Wawel Cathedral, Krakow: Where Poland’s History Is Literally Buried

Wawel Hill above the Vistula has been the most politically and spiritually significant site in Poland for roughly a thousand years. The cathedral has served as the coronation church for Polish monarchs since the 11th century; the royal castle beside it was the seat of the court until the capital moved to Warsaw in 1596. Every major chapter in Polish history from the Piast dynasty through the Partitions and the 20th century has a physical trace on this hill, which makes walking through it unusually affecting.

The Sigismund Chapel (1533) is the specific architectural reason art historians make the journey to Krakow. Designed by Bartolomeo Berrecci in pure Italian Renaissance style, it is so dramatically different in character from the Gothic and Romanesque fabric surrounding it that the effect is disorienting. The golden dome is visible from outside the cathedral. Michelangelo’s reported comment - that it was the finest 16th-century building north of the Alps - is probably apocryphal but not absurd. The chapel has nothing to prove and knows it.

Visiting Wawel

Entry to the cathedral nave is free. The Royal Tombs beneath the nave cost PLN 12 and the bell tower PLN 10; both require separate queued tickets at the cathedral desk.

The Royal Tombs are worth the small cost. The crypt contains the sarcophagi of Polish kings, the Romantic-era national poet Adam Mickiewicz, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski (the man who re-established Polish independence after World War I and defeated the Soviet invasion in 1920), and the victims of the 2010 Smolensk air disaster in which 96 people including the Polish President died. The combination of medieval monarchy, 19th-century romantic nationalism, and very recent political tragedy in the same stone basement is an experience that no other European crypt replicates.

The Sigismund Bell in the tower weighs 11 tonnes and was cast in 1520. The climb is 70 steps and the view over the Vistula bend is the best civic panorama in Krakow.

The Royal Castle (separate ticket, PLN 30-35 for the State Rooms) has 71 furnished rooms including 136 Brussels and Flemish tapestries commissioned by King Sigismund Augustus in the 16th century - the largest royal tapestry collection in Poland and one of the largest in Europe. Allow 90 minutes.

Krakow Beyond the Hill

Kazimierz, the former Jewish district 15 minutes’ walk southeast of Wawel, was devastated during the German Occupation (1939-45) but substantially restored from the 1990s onward. The Old Synagogue dates from the 15th century (museum, PLN 10). The cafes along Ulica Szeroka are where Krakow spends weekend evenings.

Schindler’s Factory at Ulica Lipowa 4 (PLN 28, advance booking advisable) is a museum covering the German occupation of Krakow installed in Oskar Schindler’s actual enamelware factory. The permanent exhibition is one of the better presentations of World War II occupation in Europe and is not simply a tie-in to the Spielberg film.

Eating and Getting There

Krakow is inexpensive by Western European standards. Bar mleczny (milk bar) cafeterias serve bigos, beet soup, and pierogi for PLN 15-30 per plate. For a proper restaurant: Starka in Kazimierz serves Polish cuisine taken seriously, mains PLN 50-80.

The Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny) is one of the largest medieval market squares in Europe; the Cloth Hall at its centre has been in continuous trading use since the 14th century. Trains from Warsaw run every 2-3 hours (2.5 hours, PKP Intercity, from PLN 50 booked in advance).