Kraków is one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula river (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1596, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918, and the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, with an urban population of 810,590 (June, 2025).

 Vistulans, early IX century
 Great Moravia, late IX century
 Duchy of Bohemia, early X century–990
 Duchy of Poland, 990–1025
 Kingdom of Poland, 1025–1031
 Duchy of Poland (fragmentation), 1031–1320
Kingdom of Poland, 1320–1569
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795
Habsburg Empire, 1795–1804
Austrian Empire, 1804–1809
Duchy of Warsaw, 1809–1815
Free City of Cracow, 1815–1846
Austrian Empire, 1846–1867
Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1867–1918
Second Polish Republic, 1918–1939
General Government (occupation), 1939–1945
Polish People's Republic, 1945–1989
Third Polish Republic, 1989–present

The earliest known settlement on the present site of Kraków was established on Wawel Hill, and dates back to the 4th century. Legend attributes the town's establishment to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a ravenous dragon, Smok Wawelski. Many knights unsuccessfully attempted to oust the dragon by force, but instead, Krakus fed it a poisoned lamb, which killed the dragon. The city was free to flourish. The so-called "dragon bones", most likely that of mammoth, are displayed at the entrance of the Wawel Cathedral. Before the Polish state had been formed, Kraków was the capital of the tribe of Vistulans, subjugated for a short period by Great Moravia. After Great Moravia was destroyed by the Hungarians, Kraków became part of the Duchy of Bohemia. The first appearance of the city's name in historical records dates back to 966, when a Sephardi Jewish traveller, Abraham ben Jacob, described Kraków as a notable commercial centre under the rule of the then duke of Bohemia, Boleslaus I the Cruel. He also mentioned the baptism of Prince Mieszko I and his status as the first historical ruler of Poland. Towards the end of his reign, Mieszko took Kraków from the Bohemians and incorporated it into the holdings of the Piast dynasty.

By the end of the 10th century, the city was a leading center of trade. Brick buildings were being constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle with the Rotunda of Sts. Felix and Adauctus, Romanesque churches, a cathedral, and a basilica. Sometime after 1042, Casimir I the Restorer made Kraków the seat of the Polish government. In 1079 on a hillock in nearby Skałka, the Bishop of Kraków, Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów, was slain by the order of the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous. In 1138, the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth came into effect upon his death. It divided Poland into five provinces, with Kraków named as the Seniorate Province, meant to be ruled by the eldest male member of the royal family as the High Duke. Infighting among brothers, however, caused the seniorate system to soon collapse, and a century-long struggle between Bolesław's descendants followed. The fragmentation of Poland lasted until 1320.

Kraków was almost entirely destroyed during the first Mongol invasion of Poland in 1241, after the Polish attempt to repulse the invaders had been crushed in the Battle of Chmielnik. Kraków was rebuilt in 1257, in a form which was practically unaltered, and received Magdeburg rights from the king, attracting mostly German-speaking burghers. In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols in the second Mongol invasion of Poland, 18 years after the first raid. A third attack, though unsuccessful, followed in 1287. By the end of the thirteenth century, German-speaking burghers formed the majority of Kraków's magistrates and merchant classes. The year 1311 saw the Rebellion of wójt Albert against Polish High Duke Władysław I. It involved the mostly German-speaking burghers of Kraków who, as a result, were massacred or fled. In the aftermath, Kraków's burgher class was gradually re-Polonized, and Polish burghers rose from a minority to a majority.

Medieval Kraków was surrounded by a 1.9 mile (3 km) defensive wall complete with 46 towers and seven main entrances leading through them (see St. Florian's Gate and Kraków Barbican). The fortifications were erected over the course of two centuries. The town defensive system appeared in Kraków after the city's location, i.e. in the second half of the 13th century (1257). This was when the construction of a uniform fortification line was commenced, but it seems the project could not be completed. Afterwards the walls, however, were extended and reinforced (a permit from Leszek Biały to encircle the city with high defensive walls was granted in 1285).

In 1315 a large alliance of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the duchies of Pomerania and Mecklenburg was formed in Kraków.

Kraków rose to new prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded the Cracow Academy, the second university in central Europe after the University of Prague. There had already been a cathedral school since 1150 functioning under the auspices of the city's bishop. The city continued to grow under the joint Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellon dynasty (1386–1572). As the capital of a powerful state, it became a flourishing center of science and the arts.