Wawel Hill is one of the most recognizable and the most often visited monuments of Kraków. Sightseeing can be divided into two equally lengthy parts – the sacral part, consisting of the Wawel Cathedral along with the Cathedral Museum and the secular part dedicated to the monarchs who used Wawel Castle as their seat of power. Apart from these two there’s also the famous Dragon’s Den, a place connected with the Wawel Dragon.

Etymologically the name “Wawel” comes from the Old-Polish “wąwel”, meaning dry, elevated ground surrounded by swamps. The origins of the settlement at Wawel are shrouded in legends. These are folk tales of King Krak, the founder of Kraków, his granddaughter Wanda who refused to marry a German and the Wawel Dragon killed by a clever cobbler – Skuba.

Historically speaking Kraków was likely incorporated into the state ruled by Mieszko I around the year 990. Bolesław the Brave is attributed with founding the first Wawel Catedral dubbed as “The Brave’s Cathedral”. Gniezno was the capital of the state, although that’s a retroactive notion, since the idea of nominating one city as “the capital” wasn’t implemented yet, and Kraków rose to be the second most important center of civilization. The times of Mieszko II brought about tragic events such as pagan resurgence violently reacting to Christianity newly adapted by the upper class and incursion led by the Bohemian Duke Bretislav (who captured the holy relics of St. Wojciech in Gniezno). During these events Kraków didn’t suffer as much damage as the Greater Poland so the new church hierarchy built during the reign of Kazimierz the Restorer was based in Kraków. This course of events naturally led to further increase of Kraków and Wawel’s influence. Kazimierz the restorer as well as his son, Bolesław the Generous AKA the Bold, definitely resided here. During the latter’s reign a still unexplained conflict between the monarchy and the bishop of Kraków, Stanislavus of Szczepanów, took place. The details of the events remain unclear, but they resulted in the monarch killing the bishop (later declared a martyr) and then being exiled. The rule was taken over by Bolesław’s younger brother, Władysław Herman, who swapped his royal residence at Wawel for Płock. Also his successor, Bolesław Wrymouth reigned from Płock and that’s where they’re both buried. Wawel, however, wasn’t just the center of secular rule but also an important place for Church hierarchy embodied – since the year 1000 – by the bishop of Kraków. Despite the absence of the head of state Kraków was steadily gaining power as the seat of religious rule. It’s no accident that the second Wawel Cathedral, the Romanesque church we can see today, was dubbed Herman’s Cathedral.

Kraków’s importance likely increased towards the end of Wrymouth’s rule – in his will he designates this city to be the capital of the Seniorate Province. That’s how Kraków became the most important city in the country. After the Fragmentation of Poland ended Kraków became the capital of the unified state. The unification was achieved by Władysław the Short (AKA the Elbow-high) after a long fight against the Czech King Wenceslaus. Władysław’s coronation took place in 1320 – it was the first coronation to happen in Kraków. The prestige of the city was greatly increased. Kraków became the traditional place of Polish kings and queens’ coronation. Władysław the Short’s burial also set a precedent for the Wawel Cathedral to become the resting place of the monarchs. Meanwhile the Gothic castle became the kings’ residence. It was thoroughly remodeled during the reign of Zygmunt I the Old of the Jagiellonian dynasty – a new palace with impressive courtyard surrounded by arcades and representative 2^nd floor chambers was built. Royal funerals, baptisms, weddings, alnd of course coronations, were carried out in the neighboring cathedral.

After two consecutive fires in the royal chambers, in 1595, the king along with his family moved to a suburban residence in Łobzów. King Zygmunt III Vasa left Wawel for good in 1609 – he went to war at Smoleńsk and never came back instead settling in Warsaw.

This wasn’t the end for the Wawel Castle or the cathedral however. During the Baroque both structures were greatly affected by the new style. In the royal chambers we can observe an ascetic, so-called “Vasa” kind of Baroque manifested as cordovans, paintings (P.P. Rubens among others), portals and other interior design details and items. In the cathedral there are numerous works of Fransisco Placidi, the author of many late-Baroque altar pieces and gravestones.

Wawel is a real mix of monuments from different ages. In the halls of the castle there are multiple friezes and plafonds from the Inter War period while the cathedral houses some Young Poland stained-glass windows and polychromes. The Wawel Hill is still alive, the cathedral isn’t just a museum. The best proof is the presidential burial that happened here in 2010 (the decision was quite controversial) as well as placement of John Paul II’s relics in a special reliquary after his beatification in May 2011.

For more information take a look at the other articles or… come straight to Kraków!