Page 70 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Krakow

68  KR AK OW AREA B Y AREA

Interior of the Cathedral
Wawel Cathedral is exceptional not only for the
works of art which are housed here, but also
because it has borne witness to many historical
events such as coronations, royal weddings and
funerals, as well as thanksgiving ceremonies. One
of the most important churches in Poland, the
cathedral is still a spiritual centre today. It enjoys
not only high sacred status, but it also acquired
symbolic importance during the occupation of 2 Poets’ Crypt
Poland when it became a treasury of objects Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki, two
of the foremost Polish poets, are buried here.
commemorating national glory. The great Polish The remains of Mickiewicz were laid here
playwright Stanisław Wyspiański chose the cathedral in 1890 and those of Słowacki in 1929.
as a dramatic setting for his play Deliverance.

7 Zygmunt Chapel
The splendid double Monument
of King Zygmunt the Old (top;
by Santi Gucci, 1574–75) and
his son, King Zygmunt August
(below; by Bartolomeo Berrecci,
1530s) is the outstanding artistic
feature of the cathedral.

Entrance to the crypt

Czartoryski Chapel

The Cathedral Crypt
houses the tombs of kings
and distinguished Poles.
Chapel of the
Holy Trinity

8 Sarcophagus of King
Kazimierz Jagiellończyk
One of the most affecting
works of Veit Stoss, this was
made in 1492, the year of
the king’s death.