wawel
wawel Castel
The beginnings of the residence of Polish rulers on Wawel hill go back to an early Romanesque stone building from mid 11th century, called the palatium, whose remains are located in the northern wing of the present-day Castle. In time, the prince’s residence on the hill was expanded eastwards. Along with the cathedral it was called “the Upper Castle”, while “the Lower Castle” was a settlement consisting of courtiers’ and clergy’s houses and churches other than the cathedral.
In the 14th century the Castle was considerably expanded by Ladislas the Short, and his son Casimir the Great built an impressive Gothic residence consisting of several buildings grouped around an irregular courtyard in the eastern part of the hill. During the reign of Ladislas Jagiello, at the turn of the 15th century, a Gothic pavilion, later known as the Danish Tower, was added to the Castle. After this time the complex remained unchanged until the fire in 1499.
Around 1504, King Alexander Jagiello commissioned a German architect Eberhard and an Italian sculptor and architect Francesco the Florentine to rebuild the Gothic residence in a Renaissance fashion. The King’s brother Sigismund I (the Old) continued this enterprise from 1507. Master Francesco, the creator of the decorative stone bay window in the western wing, had erected the eastern wing of the castle, and begun the construction of the arcaded galleries before his death in 1516. Further work was conducted by Master Benedict and then by the famous Bartholomeo Berrecci (the creator of Sigismund’s Chapel in the Cathedral). After his death in 1537 the work was continued by Niccolo Castiglione and Mateo the Italian. The interior decorations were created by sculptors, wood carvers – Sebastian Tauerbach and Hans the Wood-Carver, who built the wooden ceilings, and painters who decorated the walls with friezes and painted royal portraits. The Castle’s halls and chambers gained much splendour after Sigismund I Augustus acquired magnificent Flemish tapestries.
The Renaissance building, preserved to this day, with its beautiful arcaded courtyard, is impressive in its monumental layout, spacious, brightly lit interiors, and magnificent use of architectural forms originating from ancient art, hitherto unknown in Poland. The building was a breakthrough in the development of architecture in Poland. In the 16th century the Castle was the seat of the Lower House (Seym) whose sessions were held in the Envoys’ Room. The sessions of the Senate were held in the Senatorial Chamber.
After the fire in 1595 a part of the Castle’s northern wing was rebuilt in the early Baroque style by Sigismund III (Vasa) who commissioned two Italian artists: the architect Giovanni Trevano and the painter Tommaso Dolabella. From the time the royal court permanently moved to Warsaw (c. 1610), the Polish monarchs resided in Wawel only periodically, mostly to attend lavish weddings, coronations and funerals. In 1702, under Swedish occupation, there was another dangerous fire in the Castle. Although later restored, it never attained its original splendour again.
After Poland lost its independence in 1796, the Austrians took over the Castle and turned it into military quarters. In the early 19th century the arcaded galleries were bricked over. After the occupying Austrian army left the Castle in 1911 and returned it to the Poles, its restoration began. This lasted half a century and restored the Castle almost to its original condition. First, the restoration was supervised by architect Zygmunt Hendel, later (from 1916 until Second World War) by his successor Adolf Szyszko-Bochusz, and then primarily by Alfred Majewski. A museum was established in the interiors with Sigismund Augustus’ tapestries, recovered from Soviet Russia, as the main exhibit. In the inter-war period the Castle was also a residence of the Head of State. In the last decade of the 20th century the entire complex – now in the care of Wawel Royal Castle Museum - State Art Collection – underwent a further thorough restoration.
In the 14th century the Castle was considerably expanded by Ladislas the Short, and his son Casimir the Great built an impressive Gothic residence consisting of several buildings grouped around an irregular courtyard in the eastern part of the hill. During the reign of Ladislas Jagiello, at the turn of the 15th century, a Gothic pavilion, later known as the Danish Tower, was added to the Castle. After this time the complex remained unchanged until the fire in 1499.
