Zwierzyniec is one of 18 districts of Kraków, located in the western part of the city.

In the 13th century, three Tartar invasions are documented, in 1241, 1259 and 1287, which plundered Zwierzyniec and burnt down the monastery.

The monastery and Zwierzyniec were burnt down again in 1527 and in 1587, during the siege of Krakow by the army of Archduke Maximilian Habsburg, who wanted to occupy Krakow against his rival, Sigismund III Vasa.

The present appearance of the monastery dates from the time of its great reconstruction carried out in 1596-1626, when the convent was ruled by the princess Dorota Kątska.

Zwierzyniec was incorporated into Krakow in 1910 and has since been transformed into a villa district.