Kamienica Pod Elefanty

Kamienica Pod Elefanty is a historic tenement house in Kraków, located at 38 Grodzka Street, at the corner with 18 Poselska Street, within the Old Town. The history of this site dates back to the 15th century, when two Gothic houses and the Church of St. Peter stood here. One of the houses had a relief of an elephant or a rhinoceros on its facade, which gave the name to the entire property. In the 17th century, the pharmacy Under the Golden Elephant, run by the Italian Bonifacy Cantelli, operated here. After the church was demolished in 1791, the area remained empty for over forty years. In 1835, according to the design of Tadeusz Piotrowski, the two houses were merged and the building was extended onto the site of the former church. The building burned down during the great fire of Kraków in 1850, but was rebuilt between 1850 and 1852 under the direction of Piotr Baranowski. Today, the tenement is listed as a historic monument and is a valuable example of Old Town architecture. Its facades are adorned with reliefs of an elephant and a rhinoceros, visible from Grodzka and Poselska streets.