Wawel Castle, Royal castle on Wawel Hill, Krakow, Poland
Wawel Castle is a fortified royal residence on a Jurassic limestone outcrop above the Vistula in Krakow, built around an irregular courtyard. Its wings combine Gothic, Romanesque and Renaissance work, with a green copper dome and a clock tower rising at one corner, enclosed by red-brick defensive walls.
A Romanesque residence with a quadrangular tower stood here by the 11th–12th century, and Casimir III the Great expanded it in the 14th century into a royal residence. After a fire in 1595, Sigismund III Vasa had it repaired until 1603, then moved permanently to Warsaw in 1606. Coronations and burials took place in the adjacent Wawel Cathedral, not in the castle.
The courtyard represents one of the earliest Renaissance designs north of the Alps with open arcades dating from the 1530s. The building itself combines late medieval fortifications with Italian decorative elements rarely found together in such a manner.
Entry tickets for the State Rooms, Royal Apartments and Treasury are sold separately and should be reserved ahead of time. The climb up to the complex involves cobbled paths and stairs, so comfortable footwear is helpful.
Beneath the hill lies a two hundred seventy meter limestone cave system leading to the Dragon's Den. At the exit stands a bronze dragon sculpture that can breathe fire when triggered by visitors.
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