Around 1504, King Alexander Jagiello commissioned a German architect Eberhard and an Italian sculptor and architect Francesco the Florentine to rebuild the Gothic residence in a Renaissance fashion. The King’s brother Sigismund I (the Old) continued this enterprise from 1507. Master Francesco, the creator of the decorative stone bay window in the western wing, had erected the eastern wing of the castle, and begun the construction of the arcaded galleries before his death in 1516. Further work was conducted by Master Benedict and then by the famous Bartholomeo Berrecci (the creator of Sigismund’s Chapel in the Cathedral). After his death in 1537 the work was continued by Niccolo Castiglione and Mateo the Italian. The interior decorations were created by sculptors, wood carvers – Sebastian Tauerbach and Hans the Wood-Carver, who built the wooden ceilings, and painters who decorated the walls with friezes and painted royal portraits. The Castle’s halls and chambers gained much splendour after Sigismund I Augustus acquired magnificent Flemish tapestries.
The Renaissance building, preserved to this day, with its beautiful arcaded courtyard, is impressive in its monumental layout, spacious, brightly lit interiors, and magnificent use of architectural forms originating from ancient art, hitherto unknown in Poland. The building was a breakthrough in the development of architecture in Poland. In the 16th century the Castle was the seat of the Lower House (Seym) whose sessions were held in the Envoys’ Room. The sessions of the Senate were held in the Senatorial Chamber.
After the fire in 1595 a part of the Castle’s northern wing was rebuilt in the early Baroque style by Sigismund III (Vasa) who commissioned two Italian artists: the architect Giovanni Trevano and the painter Tommaso Dolabella. From the time the royal court permanently moved to Warsaw (c. 1610), the Polish monarchs resided in Wawel only periodically, mostly to attend lavish weddings, coronations and funerals. In 1702, under Swedish occupation, there was another dangerous fire in the Castle. Although later restored, it never attained its original splendour again.
After Poland lost its independence in 1796, the Austrians took over the Castle and turned it into military quarters. In the early 19th century the arcaded galleries were bricked over. After the occupying Austrian army left the Castle in 1911 and returned it to the Poles, its restoration began. This lasted half a century and restored the Castle almost to its original condition. First, the restoration was supervised by architect Zygmunt Hendel, later (from 1916 until Second World War) by his successor Adolf Szyszko-Bochusz, and then primarily by Alfred Majewski. A museum was established in the interiors with Sigismund Augustus’ tapestries, recovered from Soviet Russia, as the main exhibit. In the inter-war period the Castle was also a residence of the Head of State. In the last decade of the 20th century the entire complex – now in the care of Wawel Royal Castle Museum - State Art Collection – underwent a further thorough restoration.
wawel hill
Wawel Hill – a Jurassic limestone rock, a dominant feature in the landscape of Cracow (about 228 m above see level) was formed about 150 million years ago. Situated on the bank of the Vistula river, surrounded by waters and marshes, the hill provided a safe haven for people who have settled here since the Paleolithic Age. It is supposed that the Slav people started living on Wawel hill as early as the 7th century.
Early medieval legends tell stories about a dreadful dragon that lived in a cave on Wawel Hill, about his slayer Krakus, and about the latter’s daughter Wanda, who drowned herself in the Vistula rather than marry a German knight.
Towards the end of the first millennium A.D Wawel began to play the role of the centre of political power.
In the 9th century it became the principal fortified castrum of the Vislane tribe. The first historical ruler of Poland, Miesco I (c.965-992) of the Piast dynasty as well as his successors: Boleslas the Brave (992-1025) and Miesco II (1025-1034) chose Wawel Hill as one of their residences.
At that time Wawel became one of the main Polish centres of Christianity. The first early Romanesque and Romanesque sacral buildings were raised here, including a stone cathedral that was erected after the bishopric of Cracow was established in the year 1000.
During the reign of Casimir the Restorer (1034-1058) Wawel became a significant political and administrative centre for the Polish State. Casimir’s son, Boleslas the Bold (1058-1079) began the construction of a second Romanesque cathedral, which was finished by Boleslas the Wrymouth (1102-1138). In his last will of 1138, this prince divided Poland into districts, and provided that Cracow was to be the residence of the senior prince. In 1291 the city of Cracow along with Wawel Hill temporarily fell under the Czech rule, and Wenceslas II from the Premysl dynasty was crowned King of Poland in Wawel cathedral.
In 1306 the Duke of Kuyavia Ladislas the Short (1306-1333) entered Wawel and was crowned King of Poland in the Cathedral in 1320. It was the first historically recorded coronation of a Polish ruler on Wawel Hill. Around that time, at the initiative of Ladislas the Short, the construction of the third Gothic cathedral began, the castle was expanded and the old wooden and earthen fortifications were replaced by brick ones. The tomb of Ladislas the Short in the cathedral started a royal necropolis of Polish kings in Krakow.
