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Zakopane is a centre of Goral culture and is often referred to as "the winter capital of Poland”. It is a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing, and tourism. Zakopane lies near Poland's border with Slovakia, in a valley between the Tatra Mountains and Gubałówka Hill.

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Zakopane is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Province; since 1999, it has been part of Lesser Poland Province. As of 2017 its population was 27,266. Zakopane is a centre of Goral culture and is often referred to as "the winter capital of Poland". It is a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing, and tourism.

Zakopane lies near Poland's border with Slovakia, in a valley between the Tatra Mountains and Gubałówka Hill. It can be reached by train or bus from the province capital, Kraków, about two hours away. Zakopane lies 800-1,000 metres above sea level and centres on the intersection of its Krupówki and Kościuszko Streets.

The earliest documents mentioning Zakopane date to the 17th century, describing a glade called Zakopisko. In 1676 it was a village of 43 inhabitants. In 1818 Zakopane was a small town that was still being developed. There were only 340 homes that held 445 families. The population of Zakopane at that time was 1,805. 934 women and 871 men lived in Zakopane. The first church was built in 1847, by Józef Stolarczyk. Zakopane became a center for the region's mining and metallurgy industries; in the 19th century, it was the largest center for metallurgy in Galicia. It expanded during the 19th century as the climate attracted more inhabitants. By 1889 it had developed from a small village into a climatic health resort. Rail service to Zakopane began October 1, 1899. In the late 1800s Zakopane constructed a road that went to the town of Nowy Targ, and railways that came from Chabówka. Because of easier transportation the population of Zakopane had increased to about 3,000 people by the end of the 1800s. In the 19th century, Krupówki street was just a narrow beaten path that was meant for people to get from the central part of town to the village of Kuźnice.

The ski jump on Wielka Krokiew was opened in 1925. The cable car to Kasprowy Wierch was completed in 1936. The funicular connected Zakopane and the top of Gubałówka in 1938.

Because of Zakopane's popular ski mountains, the town gained popularity this made the number of tourists increase to about 60,000 people by 1930.

In March 1940, representatives of the Soviet NKVD and the Nazi Gestapo met for one week in Zakopane's Villa Tadeusz, to coordinate the pacification of resistance in Poland. Throughout World War II, Zakopane served as an underground staging point between Poland and Hungary.[citation needed ]

From 1942 to 1943, 1,000 prisoners from the German Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp were set to work in a stone quarry.

The Zakopane Style of Architecture is an architectural mode inspired by the regional art of Poland's highland region known as Podhale. Drawing on the motifs and traditions in the buildings of the Carpathian Mountains, the style was pioneered by Stanislaw Witkiewicz and is now considered a core tradition of the Goral people.

The Tatras are a popular destination among hikers, skiers, ski-tourers and climbers.

Mountaineering

There is a network of well-marked hiking trails in the Tatras and according to the national park regulations the hikers must stick to them. Most of these trails are overcrowded, especially in the summer season.

The High Tatras offer excellent opportunities for climbing (up to X UIAA grade).

In summer, lightning and snow are both potential hazards for climbers, and the weather can change quickly. Thunderstorms are common in the afternoons. In winter the snow can be up to several meters deep.

In the winter, thousands arrive in Zakopane to ski, especially around Christmas and in February. The most popular skiing areas are Kasprowy Wierch and Gubałówka. There are a number of cross country skiing trails in the forests surrounding the town.

Zakopane hosted the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1929, 1939, and 1962; the winter Universiades in 1956, 1993, and 2001; the biathlon World Championship; several ski jumping world cups; and several Nordic combined, Nordic and Alpine European Cups. It hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1939, the first outside the Alps and the last official world championships prior to World War II.[citation needed ]

Zakopane made unsuccessful bids to host the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2011 and 2013 Alpine World Ski Championships.

Zakopane is visited by over 2,500,000 tourists a year.[citation needed ] In the winter, Zakopane's tourists are interested in winter sports activities such as skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, snowshoe walks, and Ice skating. During the summer, Tourists come to do activities like hiking, climbing, bike and horse ride the Tatras mountain, there are many trails in the Tatras. Tourists ride quads and dirt bikes that you can rent. Swimming and boat rides on the Dunajec river are popular. Many come to experience Goral culture, which is rich in its unique styles of food, speech, architecture, music, and costume. Zakopane is especially popular during the winter holidays, which are celebrated in traditional style, with dances, decorated horse-pulled sleighs called kuligs and roast lamb.

