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Wawel Cathedral (the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanislaw and Vaclav) is a church located on Wawel Hill
Wawel Hill

Wawel Hill is the name of a Jurassic limestone outcrop formed about 150 million years ago. It is situated on the left bank of the Vistula River in Krak?w, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level....
 in Kraków
Kraków

Krak?w , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007 ....
, which is Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the cathedral
Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
 of the archdiocese of Kraków. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II John Paul II is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century. He has been Pope_John_Paul_II#Role_in_the_fall_of_Communism in bringing down communism in Eastern Europe, as well as significantly improving the Roman Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and A...
 offered his first Mass as a priest in the Crypt of the Cathedral on 2 November 1946 and later as Pope considered being buried there.

Cathedral comprises a nave
Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
 with aisle
Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on either side or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other. Aisles can be seen in certain types of buildings such as Church , synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments and legislatures, courtrooms, theatre s, and in certain types of passenger vehicles....
s, transept
Transept

Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.'For the periodical go to The Transept....
s with aisles, a choir
Choir

A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral Music, in turn, is the music written specifically for a choir to perform....
 with double aisles, and an apse
Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
 with ambulatory
Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister; a term applied sometimes to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....
 and radiating chapels. The main altar, located in the apse, was founded about 1650 by Bishop Gembicki
Piotr Gembicki

Piotr Gembicki , Deputy Crown Chancellor and Bishop of Przemysl from 1635, Great Crown Chancellor from 1638, Bishop of Krak?w from 1642 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 and created by Gisleni
Giovanni Battista Gisleni

Giovanni Battista Gisleni born 1600 in Rome, died 3 May 1672 in Rome, Italian Baroque architect, stage designer, theater director, singer, and musician at the court of three Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty: Zygmunt III Waza, Wladyslaw IV Waza and Jan II Kazimierz in years1630-1668....
.






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Wawel Cathedral (the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanislaw and Vaclav) is a church located on Wawel Hill
Wawel Hill

Wawel Hill is the name of a Jurassic limestone outcrop formed about 150 million years ago. It is situated on the left bank of the Vistula River in Krak?w, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level....
 in Kraków
Kraków

Krak?w , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007 ....
, which is Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the cathedral
Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
 of the archdiocese of Kraków. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II John Paul II is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century. He has been Pope_John_Paul_II#Role_in_the_fall_of_Communism in bringing down communism in Eastern Europe, as well as significantly improving the Roman Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and A...
 offered his first Mass as a priest in the Crypt of the Cathedral on 2 November 1946 and later as Pope considered being buried there.

Interior

The Cathedral comprises a nave
Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
 with aisle
Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on either side or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other. Aisles can be seen in certain types of buildings such as Church , synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments and legislatures, courtrooms, theatre s, and in certain types of passenger vehicles....
s, transept
Transept

Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.'For the periodical go to The Transept....
s with aisles, a choir
Choir

A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral Music, in turn, is the music written specifically for a choir to perform....
 with double aisles, and an apse
Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
 with ambulatory
Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister; a term applied sometimes to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....
 and radiating chapels. The main altar, located in the apse, was founded about 1650 by Bishop Gembicki
Piotr Gembicki

Piotr Gembicki , Deputy Crown Chancellor and Bishop of Przemysl from 1635, Great Crown Chancellor from 1638, Bishop of Krak?w from 1642 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 and created by Gisleni
Giovanni Battista Gisleni

Giovanni Battista Gisleni born 1600 in Rome, died 3 May 1672 in Rome, Italian Baroque architect, stage designer, theater director, singer, and musician at the court of three Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty: Zygmunt III Waza, Wladyslaw IV Waza and Jan II Kazimierz in years1630-1668....
. The altar painting of Crucified Christ is from the 17th century. Over the main altar stands a tall canopy of black marble
Marble

Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for Marble sculpture, as a architecture material, and in many other applications....
 supported by four pillar
Pillar

A pillar is similar to a column which is a vertical support structure in architecture, but the base section is any shape but circular.Pillar may also refer to:...
s, designed by Giovanni Battista Trevano
Giovanni Battista Trevano

Giovanni Battista Trevano was an Italian architect from Lombardy who worked in Poland as royal architect for King Sigismund III Vasa, of the Swedish dynasty of Vasa, who was ruling Poland at the time....
 and Matteo Castelli between 1626 and 1629. Underneath the canopy is placed a silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
 coffin of St. Stanislaw
Stanislaus of Szczepanów

Saint Stanislaw Szczepanowski or Saint Stanislaus of Szczepan?w was a Bishop of Krak?w known chiefly for having been martyred by List of Polish monarchs Boleslaw II the Bold....
 created between 1669-1671 after the previous one (donated in 1512 by King Sigismund the Old) was stolen by the Swedes in 1655 .

Chapels and burial chambers

The Wawel Cathedral has been the main burial site for Polish monarchs
List of Polish monarchs

Poland, or at least its nucleus, was ruled at various times either by ksiazeta or by Kings . The longest-reigning dynasties were the Piast dynastys and Jagiellon dynastys ....
 since the 14th century. As such, it has been significantly extended and altered over time as individual rulers have added multiple burial chapels.

Sigismund's Chapel

Sigismund's Chapel, or Zygmunt Chapel, ("Kaplica Zygmuntowska"), adjoining the southern wall of the cathedral, is one of the most notable pieces of architecture in Kraków and perhaps "the purest example of Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 architecture outside Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
." Financed by King Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old

File:Poland and Lithuania in 1526.PNGSigismund I the Old of the Jagiellon dynasty reigned as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 to his death at age 81 in 1548....
, it was built in 1517-33 by Bartolomeo Berrecci.

