Great Mikveh

The Great Mikvah is a historic Jewish bathhouse, once used for ritual baths. Until the outbreak of World War II, there was a large swimming pool in its basement. It was built in the second half of the sixteenth century. The building was made of broken stone - fragments of the arcade and the original wall have survived to this day. Mikvah has been entered in the register of monuments.

According to the Jewish tradition, ritual baths were subjected, among others, to neophytes, that is, to converts to Judaism, before being admitted to the synagogue. The water used for bathing had to come directly from natural sources, for example from a river. The swimming pool could also be supplied by rainwater.

The Kraków Great Mikvah suffered almost total destruction during the occupation. It was renovated in the 1970s. Today it belongs to the Jewish Religious Community, there is a restaurant and a hotel in it. It is available to visitors.