Popular tourist activity is taking a stroll through the town's most popular street: Krupówki. It is lined with stores, restaurants, carnival rides, and performers.

During the winter and summer seasons, Krupówki Street is crowded with tourists visiting the shops and restaurants. In the summer, a local market along Krupówki Street offers traditional Goral apparel, leather jackets, fur coats, shoes, and purses. Venders also sell foods like the famous smoked sheep cheese, fruit, vegetables, and meats. There are also many stands with Zakopane souvenirs.

Zakopane is popular for nightlife. At night there are always people walking around town checking out the different bars and dance clubs. Most of these bars and dance clubs are located on the Krupowki street. These are the bars that are located in Zakopane: Paparazzi, Cafe Piano, Anemone, Anemone, Cafe Antrakt, Literatka, Winoteka Pod Berlami, and Karczma u Ratownikow. These are dance clubs located in Zakopane: Vavaboom, Finlandia Arctic, Genesis, Rockus, Morskie Oko, and Cocomo Go Go Club.[1]

A scene in Andrzej Wajda's film Man of Marble ( Człowiek z marmuru) was filmed in Zakopane, introducing the town to a worldwide audience.

The mountain scenes from the Bollywood film were filmed around Zakopane.

Zakopane participates in town twinning to foster international links.

Tytus Chałubiński (1820 - 1889 in Zakopane), Polish physician and co-founder of the Polish Tatra Society

Klemens Bachleda (1851-1910), Polish mountain guide and mountain rescuer, worked from Zakopane

Stanisław Witkiewicz, (1851 - 1915) Polish painter, architect, writer and art theoretician

Jan Kasprowicz, (1860 - 1926) poet, playwright, critic and translator; a foremost representative of Young Poland

Mariusz Zaruski, (1867-1941) Polish Brigadier-General, a pioneer of Polish sports yachting, a climber of the Tatra Mountains, a photographer, painter, poet and writer, a seaman and traveller, a conspirator and a devoted social activist, sportsman and teacher.

Jerzy Żuławski, (1874 - 1915) Polish literary figure, philosopher, translator, alpinist and nationalist

Władysław Orkan, (1875 - 1930) Polish writer from the Young Poland period

Mieczysław Karłowicz, (1876 - 1909) Polish composer, conductor, mountaineer and photographer of the Tatra Mountains

Karol Szymanowski, (1882 - 1937) Polish composer and pianist, member of the modernist movement Young Poland; his house in Zakopane, the Villa Atma, is now a museum

Kornel Makuszyński, (1884 - 1953) Polish writer of children's and youth literature, elected member of the Polish Academy of Literature in interwar Poland

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885 - 1939), Witkacy, Polish writer, painter, philosopher, playwright, novelist, and photographer.

Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska, (1888 - 1979 in Zakopane), with her husband, founded scouting in Poland

Count Edward Bernard Raczyński (1891 - 1993) Polish diplomat, writer, politician and President of Poland in exile

Anna Zofia Krygowska (1904-1988) Polish mathematician, known for her work in mathematics education.

Stanisław Marusarz (1913 in Zakopane - 1993 in Zakopane) Polish Nordic skiing competitor in the 1930s.

Wawrzyniec Żuławski (1916 in Zakopane - 1957) Wawa Polish alpinist, educator, composer, music critic, and musicologist

Władysław Hasior, (1928 - 1999) Polish contemporary sculptor from Podhale region, a painter and theatre set designer

Teresa Bogucka (born 1945 in Zakopane), Polish journalist and writer, a democratic opposition activist in Communist Poland

Jan Wojciech Bachleda-Curuś (1951 in Zakopane - 2009) Polish alpine skier who competed in the 1976 Winter Olympics

Andrzej Gąsienica-Makowski (born 1952 in Zakopane) Polish politician who led the Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms

Janusz Waluś (born 1953 in Zakopane) in 1993 assassinated Chris Hani, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party

Liz Glazowski, (born 1957 in Zakopane) Polish-American model, Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in April 1980

Małgorzata Babiarz, (born 1984 in Zakopane) professionally known as Megitza is a singer, double bass player and composer.

Kamil Stoch, (born 1987 in Zakopane) Polish ski jumper, world champion and three times Olympic gold medalist.

