The bastard child of a devastated post WWII Poland, the huge Socialist Realist suburb of Nowa Huta is the direct antithesis of everything cuddly Kraków is. Gargoyles and tourists? Not here. The Orwellian settlement of Nowa Huta was one of only two entirely pre-planned socialist realist cities ever built (the other being Magnitogorsk in Russia’s Ural Mountains), and one of the finest examples of deliberate social engineering in the world.

Funded by the Soviet Union, Nowa Huta swallowed up a huge swathe of agricultural land, and the ancient village of Kościelniki in an attempt to create an in-yer-face proletarian opponent to intellectual, fairytale Kraków. The decision to build NH was rubber stamped on May 17, 1947 and over the next few years construction of a model city for 100,000 people sprung up at breakneck speed. Built to impress Nowa Huta featured wide, tree-lined avenues, parks, lakes and the officially sanctioned architectural style of the time – Socialist Realist. Nowa Huta’s architects strove to construct the ideal city, with inspiration coming from the neighbourhood blocks built in 1920s New York. Careful planning was key, and the suburb was designed with ‘efficient mutual control’ in mind – Wide streets would prevent the spread of fire, the profusion of trees would soak up a nuclear blast, while the layout was such that the city could easily be turned into a fortress town if it came under attack.

It was a massive task, with volunteer workers flocking from across Poland to take part in this bold project. Feats of personal sacrifice were rife and encouraged with one man, Piotr Ożański, credited with laying 33,000 bricks in one single day. For the workers life was tough; many were still sleeping in tents when the first winter arrived, and crime was rampant. Legends abounded of bodies being buried in foundations, and night was positively dangerous in this country still reeling from the chaos of world war. Finally, on June 23, 1949, work on the first block of flats began – today a plaque found on ul. Mierzwy 14 commemorates this.

Somewhat sadly perhaps, the Utopian dream that was Nowa Huta was never fully realized. A fearsome town hall in the style of the renaissance halls found across Poland was never built, and the pompous decorations planned for the central buildings were never added. However what was completed is very much worth the trip. Taking centre stage is the Central Square, once named in Stalin’s honour. Dating from 1949 it’s a masterpiece of Soviet social planning, and the brainchild of architect Tadeusz Ptaszycki. In an ultimate twist of irony, this Soviet landmark was officially renamed Ronald Reagan Square in 2004, though speak to any local and you’ll still find in referred to as Pl. Centralny.

But while this ‘square’ serves as the focal point for visitors, it’s the steelworks that Nowa Huta is known for. Poland was in the process of rebuilding itself from near complete destruction in WWII, and steel was vital to this progress. Work began in April, 1950, and by 1954 the first blast furnace was in operation. Employing some 40,000 people in its heyday the steelworks – named for a time after Lenin – were capable of producing seven million tonnes of steel annually, and at one time boasted the largest blast furnace in Europe. Such was its reputation that Fidel Castro chose to visit the Steelworks rather than Kraków’s Rynek on one state visit to Poland. Found on the end of al. Solidarności the entrance to what is known as the Sendzimir Steelworks has been given the full socialist makeover, with two concrete monstrosities built to echo the fine old buildings of Poland. You’ll hear the natives referring to this architectural masterstroke as the Doge, after the grand palace in Venice which they are supposed to resemble.

Nowa Huta may have been designed to be a socialist showcase city, but the reality was far different. It became a hotbed of anticommunist activity, with early displays of dissent traced back to the twenty year struggle for permission to build the Arka Pana church. Not surprisingly many of these protestors could be found during the day on the factory floor, and the steelworks were to play a huge part in the Solidarity strikes of the early 1980s. Identified as an anti-establishment stronghold, the steelworks were placed under military control during the period of Martial law, and today a remembrance room inside the factory honours those workers who put their lives on the line.

Similar to certain parts of Warsaw as well as many urban areas in the former Soviet Union Nowa Huta offers a surreal look inside the false dawn that was communism. Nowhere is this flawed grandeur more apparent than in the Teatr Ludowy (os. Teatralne 34), its interiors filled with absurd chandeliers. Built in 1955 the exterior was apparently inspired by ancient Egypt, though anyone who visits is likely to disagree. Equally fearsome is the Kino Świt, its facade supported by twelve pillars.

Yet while Socialist Realism is the defining style, it’s not the only one. By the 1960s, and with the supply of bricks from the flattened Wroclaw drying up, it was the turn of the high-rises to come to the fore. The horizon was transformed within a decade, with easy to build faceless towers mushrooming up in the suburbs. However, while Nowa Huta is the product of the last half century, it is still possible to find places of older value. First off there’s Mogila (see below), and nearby is a WWI cemetery containing the bodies of 71 soldiers felled in battle. Artist Jan Matejko frequently escaped Kraków to this region, and his manor house on ul. Wańkowicza 25 is today a museum, its rooms perfectly preserved from the times he would take solace from the flap and flutter of urban Kraków.

Further reading
Nowa Huta resident and self-confessed Nowa Huta fanatic Maciej Miezian’s superb little paperback, Kraków’s Nowa Huta (Wydawnictwo Bezdroża, 2004) offers a fascinating and often amusing delve inside its people and architecture, and remains by far the most comprehensive resource on the suburb written in English. Covering everything from accounts of its heroic construction through to its current incarnation as a leisure destination, at just 35zł it can be picked up in bookshops throughout Kraków. Highly recommended