Wawel until the mid-11th c Wawel Hill – a Jurassic limestone rock, a dominant feature in the landscape of Cracow (about 228 m above see level) was formed about 150 million years ago. Situated on the bank of the Vistula river, surrounded by waters and marshes, the hill provided a safe haven for people who have settled here since the Paleolithic Age. It is supposed that the Slav people started living on Wawel hill as early as the 7th century. Thanks to its location, on the crossroads of the merchant routes, Wawel developed rapidly and in the 9th century it became the principal fortified castrum of the Vistulan tribe. Early medieval legends tell stories about a dreadful dragon that lived in a cave on Wawel Hill, about his slayer Krakus, and about the latter’s daughter Wanda, who drowned herself in the Vistula rather than marry a German knight. In 10th century the Vistulans’ lands were included in the territory of the Polish State which was being formed at that time. Towards the end of the first millennium A.D Wawel began to play the role of the centre of political power. The first historical ruler of Poland, Miesco I (c ) of the Piast dynasty as well as his successors: Boleslas the Brave ( ) and Miesco II ( ) chose Wawel Hill as one of their residences. At that time Wawel became one of the main Polish centres of Christianity. The first early Romanesque and Romanesque sacral buildings were raised here, including a stone cathedral that was erected after the bishopric of Cracow was established in the year 1000.

Romanesque architecture (mid-11th c until the beginning of 12th c) During the reign of Casimir the Restorer ( ) Wawel became a significant political and administrative centre for the Polish State. Casimir’s son, Boleslas the Bold ( ) began the construction of a second Romanesque cathedral, which was finished by Boleslas the Wrymouth ( ). In his last will of 1138, this prince divided Poland into districts, and provided that Cracow was to be the residence of the senior prince. In 1291 the city of Cracow along with Wawel Hill temporarily fell under the Czech rule, and Wenceslas II from the Premysl dynasty was crowned King of Poland in Wawel cathedral. The following buildings were erected at that time: stone building from mid 11th century, called the palatium, whose remains are located in the northern wing of the present-day Castle Fortified Tower by The Hen’s Foot Sandomierska Tower St. Geron’s Chuch - probably the palace chapel

Gothic (the beginning of 13th c until the beginning of 16 th c ) In 1306 the Duke of Kuyavia Ladislas the Short ( ) entered Wawel and was crowned King of Poland in the Cathedral in It was the first historically recorded coronation of a Polish ruler on Wawel Hill. Around that time, at the initiative of Ladislas the Short, the construction of the third Gothic cathedral began, the castle was expanded and the old wooden and earthen fortifications were replaced by brick ones. The tomb of Ladislas the Short in the cathedral started a royal necropolis of Polish kings in Krakow. The last descendant of the Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great ( ) brought Wawel to a state of unprecedented splendour. In 1364 the expanded gothic castle witnessed the marriage of Casimir’s granddaughter Elizabeth to Charles IV accompanied by a famous convention of kings and princes, subsequently entertained by a rich burgher Wierzynek. The accession to the throne in 1385 of Jadwiga from the Hungarian dynasty of Andegavens, and her marriage to a Lithuanian prince Ladislas Jagiello ( ) started another era of prosperity for Wawel. The royal court employed local and western European artists and also Rus painters. During the reign of Casimir Jagiellon ( ) the silhouette of the hill was enriched by three high brick towers: the Thieves’ Tower, the Sandomierz Tower and the Senatorial Tower. The first humanists in Poland and tutors to the king’s sons: historian Jan Długosz and an Italian by the name Filippo Buonacorsi (also known as Callimachus) worked there at that time.

Renaissance (16th c) The Italian Renaissance arrived at Wawel in the early 16th century. King Alexander ( ) and his brother Sigismund I the Old ( ) commissioned the construction of a new palace in place of the Gothic residence, with an impressive large courtyard with arcaded galleries which was completed about Sigismund’s patronage also left an indelible impression in the cathedral, where a family chapel was erected, known today as Sigismund’s Chapel - the work of Bartolomeo of Berrecci Florence, and through various foundations, one of which was that of a large bell, called the Sigismund to commemorate the king. Close artistic and cultural relations with Italy were strengthened in 1518 by the king’s marriage to Bona Sforza. Alongside Italian artists, German architects, wood workers, painters and metal smiths worked for the king. The last descendant of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Sigismund II Augustus ( ), enriched the castle’s interiors with a magnificent collection of tapestries woven in Brussels. In the “Golden Age” of Polish culture Wawel became one of the main centres of humanism in Europe.

Baroque (17th and 18th c) The reign of Sigismund III Waza ( ) also made a strong impression on the history of Wawel. After a fire in the castle in 1595 the king rebuilt the burned wing of the building in the early Baroque style. The relocation of the royal court to Warsaw was the cause of a slow but nevertheless steady deterioration in the castle’s condition. The monarchs visited Cracow only occasionally. Restoration of the castle was undertaken during the reign of John III Sobieski, the Wettins and Stanislas Augustus to counteract neglect.

The end of 18th c until today After Poland had lost its independence in 1795, the troops of partitioning nations, Russia, Prussia and Austria, subsequently occupied Wawel which finally passed into the hands of the Austrians. The new owners converted the castle and some of the secular buildings into a military hospital, and demolished some others, including churches. After the period of the Free City of Cracow ( ) Wawel was once more annexed by Austria and turned into a citadel dominating the city. By the resolution passed by the Seym of Galicia in 1880, the castle was presented as a residence to the Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I. The Austrian troops left the hill between At the turn of the 20th century a thorough restoration of the cathedral was conducted, and shortly afterwards a process of restoration of the royal castle began which lasted several decades. When Poland regained its independence in 1918, the castle served as an official residence of the Head of State, and as a museum of historic interiors. During the Nazi occupation the castle was the residence of the German governor general, Hans Frank. Polish people managed to remove the most valuable objects, including the tapestries and the “Szczerbiec” coronation sword to Canada, from where they returned as late as At present, the main curators of Wawel are Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection and the Metropolitan Basilica Board on Wawel Hill

Wawel from bird’s eye view

Wawel

View from Stradom Street

Sandomierska Tower

Bernardyńska Gate

Bernardyńska Gate and Sandomierska Tower

Kobieca Tower called also Panieńska Tower

Tęczyńska Tower

Bernardyńska Gate and Senatorial Tower

Senatorial Tower

Danish Tower and the Hen’s Foot

Hen’s Foot and Sigismund III Vasa Tower

Caponier built by the Austrians in

View from Podzamcze Street –Sobieski Tower and Zygmuntowska Tower

The Wawel Cathedral, Zygmuntowska Tower and Clock Tower

Bastia and the Monument of Kościuszko

Herbowa Gate

Vasa Gate

Wawel

Wawel Cathedral

Sigismund's Chapel

The Lost Wawel

Ruins of St. Michael's church – in the background Thieves' Tower

Vicar House and Ruins of St. Michael's church

Former Royal Kitchens – at present the location of the Royal Castle Management

Arcade of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill

cloistered

Royal Gardens – closed to visitors

The location of Wawel administration

Thieves’ Tower

Wawel’s fortification

The dragon of Wawel