Stanisław Kasztelowicz and Stanisław Eile, Stefan Żeromski: kalendarz życia i twórczości (Stefan Żeromski: A Calendar of His Life and Work), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1961.

Zdzisław Najder, Joseph Conrad: A Life, translated by Halina Najder, Rochester, New York, Camden House, 2007, ISBN 1-57113-347-X.

Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, Bolesław Prus, 1847-1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości (Bolesław Prus, 1847-1912: A Calendar of His Life and Work), edited by Zygmunt Szweykowski, Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1969.

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Zakopane is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Province; since 1999, it has been part of Lesser Poland Province. As of 2017 its population was 27,266.

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Wieliczka Salt Mine, Daniłowicza, Wieliczka, Poland

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Wieliczka Salt Mine, Daniłowicza, Wieliczka, Poland

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Wieliczka Salt Mine, Daniłowicza, Wieliczka, Poland

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The Wieliczka Salt Mine, in the town of Wieliczka, southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. From Neolithic times, sodium chloride was produced there from the upwelling brine.

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The Wieliczka Salt Mine ( Polish: Kopalnia soli Wieliczka), in the town of Wieliczka, southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area.

From Neolithic times, sodium chloride ( table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. Throughout its history, the royal salt mine was operated by the Żupy Krakowskie ( Kraków Salt Mines) company.

Due to falling salt prices and mine flooding, commercial salt mining was discontinued in 1996.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is now an official Polish Historic Monument (Pomnik Historii). Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine reaches a depth of 327 meters, and extends via horizontal passages and chambers for over 287 kilometers (178 miles). The rock salt is naturally of varying shades of grey, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white crystalline substance that might be expected.

Since the 13th century, brine welling up to the surface had been collected and processed for its sodium chloride (table-salt) content. In this period, wells began to be sunk, and the first shafts to be dug to extract the rock salt. In the late 13th to the early 14th century, the Saltworks Castle was built. Wieliczka is now home to the Kraków Saltworks Museum.

King Casimir III the Great (reigned 1333-1370) contributed greatly to the development of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, granting it many privileges and taking the miners under his care. In 1363 he founded a hospital near the salt mine.

Over the period of the mine's operation, many chambers were dug and various technologies were added, such as the Hungarian horse treadmill and the Saxon treadmill for hauling salt to the surface. During World War II, the mine was used by the occupying Germans as an underground facility for war-related manufacturing.

The mine features an underground lake, exhibits on the history of salt mining, and a 3.5-kilometer (2.2-mile) visitors' route (less than 2 percent of the mine passages' total length) including statues carved from the rock salt at various times.

In 1978 the Wieliczka was placed on the original UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

A legend about Princess Kinga, associated with the Wieliczka mine, tells of a Hungarian princess about to be married to Bolesław V the Chaste, the Prince of Kraków. As part of her dowry, she asked her father, Béla IV of Hungary, for a lump of salt, since salt was prizeworthy in Poland. Her father King Béla took her to a salt mine in Máramaros. She threw her engagement ring from Bolesław in one of the shafts before leaving for Poland. On arriving in Kraków, she asked the miners to dig a deep pit until they come upon a rock. The people found a lump of salt in there and when they split it in two, discovered the princess's ring. Kinga had thus become the patron saint of salt miners in and around the Polish capital.

During the Nazi occupation, several thousand Jews were transported from the forced labour camps in Plaszow and Mielec to the Wieliczka mine to work in the underground armament factory set up by the Germans in March and April 1944. The forced labour camp of the mine was established in St. Kinga Park and had about 1,700 prisoners. However, manufacturing never began as the Soviet offensive was nearing. Some of the machines and equipment were disassembled, including an electrical hoisting machine from the Regis Shaft, and transported to Liebenau in the Sudetes mountains. Part of the equipment was returned after the war, in autumn 1945. The Jews were transported to factories in Litomierzyce (Czech Republic) and Linz (Austria). ,

The mine is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomniki historii), as designated in the first round, 16 September 1994. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland. In 2010 it was successfully proposed that the nearby historic Bochnia Salt Mine (Poland's oldest salt mine) be added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The two sister salt mines now appear together in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites as the "Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines". In 2013 the UNESCO World Heritage Site was expanded by the addition of the Żupny Castle.

The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomniki historii), whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners. The older sculptures have been supplemented with new carvings made by contemporary artists. About 1.2 million people visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine annually.

