Wawel is the name of a lime hillock situated on the left bank of the Vistula in Kraków, Poland at an altitude of 228 metres above sea level. This is a symbolic place of great significance for all Polish people. The Royal Castle and the Cathedral are situated on the Hill. Polish Royalty and many distinguished Poles are interred in the Cathedral and royal coronations took place there.

There are archaeological remains indicating settlement from the 4th century. Illustration of the Royal Castle on the Wawel Hill (16th century).The history of the medieval Wawel is deeply intertwined with the history of the Polish lands and Polish royal dynasties during the Middle Ages. The political and dynastic tensions that led to the final ascendence of Kraków as the royal seat are complex, but for most of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the Wawel was the seat of national government. As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth formed and grew, the Wawel became the seat of one of Europe's most important states. This status was only lost when the capital was moved to Warsaw in the 17th century. When Poland lost its political independence during the period of the partitions, the Wawel became a symbol of the lost nation; demonstrations and meetings combined contemporary political action with a claim for the significance of the once-powerful state, taking on nationalist overtones.

The significance of the Wawel hill comes in part from its combination of political and religious structures and functions. The cathedral holds the relics of St. Stanisław and stands directly adjacent to the Royal Castle. The hill has long had a religious function; some of the oldest extant architectural remains are those of the Rotunda of the Virgin Mary, which may be visited today in a fascinating tour that takes the visitors into the walls and foundations of the present-day buildings.

wikipedia.com

Wawel Hill throught the ages.

1493
http://www.wawel.net/images/forty/archiw_wawel/13.jpg

1581
http://www.wawel.net/images/forty/archiw_wawel/14.jpg

1618
http://www.wawel.net/images/forty/archiw_wawel/15.jpg

1785
http://www.wawel.net/images/forty/archiw_wawel/18_B.jpg

1860
http://www.wawel.net/images/myszka/maj2003/24.jpg

and Wawel Hill today...

http://www.krakow4u.pl/wawel/wawel_003_d.jpg

http://www.krakow4u.pl/wawel/wawel_006_d.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-katedra-1.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Katedra-na-Wawelu.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-katedra-4.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-brama.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-widok-mury.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-widok.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-katedra-5.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-katedra-2.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-dziedziniec-1.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-Baszta-Sandomierska-2.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-Kurza-Stopka.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Budynek-administracji.jpg

http://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-Baszta-Zlodziejska.jpghttp://www.jubi.buum.pl/i/g-wawel-cracow-2004/images/Wawel-Baszta-Sandomierska-1.jpg

http://www.gorpol.pl/foto/474_d.jpg

http://www.gorpol.pl/foto/476_d.jpg

http://www.gorpol.pl/foto/218_d.jpg

http://www.gorpol.pl/foto/217_d.jpg

The Old Town and Wawel Hill from above.
http://www.gorpol.pl/foto/588_d.jpg

www.gorpol.pl
www.wawel.net
http://www.jubi.buum.pl/pl_6_g-wawel-cracow-2004_0.html

Simply amazing, magnificent place and city. Truly gorgeous...

Magnificent and divine. Thanks Luke! :okay:

there is a cool a legend that a dragon lived under the castle in a cave and was blown up after he ate a barrel of sulpur disguised as a sheep, they say the dragon then drank the Wisla river to quinch his thirst but couldn't and eventually burst from drinking so much. - I think that's how it goes

Are they planning on recreating the royal gardens?

The Wawel Hill

http://www.krakow.pl/turystyka/wawel/plan2.gif

1. The Royal Castle. a. Jordanska Tower, b. Dunska Tower, c. Hens Foot Tower, d. Zygmunt III Tower, e. Sobieski Tower.
2. The Royal Kitchens
3. Wawel Cathedral
4. Wikarowka (Wawel Parish Offices and Houses)
5, 6, 7. Granary and Houses (Cathedral Museum) and Offices
8. Hospital (Built in 1853 by the Austrian army after the walls were pulled down)
9, 11, 15. Waza Gate, Herbowa Gate, Bernandynska Gate
10. Tadeusz Kosciuszko Monument
12. Austrian Defense Structures (built 1853)
13, 14, 17. Zlodziejska Tower, Sandomierska Tower, Senatorska Tower
16. Remnants of the Walls and Towers
18. Dragon Cave
19. Remnants of Several Churches from XII and XIV century that were pulled down by the Austrian Army in 19th century.

there is a cool a legend that a dragon lived under the castle in a cave and was blown up after he ate a barrel of sulpur disguised as a sheep, they say the dragon then drank the Wisla river to quinch his thirst but couldn't and eventually burst from drinking so much. - I think that's how it goes

Are they planning on recreating the royal gardens?

The upper gardens were reconstructed this year and are open to public. The lower gardens are still under archeological investigations- they found some very interesting object - rennesaince stone carved elements (probably by the Berecci workshop)...and nazi eagle, which were projectet during II WW, to be put on the inner gate.

I was there this summer! The cathedral interior is amazing.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5498/dscf10831gh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4600/dscf10954sp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/5775/dscf10897rj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/6862/dscf11374kp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

View from the tower
http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/8139/dscf11021ad.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Wow great fotos! I also love Wawel :)

I was there this summer! The cathedral interior is amazing.

True, it's probably my favourite church in Poland.

There is a Latin inscription outside the golden domed chapel... can you help me in remembering it?

^^ I only remember one of them on the portal of the Cathedral which sounds: "si deus nobiscum quis contra nos" (---> If God is for us, who can be against us?).

Bardzo ladnie