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 In Krakow, there are such moments when the discordant noise at the tables of the cafe ceases under the bright umbrellas that covered the old Sukiennice.
Even the ubiquitous pigeons stop scurrying around the Market Square, and the guides stop their groups with a raised hand.
A window opens on the lancet tower of St. Mary's Church, the bowl of the trumpet shines with gold. The trumpeter listens to the last beats of the clock, and now the Krakow signal (in Polish - heinal) is flying towards the sky. His melody has grown together with the ancient royal castle, has become one of the synonyms of everything Polish. It is not surprising that the Krakow radio studio broadcasts this short solo trumpet concert directly from the church tower.
After the first sharp "ta-ta-ta-taaa!" the trumpeter, as it were, forgets about his role as a signalman, trumpets more quietly, then again raises the tone of the sounding metal, modulates, reaches the climax of his song and abruptly cuts it off. Seconds of silence, like a trumpeter regaining consciousness. Footsteps are heard on the wooden floor of the tower room - he walks over to another window. He plays his concert again, and so - to all four directions of the world.
The signal from the watchtower of St. Mary's Church is as old as Krakow itself. They say that it recalls the times when the Mongol-Tatar hordes devastated the Polish land, plundering and burning cities and villages, and driving the inhabitants into captivity. At dawn, they approached Krakow, hoping that they would be able to take possession of the city while its inhabitants were still asleep. The sharp-sighted signalman, who peered from the watchtower to see if there was a "red rooster" where, noticed the enemy hordes and sounded the alarm. The nomad's well-aimed arrow cut off the singing of the trumpet, but the signalman managed to warn his fellow citizens.
Another legend interprets the history of the heinal not too flattering for the people of Krakow. Tradition says that they were idle, lazy and loved to sleep. Once they even forgot to close the city gates at night, and this was repeated three times in a row. When the news of this reached Wawel, King Vladislav Loketek was indignant. True, they managed to persuade the warrior king to change his anger to mercy, and he did not execute the guilty, but ordered to blow a signal every hour from the watchtower so that it would be known that the guards were on duty.
How was it in reality? No one knows. The Krakow trumpeters consider their watch as an honor and an honorable duty. After all, they perform in front of an audience from all over the world, who crowd in the Market Square at the foot of the tower of St. Mary's Church.
Gavrilova N.V.
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