Open to all and free to attend -Registration required

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Nation, Town, Memory - Krakow Experience

Professor Dr. Jacek Purchla, Professor of Humanitiesand Head of the Centre of European Heritage, Institute of European Studies at the

Jagiellonian University. Chair of Economic & Social History and the UNESCO Chair ofCultural Heritage & Urban Studies at the Krakow University of Economics.

Krakow is a historical city where heritage does not only susbstantially determine contemporary life, but also settles the matter of its position in Europe. The myth ofKrakow - ‘the holy city of the Poles’ - created in the 19th century, to this day remains

central in the canon of national traditions. Krakow, the Polish Mecca, a ‘reliquary of national treasures’ has gradually transformed itself into the ‘Museum of

Poland’ but still maintains its heritage and identity. It is also one of thereasons why the myth of Krakow as a spiritual capital of Poland survived. Nowadays, thismyth becomes even more topical. This lecture is part of the celebrations that mark thePolish Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months from July 2011.

Images courtesy of Stanislaw Markowski (left), Michal Grychowski (right) and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in

Edinburgh

Public Lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Thursday 29 September 2011, 6pm

Konsulat GeneralnyRzeczypospolitej Polskiejw EdynburguConsulate Generalof the Republic of Polandin Edinburgh