Notable visitors to this site have included Nicolaus Copernicus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, Fryderyk Chopin, Dmitri Mendeleyev, Bolesław Prus, Ignacy Paderewski, Robert Baden-Powell, Jacob Bronowski (who filmed segments of The Ascent of Man in the mine), the von Unrug family (a prominent Polish-German royal family), Karol Wojtyła (later, Pope John Paul II), former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and many others.[citation needed ]

There is a chapel, and a reception room that is used for private functions, including weddings. A chamber has walls carved by miners to resemble wood, as in wooden churches built in early centuries. A wooden staircase provides access to the mine's 64-metre (210-foot) level. A 3-kilometre (1.9-mile) tour features corridors, chapels, statues, and underground lake, 135 metres (443 ft) underground. An elevator (lift) returns visitors to the surface; the elevator holds 36 persons (nine per car) and takes about 30 seconds to make the trip.

The earliest writings about the Wieliczka Salt Mine include a description by Adam Schröter: Salinarum Vieliciensium incunda ac vera descriptio. Carmine elegiaco... (1553); augmented edition, Regni Poloniae Salinarum Vieliciensium descriptio. Carmine elegiaco... (1564).

The Polish journalist and novelist Bolesław Prus described his 1878 visit to the salt mine in a remarkable series of three articles, " Kartki z podróży (Wieliczka)" ["Travel Notes (Wieliczka)"], in Kurier Warszawski (The Warsaw Courier), 1878, nos. 36-38. The great Prus scholar Zygmunt Szweykowski writes: "The power of the Labyrinth scenes [in Prus' 1895 historical novel, ] stems, among other things, from the fact that they echo Prus' own experiences when visiting Wieliczka." The Wieliczka Salt Mine indeed helped inspire . Prus combined his powerful impressions of the salt mine with the description of the ancient Egyptian Labyrinth, in Book II of Herodotus' , to produce the remarkable scenes found in chapters 56 and 63 of his novel.

In 1995, Preisner's Music, a compilation of film music by Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner, was recorded by Sinfonia Varsovia in the Wieliczka mine's chapel. The chapel is often said to have the best acoustics in Europe.

In the Australia television series Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord, the mines were used as the Land of the Moloch.

The mine has appeared on multiple editions of the reality show The Amazing Race including Velyki Perehony, HaMerotz LaMillion 2, The Amazing Race Australia 1, and The Amazing Race 27.

Jerzy Grzesiowski, Wieliczka: kopalnia, muzeum, zamek (Wieliczka: the Mine, the Museum, the Castle), 2nd ed., updated and augmented, Warsaw, Sport i Turystyka, 1987, ISBN 83-217-2637-2.

Christopher Kasparek, "Prus' and the Wieliczka Salt Mine," The Polish Review, 1997, no. 3, pp. 349-55.

Christopher Kasparek, "Prus' Pharaoh: the Creation of a Historical Novel", The Polish Review, vol. XXXIX, no. 1, 1994, pp. 45-50.

Bolesław Prus, Wczoraj-dziś-jutro: wybór felietonów (Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow: a Selection of Newspaper Columns, selected, edited, and with foreword and notes, by Zygmunt Szweykowski), Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1973, pp. 34-49.

Zygmunt Szweykowski, Twórczość Bolesława Prusa (The Creative Writing of Bolesław Prus), second edition, Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1972.

Marek Żukow-Karczewski, Pięknem urzeczeni (trzy zapomniane relacje) / Enchanted by beauty (three forgotten relations), "Aura" - A Monthly for the Protection and Shaping of Human Environment, no. 1, 1998, pp. 17-19.

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The Wieliczka Salt Mine ( Polish: Kopalnia soli Wieliczka), in the town of Wieliczka, southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. From Neolithic times, sodium chloride ( table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines.

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Wawel Royal Castle, Wawel, Kraków, Poland

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Wawel Royal Castle, Wawel, Kraków, Poland

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Wawel Royal Castle, Wawel, Kraków, Poland

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The Wawel Royal Castle is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard.

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The Wawel Royal Castle ( Polish pronunciation: ; Zamek Królewski na Wawelu) is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard. The castle, being one of the largest in Poland, represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in the country.

