Wawel Castle, Krakow

Wawel Castle, Krakow

The crowning glory of Wawel in Krakow is the Wawel Castle, a 14thcentury grand palace that was once home to Polish royalty.

The crowning glory of Wawel in Krakow is the Wawel Castle, a 14thcentury grand palace that was once home to Polish royalty. Today, it is a museum with five separate sections-

• Crown Treasury and Armoury - Housed in the historic Gothic rooms that were used for storing Polish coronation regalia and crown jewels, it displays treasures such as the Szczerbiec coronation sword, royal jewelry, gilded goblets, crowns, sceptres, orbs,the Book of Gospels, coins, medallions, cannons, guns, Sigismund's sword, and the Szczerbiec coronation sword.
• State Rooms - The rooms of the Castle where the royals held court, hosted guests, and did business are elegantly furnished in period style, adorned with the finest decorative arts in Poland. They still retain their Renaissance-era wooden ceilings, and are decorated with striking wallpaper, Tuscan furniture, paintings including royal portraits, and gorgeous 16thcentury Flemish tapestries commissioned by Sigismund Augustus that depict biblical and grotesque scenes, and the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania. Of note is the Envoys Room's fascinating ceiling with woodcarvings of 30 human heads.
• Royal Private Apartments – The private apartments are an extension of the state rooms, comprising bedchambers and guest rooms that offer a peek into the lives of royals. Also included are the Hen’s Foot Tower, Sigismund’s bedroom in the Łokietek’s Tower, Danish Tower rooms, and Column Room. The 2 rooms in the northern wing showcase an interesting collection of Meissen porcelain.
• Lost Wawel - The exhibition displays excavated finds from the Wawel Hill, including the 10thcentury Rotunda of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Renaissance tiles, stone sculptures, and parts of the 16thcentury royal kitchens.
• Exhibition of Oriental Art – The collection has works from Turkey, Crimea, Far East and Middle East, including carpets, silks, tapestries, weapons and armoury, tents, and Chinese and Japanese ceramics.
• The west wing also displays Krakow's most valuable painting, Leonardo da Vinci's The Lady with an Ermine.