Wawel Cathedral

Why visit?

Wawel Cathedral is Poland's most important church — the place of royal coronations and burials, a witness to entire epochs of history. The present Gothic church was consecrated in 1364 in the presence of Casimir the Great, and it was preceded by two Romanesque cathedrals, the first raised as early as around the year 1000. Before its high altar, Polish monarchs from Władysław Łokietek (1320) to Augustus III were crowned. The interior is a labyrinth of more than twenty chapels, dominated by the Sigismund Chapel — Bartolommeo Berrecci's masterpiece, consecrated in 1533 and considered the purest example of Italian Renaissance north of the Alps, with tombs of Sigismund the Old, Sigismund Augustus and Anna Jagiellon. In the Sigismund Tower hangs the Sigismund Bell, cast in 1520 and weighing around 11 tonnes — for centuries the largest bell in the country, rung only on the most solemn occasions. Beneath the floor lie the Royal Tombs: in the St. Leonard's Crypt rest, among others, John III Sobieski and Tadeusz Kościuszko; in the Crypt of the Bards, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki; nearby Józef Piłsudski and Lech Kaczyński. The combined ticket (26 zł standard, 18 zł concession) covers the cathedral, the bell tower, the crypts and the Cathedral Museum; reaching the tower requires climbing steep stairs, and in season it is worth coming early because of the queues. On Sundays the cathedral opens to tourists only after the masses (from 12:30). Allow 1.5–2 hours for the cathedral with the crypts and the tower.

What you’ll see

• Kaplica Zygmuntowska — perła renesansu Berrecciego
• Dzwon Zygmunt z 1520 roku na Wieży Zygmuntowskiej
• Groby Królewskie: krypty królów, wieszczów i prezydentów
• Gotyckie wnętrze z ponad dwudziestoma kaplicami
• Muzeum Katedralne ze skarbami kapituły

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