June invokes the start of the school holidays, flourishing vegetation and long summer days. In Kraków, it also brings a host of legends and ancient customs to life.

May and July are objectively as fine months as their calendar neighbour, and after all each month ushers in something special. But June abounds with beautiful traditions and recalls the legends and events where they originated. Let’s see what this month has in store for us!

Lajkonik

The Lajkonik is an iconic figure throughout Poland, but if you’re not familiar with the legend of the Zwierzyniec hobby horse, read on! A long, long time ago, in the 13th century, Polish lands were frequently invaded by savage warriors clad in leathers. They came from the steppes of central Asia and they were called Tatars. They pillaged cities and villages, slaughtered their inhabitants and burned down the remains. One day, the Tatar army came dangerously close to Kraków. The warriors decide to spend the night on the banks of the Vistula, near the village of Zwierzyniec, and attack the city at dawn. Fortunately they were spotted by local log drivers who floated rafts down the river. They attacked and defeated the invaders and saved the city from their attack. To show off their glorious victory, one of the men dressed in the khan’s exotic robes, jumped on a Tatar pony and led the triumphant party into the city. As Cracovians saw the party, their initial fear turned into joy. Ever since then, the city has been commemorating the event every year on the first Thursday after Corpus Christi with a rider clad in dazzling costume running a hobby horse through Kraków. As he prances through the crowd, he strikes people at random with his mace, which is said to bring good luck. Read more about the Lajkonik’s route on p. …

The legend has no substantiation in historical sources. Many scholars link the Lajkonik with mediaeval guild celebrations, while the outfit likely originates from the 17th-century fashion for all things oriental. The tradition may also be rooted in the ancient custom of hobby horses, practiced until the mid-20th century, especially in the Mazowsze and Lubelszczyzna regions. Interestingly enough, cousins of Kraków’s Lajkonik appear in other parts of Europe such as France, Germany and Bulgaria. In parts of England, at Beltane celebrations on May Day, men riding hobby horses symbolising winter and summer engage in mock battles, with summer always coming victorious.

Fowler king

The days when Tatars regularly invaded and pillaged Poland are also commemorated by another custom. During the 13th century, Cracovians started erecting fortified walls around the city. For the ramparts to be effective, they had to be maintained and protected by armed guards. This resulted in the foundation of the Fowler Brotherhood, also known as the Archers’ Confraternity. Members taught burghers how to use arms, and tested their skills with a competition involving shooting a wooden cockerel. The archer who struck the last fragment of the bird was crowned as winner and named Fowler King.

The Fowler Brotherhood has been running continually ever since and maintains its traditions: every year members elect their king, who is enthroned at a ceremony in June. Clad in their finest robes, the Fowler brothers set off from their abode at Celestat and walk to the Rynek Główny. The new king steps onto a stage erected by the Town Hall Tower where his predecessor hands over his most important insignia: a silver cockerel, a copy of a sculpture originally funded by King Sigismund II August.

Wianki

Finally, we mustn’t forget the rituals of Midsummer Eve (24 June), rooted in pagan customs celebrating the summer solstice. Ancient Slavic rites of fire and water were later assimilated with Christian beliefs. People sang and danced into the night, held courtship rituals, and told their fortunes with water and plants. One of the most beautiful customs which came to Kraków from Warsaw in the mid-19th century continues until the present day. As part of the tradition, girls weave garlands and set them down the Rudawa river (a tributary of the Vistula). The garlands, sometimes fitted with a candle, flow down the river as though in a race, and the girls who made them divine which one would be the first to get married. (io)