WAWEL CATHEDRAL

Standing on top of the Wawel Hill, within the castle grounds, the cathedral is undoubtedly the most important church in Poland and one of its most symbolic buildings. From the 16th century onwards, monarchs and their families were buried in the crypt, and in the 19th century it also became a national pantheon. If its original form of 1364 is maintained, its appearance is far from uniform, each king having added his touch to the building. To the left of the entrance are bones of the so-called Wawel dragon hanging from large iron chains (actually bones of various prehistoric creatures).

The mausoleum of St. Stanislaus(mauzoleum Św. Stanisława), patron saint of Poland, is the centerpiece of the cathedral. His relics are contained in a carved, silver-plated sarcophagus built in Gdańsk between 1669 and 1671. Since its transfer to the Wawel in 1254, kings have paid homage to it at their coronations. Sheltered under a baroque pink and black marble baldachin, the sarcophagus is worshipped: Polish visitors are still sometimes seen making a short genuflection before the saint. During the monarchy, the saint represented the divine right of the Polish nation and kings symbolically placed their war trophies before him. To the right of him is the sarcophagus of Ladislaus Jagellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, who defeated the Teutonic Knights and founded his great royal dynasty.

The Sigismund Chapel(kaplica Zygmuntowska) is built in the Italian style and is topped by a coffered dome decorated with rosettes and covered with golden scales. Inside the church are the queens Anna Jagellon, Hedwig, King Sigismund I the Old and his son Sigismund Augustus. The altar consists of a polyptych of twelve silver panels.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross(kaplica Świętokrzyska) holds the sarcophagus of Casimir Jagellon, made in 1492. This chapel is exceptional in Europe as it preserves its original Byzantine-inspired frescoes, made in 1470 by artists of the Russian school of Pskov.

On thealtar of the Lord Jesus Crucified(Ołtarz z Czarnym Chrystusem) Queen Hedwig is said to have had a mystical vision. Arranged on a silver plate, her crucifix consists of a "black" Christ, made of dark wood, integrated with a baroque altar made of black marble.

The royal crypts(Groby Królewskie) allow visitors to visit the place where monarchs and national heroes since the seventeenth century have been laid to rest, such as Tadeusz Kosćiuszko, leader of the insurrection against the Russians in 1793, or Marshal Józef Piłsudski. The crypt of St. Leonard, a remnant of the 12th-century Romanesque church, has the most burials. The tour of the crypts ends with the vault of Lech Kaczynski, the late president, as well as his wife, both of whom died in the April 10, 2010 air disaster in Smolensk. Connected to the royal crypts, the Crypts of the Great National Poets (Krypta Wieszczów Narodowych) preserve the sarcophagi of the two great Romantic poets Adam Mickiewicz and Julius Słowacki, whose remains were transferred from France, where they had lived in exile. In addition, since 2001, a bronze urn containing the earth of the mass grave where the Polish writer, poet and painter Cyprian Kamil Norwid was buried in France, near Paris. Finally, since February 28, 2010, don't miss the white marble medallion created on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin's birth. It is a copy of the medallion on the tomb of the composer, in the heart of the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Thus, all the exiled poets of this small pantheon of artists died in France, far from their homeland which was so dear to them.

The visit of the Sigismund bell is done by an access on the left wing of the cathedral. Erected in the 14th century, Sigismund's Tower(Wieża Zygmuntowska) can be reached by a staircase from the sacristy and offers a spectacular view of the city. It leads to the five bells of the cathedral, among which is the Sigismund bell (1521). This bell is famous for several reasons: the first is that with its 2.60 meters diameter and its 12 tons it is the largest in Poland and the second largest in the world! To operate its 350 kg hammer, no less than 8 men are needed (and strong ones at that!); the second reason is that this bell is traditionally rung to announce major events such as the birth or death of kings (or to announce national mourning under the modern Republic). Occasionally, when it is rung during festive events and national holidays, it can be heard echoing 30 km away. According to popular superstition, touching the bell will make your dreams come true. Be careful though, because the spell only works once: if you touch it with the right hand, you will get love; if it is the left hand, you will be lucky with money; if you touch it with both hands, you will get nothing! So think carefully before you act...

The cathedral museum exhibits various treasures from the history of the cathedral. Among the exhibits are the spear of St. Maurice, a crown from the 14th century that would have belonged to Casimir the Great, the coat worn by Stanislas August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland, etc