A square-based chapel with a golden dome houses the tombs of its founder as well as of his children, King Sigismund II Augustus and Anna Jagiellonka.

Burials

See St. Leonard's Crypt
St. Leonard's Crypt

St. Leonard's Crypt under the Wawel Castle in Krak?w, Poland, is a Romanesque architecture crypt founded in the 11th century by Casimir I the Restorer who made Krak?w his royal residence as the capital....
.

Polish kings

  • Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high
    Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high

    Wladyslaw the Short or Elbow-high , was a List of Polish rulers. He was a Duke until 1300, and Prince of Krak?w from 1305 until his coronation as King on January 20, 1320....
  • Casimir III the Great
    Casimir III of Poland

    Casimir III the Great , last List of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high and Jadwiga of Gniezno and Greater Poland....
  • Jadwiga of Poland
    Jadwiga of Poland

    Not to be confused with Jadwiga of Greater PolandJadwiga of Anjou was Queen of Poland from 1384 to her death. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elisabeth of Bosnia....
  • Wladyslaw II Jagiello
  • Casimir IV Jagiellonczyk
  • Jan Olbracht
  • Sigismund I the Old
    Sigismund I the Old

    File:Poland and Lithuania in 1526.PNGSigismund I the Old of the Jagiellon dynasty reigned as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 to his death at age 81 in 1548....
  • Sigismund II Augustus
  • Stephen Bathory
  • Anna Jagiellonka
  • Sigismund III Vasa
    Sigismund III Vasa

    Sigismund III Vasa was Grand Duke of Lithuania and List of Polish monarchs, a monarch of joined Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and Monarch of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599....
  • Wladislaus IV Vasa
  • John II Casimir Vasa
    John II Casimir of Poland

    File:Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1648.PNGJohn II Casimir was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Duke of Opole in Upper Silesia, titular King of Sweden 1648-1660....
  • Michal Korybut Wisniowiecki
    Michal Korybut Wisniowiecki

    Michal Korybut Wisniowiecki , son of Jarema Wisniowiecki and his wife Gryzelda Konstancja Zamoyska, was King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from September 29, 1669, to his death in 1673....
  • John III Sobieski
  • Augustus II the Strong


Polish saints

  • Saint Stanislaus the Martyr
  • Saint Hedwig (Jadwiga) the Queen
    Jadwiga of Poland

    Not to be confused with Jadwiga of Greater PolandJadwiga of Anjou was Queen of Poland from 1384 to her death. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elisabeth of Bosnia....


Other people

  • Adam Stefan Sapieha
  • Tadeusz Kosciuszko
    Tadeusz Kosciuszko

    Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko of Roch III Coat of Arms was a Poland military leader who is regarded as a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States....
  • Józef Pilsudski
    Józef Pilsudski

    ]]In 1892 Pilsudski returned from exile. In 1893 he joined the Polish Socialist Party and helped organize its Lithuanian branch. Initially he sided with the Socialists' more radical wing, but despite the socialist movement's ostensible internationalism he remained a Polish nationalist....
  • Wladyslaw Sikorski
    Wladyslaw Sikorski

    Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Poland military and political leader. He was born in Tusz?w Narodowy a village in the present-day Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern Poland, which at the time was part of Austria-Hungary, one of Poland's three Partitions of Poland....
  • Józef Poniatowski
    Józef Antoni Poniatowski

    Prince J?zef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth leader, general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of France....
  • Adam Mickiewicz
    Adam Mickiewicz

    Adam Bernard Mickiewicz is generally regarded as the greatest Polish Romanticism poet. He ranks as one of Poland's Three Bards alongside Zygmunt Krasinski and Juliusz Slowacki....
  • Juliusz Slowacki
    Juliusz Slowacki

    Juliusz Slowacki was a noted Poles Romantic poet, considered to be one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature. His works often feature elements of Slavic mythology, mysticism, and Orientalism....
  • Cyprian Norwid
    Cyprian Norwid

    Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid is a nationally esteemed Polish poets, dramatist, Painting, and sculpture. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Gluchy near Warsaw....
     (soil from his grave in France)


See also

  • Royal coronations in Poland
    Royal coronations in Poland

    This is a list of Monarchy coronations in Poland.* "K" indicates a king or queen regnant; "Q" indicates a queen consort....
  • Polish Crown Jewels
    Polish Crown Jewels

    The only surviving original piece of the Poland Crown Jewels from the time of the Piast dynasty is the ceremonial sword - Szczerbiec. It is currently on display along with other preserved royal items in the Wawel Castle, Krak?w....
  • Szczerbiec
    Szczerbiec

    Szczerbiec is a sword that was traditionally used in the coronation ceremony of Rulers of Poland, later Kings of the Rzeczpospolita. It is the last surviving part of the Polish Crown Jewels....
  • Gniezno Cathedral
    Gniezno Cathedral

    Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert is a Gothic architecture cathedral in Gniezno, Poland. The Cathedral is known for its twelfth-century , two-winged Gniezno Doors decorated with scenes of martyrdom of Adalbert of Prague and a silver relic coffin of that saint....
  • St. John's Cathedral, Warsaw
    St. John's Cathedral, Warsaw

    St. John's Cathedral , located in Warsaw's Old Town, is one of two cathedrals in the Poland capital. St. John's stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's Jesuit Church, and is one of the oldest churches in the city and the main church of the Warsaw arch-diocese....


External links