The castle is part of a fortified architectural complex erected atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River, at an altitude of 228 metres above sea level. The complex consists of numerous buildings of great historical and national importance, including the Wawel Cathedral where Polish monarchs were crowned and buried. Some of Wawel's oldest stone buildings can be traced back to 970 AD, in addition to the earliest examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Poland. The current castle was built in the 14th-century, and expanded over the next hundreds of years. In 1978 Wawel was declared the first World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Kraków.

For centuries the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood, Wawel Castle is now one of the country's premier art museums. Established in 1930, the museum encompasses ten curatorial departments responsible for collections of paintings, including an important collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, prints, sculpture, textiles, among them the Sigismund II Augustus tapestry collection, goldsmith's work, arms and armor, ceramics, Meissen porcelain, and period furniture. The museum's holdings in oriental art include the largest collection of Ottoman tents in Europe. With seven specialized conservation studios, the museum is also an important center for the conservation of works of art.

The history of Wawel is deeply intertwined with the history of the Polish lands and Polish royal dynasties already in the Middle Ages. The political and dynastic tensions that led to the ascendance of Kraków as the royal seat are sophisticated, but for most of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Wawel was the seat of the national government and the Diet (assembly). As the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth formed and grew, Wawel became the seat of one of Europe's largest and most important states. This status was only lost when the capital was moved to Warsaw in 1596 (designated officially in 1793).

From the late 18th century, when Poland lost its independence during the period of foreign partitions, Wawel became a symbol of endurance and was the setting for demonstrations and gatherings of Cracovians protesting against the continuing foreign occupation by the Austrian, Prussian, and the Russian Empires. Thus, the significance of the Wawel Hill comes in part from its combination of political and religious significance. The Cathedral holds the relics of St. Stanislaus and stands directly adjacent to the Royal Castle. The Hill has a long history of religious functions; some of the oldest extant architectural remains are those of the Rotunda of the Virgin Mary.

The hill which takes the form of a horst originated in the Miocene epoch (23-25 million years ago) and consists of Jurassic limestone dating back to the Oxfordian age (155-161 million years ago). This limestone is strongly karsted and abounds in caves (e.g. the Dragon's Den- Smocza Jama). This possibly explains why the hill was originally called "wąwel", meaning ravine in Polish. This ravine once divided the hill. An alternative theory is that the word means 'protrusion from the marshes' which surrounded the hill. However, the most recent theory is that "Wawel" is a regular continuation of the name Babel in the Greek language (the consonant [B] followed by [V]/[W]).

The Wawel Hill has archaeological remains indicating settlement from the 4th century. Archaeological studies suggest that the earliest settlement dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, c. 100,000 years BC and owed its rapid development to its location being the crossing of a number of key trading routes. Wawel is believed to be one of the strongholds of the Vistulan tribe which formed a nation at the turn of the 8th and 9th century AD. Its legendary rulers Krakus and Princess Wanda, who are said to have lived in the 7th and 8th centuries, are mentioned by the 13th-century chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek. In the 10th century, the Vistulans' lands and Kraków became part of the emerging state of Poland.

In the year 1000, the Kraków diocese was established followed by the construction of a Cathedral - the seat of the bishop. However, as a result of an ongoing conflict with the Holy Roman Empire, construction did not begin until the signing of the Peace of Bautzen, in 1018. Only minor fragments remain of the original cathedral (which is sometimes called 'Chrobrowska' after Bolesław I the Brave) and despite extensive archaeological research, it has proved impossible to reconstruct its exterior. Until the 1980s, relicts of St Gereon's Church were identified with the first cathedral but this theory, advanced by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, has been disproved by more recent research. There are also inconsistencies in the dating of the destruction of the original cathedral. Some sources place this at the time of the invasion of Bretislaus I of Bohemia in the 1040s, while others date the destruction to a fire in the 1080s.

In addition to the cathedral, the hill was also the site of other building work. The earliest evidence is of wooden structures dating from the 9th century, with the earliest stone buildings dating to the 10th and 11th centuries; the remains of the following buildings date from this era: the Rotunda of the Blessed Virgin Mary - probably from the turn of the 10th and 11th century; Church B (the earliest parts originate from the 10th century); Church of St Gereon (probably the palace chapel); the Church of St. George; the Church of St Michael; the Twenty-Four Pillar Room (possibly part of the Ducal Mansion); the Keep and the Residential Tower.

