Wawel Hill was the centre of the Wislanie state before the state of Poland was established. The Piast dynasty settled here in the late 10th c. The first king to have his coronation at Wawel was Ladislaus the Elbow-High in 1320. According to archaeologists, in the Middle Ages there were as many as seven Gothic churches on the hill and numerous other buildings, which were later destroyed. The Rotunda of SS Felix and Adauctus and the Romanesque elements of the cathedral vaults are believed to be the oldest landmark on the hill (ca. 950). Elements of old structures are displayed at the exhibition ‘The Lost Wawel’, along with a computer presentation.
The Royal Castle
Wawel Castle, which was redesigned several times throughout the centuries, is a combination of the Gothic and the Renaissance styles. The royal residence was designed by such masters as Francesco of Florence and Bartolomeo Berrecci. When Berrecci had completed his work, he placed the following inscription over the entrance gate Si Deus nobiscum quis contra nos (If God is with us, who will be against us?) Four exhibitions are open to visitors – The Royal Chambers, the Royal Apartments, The Treasury and the Armoury, and the Orient in Wawel collections. One can also visit the towers. One of the finest rooms in the castle is the Room of the Envoys, also known as “Under the Heads”, as its coffered ceiling contains sculpted heads (16th c.). The largest is the Senators’ Room (240 square meters) in which Senate meetings, court ceremonies and balls were held. It is also worth visiting the Royal Treasury (with the royal coronation sword Szczerbiec) and the Armoury which contains a rich collection of weapons. The jewels of Wawel are its Arras tapestries woven from wool, silk and metallic thread in Brussels workshops. They were commissioned by King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572). Some 136 tapestries out of 360 have survived in this collection, which is ranked among the largest in Europe.
Cathedral
This building represents an array of epochs and styles. The Gothic structure is surrounded by twenty-one Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque chapels. Inside its majestic, dark interior are the royal sarcophagi, the silver confession of St Stanislaus, early- Renaissance stalls and the beautiful black crucifix of Queen Jadwiga. Thirty-seven royal coronations took place in this cathedral. Almost all of Poland’s kings found their final resting place here – from Ladislaus the Elbow- High to Augustus II The Strong (1670-1733). Eminent Polishmen such as Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Józef Pilsudski, Wladyslaw Sikorski, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Slowacki were also buried in the cathedral crypts. Among the chapels, the most beautiful is the Zygmuntowska (Sigismund’s) Chapel, a real Renaissance masterpiece. It is also worth taking the effort to climb Sigismund Tower to see the huge, famous bell known as ‘Sigismund’, cast in the 16th c. from cannons weighing 12.7 tonnes. Twelve people are needed to ring it. Its sound is heard from as far as 12 km away. In 2000, its clapper broke. The new clapper, weighing 350 kg, was cast and hung after a few months.
