The Adam Mickiewicz Monument stands in the middle of the Main Market Square, a bronze statue on a high granite plinth that has been the traditional meeting point for Krakovians since its unveiling in 1898. Mickiewicz (1798-1855) is the greatest Polish poet and a national hero of near-mythological status — his epic poem Pan Tadeusz is considered the Polish national poem, his political speeches electrified Polish exiles in Paris, and his name appears on streets, schools, and monuments throughout the country.
The statue's placement in Krakow, rather than in Warsaw or Vilnius where Mickiewicz was more closely associated, reflects the city's role in the 19th century as the centre of Polish cultural life under Austrian rule — the Austrians were the most tolerant of the three partitioning powers, and Krakow became the keeper of Polish identity when Warsaw was under Russian occupation. Today the monument is mainly a backdrop for photographs and a meeting point, but the pigeons and the tourists gathering around it are a demonstration of the square's enduring function as public space.