You're on Wawel, the limestone hill by the Vistula that was for centuries the seat of Poland's kings. The country's first stone churches were built here, and from here the Piast and Jagiellonian dynasties ruled.

1The nation's cathedral

The present Gothic cathedral was consecrated in 1364. Almost every Polish king was crowned here, from Władysław I the Elbow-high in 1320 to Augustus III in 1734, and its crypts hold kings and queens as well as national heroes such as Tadeusz Kościuszko and the poet Adam Mickiewicz. The golden dome belongs to the Sigismund Chapel, built between 1519 and 1533 by the Florentine Bartolomeo Berrecci and regarded as a jewel of the Renaissance north of the Alps.

2The Renaissance castle

King Sigismund I the Old turned the Gothic castle into a Renaissance palace between 1504 and 1535, with Italian architects and a great arcaded courtyard. When his grandson Sigismund III moved the court to Warsaw, around the turn of the 17th century, Wawel remained the place of royal coronations and burials. During the German occupation it was the residence of Hans Frank, the Governor-General.

The Kościuszko statue at the entrance is a replica: the original was destroyed by the Germans in 1940, and the city of Dresden donated this copy in 1960.

Crowned and buried in the same place: on Wawel every reign began and ended.

3What to look for

  • The golden dome of the Sigismund Chapel.
  • Kościuszko on horseback, on the bastion by the entrance.
  • The view of the Vistula from the terraces on the south side of the hill.
Cathedral clock tower and equestrian statue of Kościuszko on Wawel Hill
Your first view at the top: the cathedral clock tower and Kościuszko on horseback.

Documented

The cathedral's consecration in 1364, the coronations from 1320 to 1734, the Sigismund Chapel (1519-1533), the castle's Renaissance rebuilding and the destruction of the Kościuszko statue in 1940 are documented.

Sources and credits

Wawel Royal Castle official website (wawel.krakow.pl); Wawel Cathedral official website (katedra-wawelska.pl); Polish Wikipedia, 'Wawel'.

Photos:

  • Wawel Royal Castle seen from the south, with its brick towers and walls: Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Cathedral clock tower and equestrian statue of Kościuszko on Wawel Hill: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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