From this early period of the Wawel's history originates the popular and enduring Polish myth of the Wawel Dragon. Today, it is commemorated on the lower slopes of the Wawel Hill where by the river, is a modern fire-breathing metal statue of the dragon. The statue is sited in front of Smocza Jama (Dragon's Den), one of the limestone caves scattered over the hill. The dragon, Smok Wawelski, was a mystical beast which supposedly terrorised the local community, eating their sheep and local virgins, before (according to one version) being heroically slain by Krakus, a legendary Polish prince, who supposedly founded the city of Kraków and built his palace above the slain dragon's lair. The oldest known literary reference to the Wawel dragon comes from the 12th century, in the work by Wincenty Kadłubek.

Romanesque (11th-12th centuries)

Between 1038 and 1039 Duke Casimir I the Restorer returned to Poland and it's believed that Kraków first became a royal residence and the capital of Poland at this time.

At the end of the 11th century, construction work began on a replacement cathedral, today called "Hermanowska" as it's likely that Władysław I Herman was its patron. The new cathedral was consecrated in 1142. Quite a lot is known about the building because an image of it is engraved on a 13th-century chapterhouse seal, and some of its remains and foundations are well preserved; besides the lower 12 metres (39 feet) of the Silver Bell Tower, the trinavel St. Leonard's Crypt, the rotunda by the Bastion of Ladislaus IV of Hungary (once a baptistery and the rotunda by the Sandomierska Tower all date from this era, as does a church near the Dragon's Cave.

In 1118 Bishop Maurus was buried in the crypt. The paten and the chalice, buried with the bishop, were later exhumed from his tomb during its accidental discovery in 1938.

Silver Bell Tower

The Silver Bell Tower (originally known as the Wikaryjska or Priest Tower) dates from the early 12th century and is the oldest of the Wawel's many towers. However, the tower has many later additions and only the 12-metre-high rectangular base can be dated as belonging to the 11th-century Hermanowska Cathedral. The belfry was constructed in the final quarter of the 14th century and the spire in 1769. The tower contains three bells; the largest was made in 1423, the next largest around 1271 and the smallest in 1669. In the foundations of the tower is a burial vault containing the remains of notable Poles from all periods of history. Other notables are also buried at the nearby Skałka Church.

Gothic (13th-14th centuries)

Wawel Cathedral

Around 1305 to 1306, the Hermanowska Cathedral was partially destroyed by a fire; however, the coronation of King Władysław I the Elbow-high, in 1320, was still able to take place within its precincts. In the same year construction of a third cathedral, consecrated in 1364, began at the King's behest, the key elements of this cathedral are preserved today.

The cathedral is trinavel in construction and surrounded by side-chapels, added in later centuries. The earliest of these chapels were built off the chancel; St Margarita's chapel was consecrated (today it acts as a sacristy) in 1322 and few years the chapel, later to be known as the Báthory Chapel, was completed. The cathedral's west entrance is flanked by two chapels; one dedicated to Queen Sophia (last wife of Władysław II Jagiełło) and the second to the Holy Cross; these were built during the reign of Casimir IV Jagiellon (1440-1492); the former is notable for its polychrome vaulted ceiling. From the close of the 15th century, a further nineteen side-chapels were built or rebuilt.

Władysław I the Elbow-high was the first king to be buried in the cathedral in 1333. His sandstone sarcophagus was set up by his son and successor, Casimir III the Great, the last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty. The cathedral also contains the tombs of Casimir III the Great and Jogaila but the most precious is that of Casimir IV Jagiellon, carved by Veit Stoss in 1492. The late Gothic tombstone of John I Albert was carved at the beginning of the 16th century and is attributed to Jorg Huber. The cathedral also contains memorials to Stephen Báthory and bishop Fillip Padniewski - both designed by Santi Gucci and also the tombstone of bishop Andrzej Zebrzydowski designed by Jan Michalowicz from Urzedow. During the 20th century, the cathedral became the site of Karol Wojtyla's priesthood ordination in 1946 and bishop ordination in 1958 as Kraków's auxiliary bishop.

Secular buildings

Little is known of the first royal residences at the Wawel until Casimir III the Great, who reigned from 1333 until 1370, had a Gothic castle erected next to the cathedral; this consisted of multiple structures situated around a central courtyard. In the 14th century, it was rebuilt by King Władysław II Jagiełło (also known as Jogaila) and Queen Jadwiga of Poland. The Hen's Foot Tower, built upon three projecting buttresses resembling a chicken foot, and the Danish Tower date from their reigns, as do the Jadwiga and Jogaila Chamber, in which the Polish coronation sword (Szczerbiec) is exhibited.

