Sandomierz Tower
Kraków Monuments
One of the three surviving towers on Wawel Hill, on its south-western edge. Together with the Lubranka (Senators') Tower it forms a pair of so-called fire towers from the mid-15th century. It was first mentioned in sources as a new tower in connection with an event of 1462, when six councillors were beheaded on the hill next to it after the townspeople murdered the magnate Jędrzej Tęczyński. According to tradition, nobles from the Sandomierz region were held in it. In 2003-2004 three shooting bays and the gallery of the third floor were reconstructed.
History
The Sandomierska Tower is one of three towers that survive on Wawel Hill. Together with the Lubranka Tower, also known as the Senators' Tower, it forms a unique group of so-called fire towers from the mid-15th century. It was built around the middle of the 15th century at a corner of the Gothic defensive walls that once surrounded the hill, and it originally had a conical roof.
It first appears in the records as the "new tower" in connection with the events of 1462. That year townspeople murdered the magnate Jędrzej Tęczyński, and six city councillors were beheaded on the hill, next to the tower. Its cellar once housed a prison dungeon; according to tradition, noblemen from the Sandomierz region were held there.
In the 16th-17th centuries the lower storeys were converted into quarters for the starost's servants. By the 18th century the tower was in poor condition. In 1856 the Austrians changed its roof and added an annexe with a staircase; these alterations were removed by Zygmunt Hendel during works in 1911-1914. The most recent conservation took place in 2003-2004, to a design by Piotr Stępień and Stanisław Karczmarczyk. Three shooting oriels and the third-floor gallery were reconstructed, external stairs to that gallery were added, and the original layout of the ceilings was restored on the upper floors. The Gothic stone window frames have survived to this day.
It is the highest point of the castle open to visitors - only the Senators' Tower is higher. From the entrance to the top viewpoint you climb 137 steps, and your reward is a view over the Vistula.
Did you know?
A stretch of stone defensive walls runs beside the tower, and next to them is the outlet of the channel through which the Bar Confederates got into Wawel in 1772.