For many ages students have been coming to Cracow. King Kazimierz Wielki (Casimir the Great) in the year 1364 founded the Academy later called the Jagiellonian University.

Collegium Maius is the oldest surviving part of the Academy, established thanks to a donation of Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig). The late gothic building with its arcaded courtyard galleries hosts the university museum. In the museum, we can view the mementos of the most famous student - Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolas Copernicus). Copernicus studied at Collegium Maius in the years 1491-1495. Among the many valuables remaining after Copernicus we find such objects as a globe with the American continent dated from the early 16th century and a collection of Arab astronomical instruments.