Wawel Cathedral

Wawel Cathedral, formally the Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, stands on Wawel Hill inside the royal castle complex of Kraków and is the closest thing Poland has to a national pantheon. From 1320 until the last coronation in 1764 it was the coronation church of Polish monarchs, and most of them are buried here. The present Gothic building is the third church on the site: the first cathedral was destroyed in 1038/39 and the second burned around 1305, and the current structure was consecrated in 1364 under Casimir the Great. Centuries of additions have wrapped it in chapels in every style from Romanesque to neo-Gothic.

Three things stand out. The first is Sigismund's Chapel on the south side, with its gilded dome, built between 1517 and 1533 by the Florentine Bartolommeo Berrecci for King Sigismund the Old and often called the purest piece of Italian Renaissance architecture north of the Alps; beside it stands the later Vasa Chapel. The second is the Sigismund Bell, installed in 1521, nearly 13 tonnes of bronze that rings only on great national and church occasions; visitors can climb the tower to see it. The third is the silver coffin of Saint Stanislaus, the national patron, beneath a black marble canopy over the high altar, made in 1669–71 after the Swedes looted its predecessor.

Below the floor lie the royal crypts. Alongside kings such as John III Sobieski lie the heroes the nation chose to honour after it lost its independence: Tadeusz Kościuszko, Prince Józef Poniatowski, Marshal Józef Piłsudski and General Władysław Sikorski, while the poets Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki rest in the National Bards' crypt. The Romanesque crypt of St Leonard, a survivor of the second cathedral, is where Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, said his first Mass as a priest in 1946.

The cathedral is part of the Historic Centre of Kraków, among the first sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. The church is an active place of worship.

Getting there

Wawel Hill rises in central Kraków, less than 1 km from the city centre. Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK) is about 11 km away.