The Famous Wawel Castle of Krakow
Wawel Castle is located on Wawel Hill in the Old Town District in Krakow, on the left bank of the Vistula. It’s the historical district of Krakow. Along with Wawel fortifications and Wawel Cathedral, it makes a big historic complex.
The Wawel Royal Castle with the Wawel Cathedral is one of the most important historical and cultural places in Poland. The centuries-old residence of kings and the symbol of Polish statehood, in 1930 the Castle also became one of the most important museums in the country, storing a valuable collection of paintings, graphics, sculptures, textiles, goldsmiths, military items, porcelain, and furniture. In the chambers are exhibited the famous tapestries of Sigismund Augustus and the magnificent Renaissance Italian paintings from the Lanckoronski collection. Wawel’s collections of eastern art include the great and the largest collection of tents in Europe.
Castle collections are presented at several permanent exhibitions, showing the appearance of the royal residence in the 16th and 17th centuries. Each of the exhibitions is visited separately.
It’s a residential-defensive castle, with an area of 7040 m² with 71 exhibition halls. The castle was built in the 13th century and has been extended and renovated over the next centuries. Numerous fires, plunders and marches of foreign troops, combined with the destruction of the residence caused that the building was repeatedly rebuilt in new architectural styles. Its exterior was renovated, and the appearance of the interior and furnishing were transformed and changed.
The History
During the archaeological excavations in the castle, a large number of brick buildings dated to the 11th century were found. They were supposed to be residential buildings too.
A larger fortified castle was built at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries in the northeast corner of the hill. This was the result of the transfer of the Polish capital to Krakow. Krakow was the capital of Poland for almost 700 years in total! The residence was built in the Romanesque style.
In the 14th century, during the reign of Władysław I the Elbow-high, the castle was extended with another tower and other smaller buildings. Casimir III the Great extended the royal residence to allocate it to the room of the state apparatus, greatly enlarged by the king.
In the 16th century, a castle destroyed by fire was reconstructed several years later. The initiators of this project were Prince Zygmunt and King Aleksander Jagiellończyk, who wanted the castle to be built in the Renaissance style.
After another fire, some of the interiors were rebuilt, giving them the decor of the early Roman Baroque.
In 1606, King Zygmunt III Waza moved (along with his court) permanently to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, so the Wawel Castle remained empty. Because of the lack of proper care, the castle was deteriorating really fast.
After the loss of independence from Poland, the invading armies invaded the castle, destroying and plundering the former royal residence. The residence was then allocated to the Austrian army barracks and rebuilt.
Larger rooms were partitioned, many of the ceilings were destroyed, the windows and part of the galleries were bricked up and roofs were lowered. In 1854–1856 conservation works were carried out, giving the castle a neo-Gothic character, depriving it of Renaissance and Baroque architectural elements.
During the German occupation (1939–1945), the residence was the office and the apartment of general governor Hans Frank. Many alterations were made in the interior too. The buildings of old kitchens and coach houses (which already ruined) were combined to form one, new and impressive object of the so-called former Royal Kitchens.
During the occupation, the Germans massively stole works of art from Wawel and from all over Kraków. After World War II, interior preservation was carried out, restoring them to the Renaissance, Baroque and partially Classicist look. They were furnished with the pieces of art purchased or offered from the donors.
In the last decade of the 20th century, the castle underwent a major renovation.
Wawel Cathedral
Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanisław and St. Wacław in Krakow is arch cathedral church, located in Wawel, owned by the archdiocese of Kraków. A place of coronation of Polish kings and their burial. Saints are buried there. There are Stanisław of Szczepanów, other Cracow bishops. Buried there are also almost all kings since Władysław I the Elbow-high to Stanisław Leszczyński (a total of 17 kings including Jadwiga and Anna Jagiellonka) and members of royal families as well as chiefs, political leaders and national bishops.
The cathedral is surrounded by three towers. In the north there is the Sigismund Tower with the famous bell Zygmunt. Second is Clock Tower, taller one, topped with a Baroque cupola, while on the southern side there is a third one, called the Wikary Tower or Silver Bells, because the bells hanging there contain an admixture of silver.
The internal appearance of the cathedral is different from its original look. Over the pillars, there are four wooden statues of the Fathers of the Church, saints: Hieronim, Ambroży, Gregory, and Augustine. Between the pillars of the nave, on both sides, there are tombstones of Polish kings.
The whole cathedral is very richly decorated. Architectural styles are interwoven with: Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic.
Collection
The exhibition includes the oldest and the most important Polish regalia and objects related to religious worship: handicrafts, textiles, paintings, and sculptures from the royal, bishop, and noble foundations, which belong to the most valuable mementos of the Polish Nation. It presents the most valuable objects from different periods, often giving up the chronology of time for the historical and artistic value of the presented works.
