Wawel Royal Castle
Kraków Monuments
A historic defensive and residential castle on Wawel Hill, today home to the museum State Art Collections - Wawel Royal Castle, with 7,040 m² of space and 71 exhibition rooms. Excavations showed that as early as the 11th century the hill held many masonry buildings, and a larger defensive castle was raised at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, when the capital of Poland moved to Kraków. Over the centuries the castle was rebuilt and renovated many times after fires, plundering and the passage of foreign armies, so its style, interiors and furnishings kept changing. Walk around the hill and see how different eras left their mark on these walls.
History
For centuries the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill was the seat of Poland's rulers, and its appearance changed many times. Fires, looting and the passage of foreign armies meant it was rebuilt in new styles and its interiors were remodelled.
Excavations have shown that as early as the 11th century many masonry buildings, including residential ones, stood on the hill. A larger Romanesque defensive castle was built at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, when the capital of Poland was moved to Kraków. Around 1265 Bolesław Wstydliwy (the Chaste) rebuilt the timber-and-earth fortifications, and stone defensive walls already stood here in 1289. In the 14th century Kazimierz III Wielki (Casimir the Great) enlarged the residence to meet the needs of the state administration. Under Jadwiga Andegaweńska and Władysław II Jagiełło, the Danish Tower and the Hen's Foot Tower (Kurza Stopka) were added.
The castle owes its Renaissance form to the rebuilding that followed the death of Jan Olbracht. It was begun by King Aleksander Jagiellończyk, who in 1504 entrusted the work to the Italian architect Franciszek Florentczyk (Francesco Fiorentino). Zygmunt I Stary (Sigismund the Old) continued the project: the north wing was built in 1507-1515 and the east wing in 1520-1529, after his marriage to Bona Sforza. After Florentczyk's death the work was directed by Bartłomiej Berrecci. In the same years the Sigismund Chapel was built beside the cathedral. The residence, completed in 1536, burned down that very same year and was rebuilt after 1537. In 1595 a fire destroyed the roofs, and after repairs carried out under Zygmunt III Waza (Sigismund III Vasa) the castle gained early Baroque decoration. In 1606 the king moved permanently to Warsaw.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the castle was damaged by the Swedish Deluge, a fire in 1702 and the fighting of the Bar Confederates in 1772. In 1795 the Prussians broke into the treasury and plundered the Polish royal insignia. From 1796 the castle was occupied by Austrian troops, who turned it into barracks. In 1903 the authorities of Kraków and Galicia bought the garrison buildings on the hill from the Austrian army, and from 1905 a restoration was carried out, led in turn by Zygmunt Hendel and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, among others. In 1930 a museum was established here.
During the German occupation the castle served as the office and residence of Governor-General Hans Frank. After the war the interiors were restored to their Renaissance, Baroque and partly Neoclassical appearance. Today, in the museum Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki - Zamek Królewski na Wawelu (Wawel Royal Castle - State Art Collection), visitors can see, among other things, the famous tapestries of Zygmunt August and Szczerbiec, the sword used at the coronations of Polish kings.
Did you know?
The Hen's Foot Tower (Kurza Stopka), one of the castle's towers, had an unusual use: it served as a dansker, a medieval castle toilet projecting beyond the walls.