Wawel Cathedral

Wawel Cathedral and Sigismunds Chapel
Wawel Cathedral & Sigismunds Chapel

The Wawel Cathedral was finished in 1364 and it is known as the site for the coronation of the Polish kings. Pope John Paul II held his first mass in the Wawel Cathedral in 1946, and later considered to be buried here (he though ended up getting buried in Rome, in St. Peter’s Basilica). It is free to enter into the Wawel Cathedral, but if you want to go into the Crypt or go up into the Sigismund Tower (where you can see Polands most famous church bell) you will have to pay. On the church bell the following text can be found: “To God Best & Greatest and to the Virgin Mother of God, and his Holy Patron Saints, the illustrious Sigismund, King of Poland, had this bell worthy of his mind and the grandeur of his deeds made in Anno Domini 1520.”

The Wawel Cathedral has been used to bury loads of kings and important persons throughout history, and you can still see the tombs of several kings there today, for example Władysław I the Elbow-high, Casimir III the Great, Jadwiga of Poland, Władysław II Jagiełło, Sigismund I the Old (who also was the maker of the Sigismund Chapel inside the cathedral), Stephen Bathory and Anna Jagiellonka.

Wawel Cathedral Pictures