The Palace under the Rams is one of the most famous tenements located on the Main Square. Tradition says that the place was a tavern at which rams were kept for sale. Hence the emblem and the name of the building. It was originally called “Where the Rams are” and had two rams with one shared head as an emblem. Since 1969, Cinema under the Rams, a small art house, operates inside the building.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the tenement, which later became a part of the palace, housed a renowned tavern, patronised by poets, writers and other prominent figures. In its history the building was visited by Jan Kochanowski, Mikołaj Rej, prince Józef Poniatowski and Emperor Franz Joseph I. In 1956, the famous literary cabaret Cellar under the Rams was created here.
In 1576, the palace was bought by King Stefan Batory. After him, the building had several aristocratic owners, including Katarzyna Lubomirska, the Radziwiłł family, who incorporated one more tenement in the complex, and the Wielopolskis. In 1822 it was purchased by Artur Potocki and remained a property of his family until the outbreak of World War II.
In April 1846, during the Krakow Uprising, the command headquarters of the National Guard was placed on the spot. Around 1853, the three distinctive ram heads were mounted above the entrance from the Main Square. Seven years later, the Potockis carried out major renovation, during which a storey was added to the building.
At the turn of the 20th century, the palace was the meeting point of conservative circles. At the same time, it was a centre of social and cultural life of Krakow. During World War I, a military hospital was located inside. When Germans were occupying the city during World War II over twenty years later, it was the headquarters of the Nazi authorities of the Krakow District. After the liberation, Soviet authorities operated from there.
In 1947, the building was handed over to the House of Culture of Krakow. Forty three years later, the palace was reclaimed by its pre-war owners. The day after that, part of the building was destroyed by fire. The following renovation took a few years.
The Renaissance palace was built in the 16th century by merging two Gothic tenements. Fortunately, the renovations spared old architectonic characteristics. The Gothic elements are visible in the basement, on the ground floor and on the elevations of the lower storeys in the internal courtyard. External elevations bear Baroque decorations from the 18th century.