The Wawel Cathedral Museum has one of the most valuable art and historical collections of art in Poland. This makes the cathedral an extremely important and worldwide popular place to visit.
Wawel Castle Opening Hours
There are 4 permanent exhibitions: State Rooms, Royal Private Apartments, Oriental Art, Lost Wawel.
Summer Season (April 1 — October 31)
- Monday: only State Rooms and Lost Wawel exhibitions are open and have free admission, 9:30–13:00 (last visitor entry: 12:00)
- Tuesday-Friday: 9:30–17:00 (last visitor entry: 16:00)
- Saturday-Sunday: 10:00–17:00 (last visitor entry: 16:00)
Seasonal exhibitions: April 23 — October 31
Winter Season (November 2 — March 31)
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday-Saturday: 9:30–16:00 (last visitor entry: 15:00); Oriental Art: only 2 entry times per day: 11:00, 14:00
- Sunday: only State Rooms and Lost Wawel exhibitions are open and have free admission, 10:00–16:00 (last visitor entry: 15:00)
Seasonal exhibitions: closed
IMPORTANT: Opening and visiting hours may vary during the holidays. It is advised to check accessibility on the website HERE before choosing the day of visit.
Wawel Cathedral Opening hours
Summer Season (April 1 — October 31)
- Monday-Saturday: Cathedral and Cathedral Museum: 9:00–17:00
- Sunday: Cathedral: 12:30–17:00, Cathedral Museum: closed
Winter Season (November 2 — March 31)
- Monday-Saturday: Cathedral and Cathedral Museum: 9:00–16:00
- Sunday: Cathedral: 12:30–16:00, Cathedral Museum: closed
Wawel Castle Tickets
Summer Season (April 1 — October 31)
Permanent exhibitions:
- State Rooms: normal ticket — 20 PLN, reduced ticket — 12 PLN
- Royal Private Apartments: normal ticket — 27 PLN, reduced ticket — 21 PLN
- Oriental Art: normal ticket — 8 PLN, reduced ticket — 5 PLN
- Lost Wawel: normal ticket — 10 PLN, reduced ticket — 7 PLN
- Crown Treasury and Armoury (CLOSED till May 13, 2019): normal ticket — 20 PLN, reduced ticket — 12 PLN
Seasonal exhibitions (April 23 — October 31):
- Dragon’s Den: admission — 5 PLN
- Sandomierska Tower: admission — 5 PLN
Winter Season (November 2 — March 31)
Permanent exhibitions:
- State Rooms: normal ticket — 18 PLN, reduced ticket — 10 PLN
- Royal Private Apartments: normal ticket — 23 PLN, reduced ticket — 18 PLN
- Oriental Art: normal ticket — 7 PLN, reduced ticket — 4 PLN
- Lost Wawel: normal ticket — 8 PLN, reduced ticket — 5 PLN
- Crown Treasury and Armoury: normal ticket — 18 PLN, reduced ticket — 10 PLN
Seasonal exhibitions: closed
IMPORTANT: Tickets should be bought on the spot at the ticket office, you can’t buy them online. During the Summer season there might very long queues, sometimes waiting time reaches up to 2–4h.
Wawel Cathedral Tickets
- Admission to The Wawel Cathedral is free
- Admission to Sigismund Bell, Royal Tombs, Cathedral Museum: normal ticket — 12 PLN, reduced ticket — 7 PLN
Wawel Castle Tours
If you don’t feel like organizing everything on your own, take part in our great guided tours to Wawel Castle and Wawel Cathedral.
It will give you a unique chance to explore Wawel Hill with a local professional guide who will be only at your group’s service. All of our guides are licenced and official and have huge knowledge but also a passion for what they do. You will learn everything you want about Wawel’s history and hear interesting curiosities about this place that you wouldn’t find in any guidebook!
Everything will be taken care of for you. We offer our tour in 7 different language: Polish, English, German, French, Russian, Spanish and Italian.
Choosing our tour, you won’t have to wait in line at ticket office, skip the line entry is always guaranteed and included in price. You don’t have to worry about the crowds either, the group is always up to only 15 people.
You can choose one of two options:
- Wawel Castle Guided Tour — 2 hours tour that includes sightseeing the Wawel Castle from the outside and admission to the exhibition State Rooms.
- Wawel Castle Guided Tour Extended Version — 3 hours option that includes everything that is in the standard version and in addition you will visit Wawel Cathedral.
In both versions, all skip-the-line tickets are included. Tours take place every day from Tuesday to Sunday at 10:30 am.
