Kazimierz

As Rafael Sharf, founder of London's Jewish Quarterly and himself a Krakovian Jew once remarked, Kraków's Kazimierz is the only place in the world where you will find the street of Corpus Christi crossing the street named after Rabbi Meisels. Kazimierz was founded by King Kazimierz the Great as a separate city in 1335. By the end of 15th century, it had come to house a growing Jewish district at a time when industrious and enterprising Jews escaping persecution in Western Europe were welcomed by the Polish kings. Thus, Kazimierz became one of the most important centers of the Jewish diaspora in Europe.