extensive menu of such as pheasant, partridge, fresh-water fish and Polish specialties. The bigos , called a “hunter’s stew” here, is marvelous and almost a full meal at only $2.80. The wine list is a creditable selection of Bulgarian, French, German and a few from California.

Hotel Grand’s dining room (Slawkowska 5) is truly glorious beneath its soaring glass ceiling. Portraits of worthy but fierce-looking gentlemen adorn the walls, and the table settings might well have graced a Congress of Vienna banquet.

The usual wonderful soups are here, plus the likes of salmon sauteed with mushrooms ($7.50), beef stroganoff ($8) and a Chateaubriand for $6. The wine selection is just as extensive as that at Wierzynek.

Central European coffeehouses are noted for their atmosphere, and Jama Michalika (Florianska 45) more than fits the mold with its subdued lighting, old stained glass, Art Deco chandeliers and fin de siecle furnishings. This is an enclave for local artists and literati, with cabaret performances several nights a week.

The menu here sticks to lighter fare, with all manner of omelets, sausages, cold meats and a panoply of pastries, most priced in the $2 range. The time-warping experience of a lunch at Jama Michalika shouldn’t be missed by any Krakow visitor.

On your own: After a round of Market Square and a stroll down the many shops of Cloth Hall, plan on being in St. Mary’s Church at either noon or 6 p.m. That’s when the magnificent, five-panel altar dating to 1489 is opened and closed with much ecclesiastic fanfare. Twelve years of work in linden wood by a German produced these 19 biblical scenes in masterful bas-reliefs of brilliant colors, and this polyptych altar is not to be missed.

Next visit Wawel Hill and its Royal Castle and cathedral, the latter the burial place of Polish kings and distinguished countrymen through the centuries. The castle’s enormous and enchanting Renaissance courtyard is regarded as one of the most splendid in Europe. Within, one finds 142 Arras tapestries from the 16th Century, exquisite by anyone’s measure, and a lode of other Polish treasures.

Krakow’s Collegium Maius is the oldest university building in Poland (erected in 1400). In all, 60,000 students attend Krakow’s 12 universities, making it a very cosmopolitan city alive with cultural events throughout the year.

GUIDEBOOK

Krakow: City for the Ages

Getting there: Fly Poland’s Lot Airlines nonstop to Warsaw. Delta and several foreign carriers will get you there with plane changes. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket to Warsaw will cost $1,199-$1,293, after mid-July $999. The 180-mile ride on to Krakow by train or bus is very inexpensive.

A few fast facts: Poland’s zloty recently sold at 13,000 to the dollar, about .00007 cents each. Any time from late spring to fall is fine for a visit, but springtime’s fields of poppies and gardens of lilac and peonies are particularly lovely. Whenever your visit, stick solely to bottled mineral water and shun your hotel-room tap.

Where to stay: Grand Hotel (ulica Slawkowska 5; $77 double B&B;); Hotel Francuski (ulica Pijarska 13; $77 double B&B;); Forum (ulica Marii Konopnickiej 28; $130 B&B; double, $68 after October).

For more information: Call Lot Airlines at (213) 934-5151, or write (6100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles 90048) for a brochure on Krakow, plus another on information and costs for air-land, land-only and fly-drive packages throughout Poland for independent travelers.