Plagues have been decimating Krakow‘s population regularly. The most dangerous was, of course, Black Death, but in chronicles, we can find mentions about fever, pox, jungle fever, cholera, typhus.
Below you can find the list of the most dreadful plagues which haunted Krakow over the centuries:
1348 – Black Death spread over the whole Europe, did not miss the Krakow; plague lasted till 1351 and took about 20 lives a day during this time;
1451 – another Black Death plague, lasted over two years;
between 1454 and 1482 the plague attacked Krakow eight times, decimating its popularity;
1543 – a plague of bad air – chronicles states that it took the lives of over 20 000 people, but historians consider this figure exaggerated;
1707 – 1709 – first cases of typhus in Krakow, 7223 deaths was recorded in the city and another 12047 cases in the suburbs;
1801 – a huge change in medicine – first use of vaccination against misles in Krakow
1806 – a plague of unknown and unrecognized disease, it took the lives of up to 100 people per day;
1818 – a terrible plague of smallpox – mortality among children reached 80%;
1831 – Krakow was haunted by another plague, this time cholera. It took the lives of over 1400 people;
1873 – the last significant plague in Krakow, cholera killed almost 1600 people.