The last descendant of the Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great (1333-1370) brought Wawel to a state of unprecedented splendour. In 1364 the expanded gothic castle witnessed the marriage of Casimir’s granddaughter Elizabeth to Charles IV accompanied by a famous convention of kings and princes, subsequently entertained by a rich burgher Wierzynek.
The accession to the throne in 1385 of Jadwiga from the Hungarian dynasty of Andegavens, and her marriage to a Lithuanian prince Ladislas Jagiello (1386-1434) started another era of prosperity for Wawel. The royal court employed local and western European artists and also Rus painters. During the reign of Casimir Jagiellon (1447-1492) the silhouette of the hill was enriched by three high brick towers: the Thieves’ Tower, the Sandomierz Tower and the Senatorial Tower. The first humanists in Poland and tutors to the king’s sons: historian Jan Długosz and an Italian by the name Filippo Buonacorsi (also known as Callimachus) worked there at that time.
The Italian Renaissance arrived at Wawel in the early 16th century. King Alexander (1501-1506) and his brother Sigismund I the Old (1506-1548) commissioned the construction of a new palace in place of the Gothic residence, with an impressive large courtyard with arcaded galleries which was completed about 1540. Sigismund’s patronage also left an indelible impression in the cathedral, where a family chapel was erected, known today as Sigismund’s Chapel - the work of Bartolomeo of Berrecci Florence, and through various foundations, one of which was that of a large bell, called the Sigismund to commemorate the king. Close artistic and cultural relations with Italy were strengthened in 1518 by the king’s marriage to Bona Sforza. Alongside Italian artists, German architects, wood workers, painters and metal smiths worked for the king. The last descendant of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1572), enriched the castle’s interiors with a magnificent collection of tapestries woven in Brussels. In the “Golden Age” of Polish culture Wawel became one of the main centres of humanism in Europe.
The reign of Sigismund III Waza (1587-1632) also made a strong impression on the history of Wawel. After a fire in the castle in 1595 the king rebuilt the burned wing of the building in the early Baroque style. The relocation of the royal court to Warsaw was the cause of a slow but nevertheless steady deterioration in the castle’s condition. The monarchs visited Cracow only occasionally. Restoration of the castle was undertaken during the reign of John III Sobieski, the Wettins and Stanislas Augustus to counteract neglect.
After Poland had lost its independence in 1795, the troops of partitioning nations, Russia, Prussia and Austria, subsequently occupied Wawel which finally passed into the hands of the Austrians. The new owners converted the castle and some of the secular buildings into a military hospital, and demolished some others, including churches. After the period of the Free City of Cracow (1815-1846) Wawel was once more annexed by Austria and turned into a citadel dominating the city. By the resolution passed by the Seym of Galicia in 1880, the castle was presented as a residence to the Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I. The Austrian troops left the hill between 1905-1911. At the turn of the 20th century a thorough restoration of the cathedral was conducted, and shortly afterwards a process of restoration of the royal castle began which lasted several decades.
When Poland regained its independence in 1918, the castle served as an official residence of the Head of State, and as a museum of historic interiors. During the Nazi occupation the castle was the residence of the German governor general, Hans Frank. Polish people managed to remove the most valuable objects, including the tapestries and the “Szczerbiec” coronation sword to Canada, from where they returned as late as 1959-1961. At present, the main curators of Wawel are Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection and the Metropolitan Basilica Board on Wawel Hill.
Early medieval legends tell stories about a dreadful dragon that lived in a cave on Wawel Hill, about his slayer Krakus, and about the latter’s daughter Wanda, who drowned herself in the Vistula rather than marry a German knight.
Towards the end of the first millennium A.D Wawel began to play the role of the centre of political power.
In the 9th century it became the principal fortified castrum of the Vislane tribe. The first historical ruler of Poland, Miesco I (c.965-992) of the Piast dynasty as well as his successors: Boleslas the Brave (992-1025) and Miesco II (1025-1034) chose Wawel Hill as one of their residences.
At that time Wawel became one of the main Polish centres of Christianity. The first early Romanesque and Romanesque sacral buildings were raised here, including a stone cathedral that was erected after the bishopric of Cracow was established in the year 1000.
During the reign of Casimir the Restorer (1034-1058) Wawel became a significant political and administrative centre for the Polish State. Casimir’s son, Boleslas the Bold (1058-1079) began the construction of a second Romanesque cathedral, which was finished by Boleslas the Wrymouth (1102-1138). In his last will of 1138, this prince divided Poland into districts, and provided that Cracow was to be the residence of the senior prince. In 1291 the city of Cracow along with Wawel Hill temporarily fell under the Czech rule, and Wenceslas II from the Premysl dynasty was crowned King of Poland in Wawel cathedral.
In 1306 the Duke of Kuyavia Ladislas the Short (1306-1333) entered Wawel and was crowned King of Poland in the Cathedral in 1320. It was the first historically recorded coronation of a Polish ruler on Wawel Hill. Around that time, at the initiative of Ladislas the Short, the construction of the third Gothic cathedral began, the castle was expanded and the old wooden and earthen fortifications were replaced by brick ones. The tomb of Ladislas the Short in the cathedral started a royal necropolis of Polish kings in Krakow.
The last descendant of the Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great (1333-1370) brought Wawel to a state of unprecedented splendour. In 1364 the expanded gothic castle witnessed the marriage of Casimir’s granddaughter Elizabeth to Charles IV accompanied by a famous convention of kings and princes, subsequently entertained by a rich burgher Wierzynek.
The accession to the throne in 1385 of Jadwiga from the Hungarian dynasty of Andegavens, and her marriage to a Lithuanian prince Ladislas Jagiello (1386-1434) started another era of prosperity for Wawel. The royal court employed local and western European artists and also Rus painters. During the reign of Casimir Jagiellon (1447-1492) the silhouette of the hill was enriched by three high brick towers: the Thieves’ Tower, the Sandomierz Tower and the Senatorial Tower. The first humanists in Poland and tutors to the king’s sons: historian Jan Długosz and an Italian by the name Filippo Buonacorsi (also known as Callimachus) worked there at that time.
The Italian Renaissance arrived at Wawel in the early 16th century. King Alexander (1501-1506) and his brother Sigismund I the Old (1506-1548) commissioned the construction of a new palace in place of the Gothic residence, with an impressive large courtyard with arcaded galleries which was completed about 1540. Sigismund’s patronage also left an indelible impression in the cathedral, where a family chapel was erected, known today as Sigismund’s Chapel - the work of Bartolomeo of Berrecci Florence, and through various foundations, one of which was that of a large bell, called the Sigismund to commemorate the king. Close artistic and cultural relations with Italy were strengthened in 1518 by the king’s marriage to Bona Sforza. Alongside Italian artists, German architects, wood workers, painters and metal smiths worked for the king. The last descendant of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1572), enriched the castle’s interiors with a magnificent collection of tapestries woven in Brussels. In the “Golden Age” of Polish culture Wawel became one of the main centres of humanism in Europe.
The reign of Sigismund III Waza (1587-1632) also made a strong impression on the history of Wawel. After a fire in the castle in 1595 the king rebuilt the burned wing of the building in the early Baroque style. The relocation of the royal court to Warsaw was the cause of a slow but nevertheless steady deterioration in the castle’s condition. The monarchs visited Cracow only occasionally. Restoration of the castle was undertaken during the reign of John III Sobieski, the Wettins and Stanislas Augustus to counteract neglect.
After Poland had lost its independence in 1795, the troops of partitioning nations, Russia, Prussia and Austria, subsequently occupied Wawel which finally passed into the hands of the Austrians. The new owners converted the castle and some of the secular buildings into a military hospital, and demolished some others, including churches. After the period of the Free City of Cracow (1815-1846) Wawel was once more annexed by Austria and turned into a citadel dominating the city. By the resolution passed by the Seym of Galicia in 1880, the castle was presented as a residence to the Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I. The Austrian troops left the hill between 1905-1911. At the turn of the 20th century a thorough restoration of the cathedral was conducted, and shortly afterwards a process of restoration of the royal castle began which lasted several decades.
When Poland regained its independence in 1918, the castle served as an official residence of the Head of State, and as a museum of historic interiors. During the Nazi occupation the castle was the residence of the German governor general, Hans Frank. Polish people managed to remove the most valuable objects, including the tapestries and the “Szczerbiec” coronation sword to Canada, from where they returned as late as 1959-1961. At present, the main curators of Wawel are Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection and the Metropolitan Basilica Board on Wawel Hill.