During this period, the Wawel began to take its present appearance and size as further buildings were developed on the hill to serve as quarters for the numerous clergy, royal clerks, troops, servants and craftsmen; this work included defensive walls, ramparts and the 'Jordanka,' 'Lubranka,' 'Sandomierska,' 'Tęczyńska,' 'Szlachecka,' 'Złodziejska' and 'Panieńska' towers.

Renaissance period (15th to 17th centuries)

The reign of the last member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, Sigismund I the Old, was a high point in Wawel fortunes. Following another fire in 1499, from 1507 to 1536, Sigismund rebuilt the royal residence. King Sigismund had spent part of his youth at the court of his brother, King Vladislaus of Hungary and Bohemia in Buda; this court has a small band of Italian artisans pioneering the Renaissance movement, at that time little known outside of Florence. Thus inspired Sigismund took the decision to rebuild in the Renaissance style within the walls of the old castle. A great influence on the king was his second wife, Italian-born Bona Sforza. She brought in the best native and foreign artists including Italian architects, sculptors, and German decorators, to refurbish the castle into a splendid Renaissance palace.

Work on the new avant-garde palace was initially supervised by two artisans from Italy: Francisco from Florence and Bartolommeo Berrecci, and after their deaths by Benedykt from Sandomierz. A feature of the rebuilding were the large, light rooms which open from tiered arcades lining a courtyard. The new rooms and halls included the ornate Deputy Hall with its coffered ceiling, exemplifying the skills of both Italian and Polish craftsmen. To decorate the palace's rooms, Sigismund (and later his son) purchased over 350 tapestries, collectively known as the Jagiellonian tapestries; they were woven in the Netherlands and Flanders; many based on designs by Michiel Coxie.

While the arcaded courtyard is considered a fine example of Renaissance art, it has subtle eccentricities-hints of Polish Gothic within its form, a steeply hipped and projecting roof (necessary in a northern climate) counterbalancing the soaring effect created by the uppermost arcade being higher than those below (a feature unknown in Italy) to give the courtyard a uniquely Polish renaissance look. The extra height of the uppermost arcade is truly unusual as it indicates and places the piano nobile on the third floor, whereas the rules of Italian Renaissance architecture place it on the second floor; again this indicates that while the design was inspired by Italians, the Polish artistic and cultural tradition was not extinguished in the execution.

After a fire in 1595 when the north-east part of the castle burned down, King Sigismund III Vasa decided to have it rebuilt with the work carried out under the direction of the Italian architect Giovanni Trevano. The Senator Stairs and the fireplace in the Bird Room date from this period. However, the castle still retains many of the earlier interiors designed by Berrecci. While many have been altered through neglect, war damage and, after World War II, through overenthusiastic restoration, the spirit of Berrecci's Renaissance ideals mingled with the Gothic motifs of local craftsmen still remains. The Ambassadors' Hall still retains much of its timber carving, most notable its coffered ceiling with thirty Gothic style carved heads by Sebastian Tauerbach.

In the 17th century, Wawel became an important defensive point and was modernised and heavily fortified. Later, the transfer of power to Warsaw did not change the symbolic role and importance of the Wawel Cathedral, which was still the place of royal coronations.

During this period, many changes were introduced in the Cathedral - the high altar was remodelled, the cloister was elevated and the Shrine of St Stanislaus (a marble altar and a silver coffin) and the Vasa Chapel were constructed. Baroque memorials were also erected, among others were tombs to bishops Marcin Szyszkowski, Piotr Gembicki, Jan Małachowski, Kazimierz Lubieński and kings Michael I and John III Sobieski.

Sigismund's Chapel

In 1517, the 16-year-long construction of another chapel adjoining the cathedral began. Sigismund's Chapel ( Kaplica Zygmuntowska) was to serve as the mausoleum of the last members of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Later, at the turn of the 16th century, a memorial tablet to John I Albert was placed in a niche sculptured by Francesco Fiorentino; this is considered to be the first Renaissance work of art in Poland. Other memorials from this period include those of Cardinal Frederic Jagiellon and of bishops Piotr Gamrat, Piotr Tomicki, Jan Konarski, Jan Chojeński and Samuel Maciejowski.

The chapel is considered one of the most notable examples of architecture in Kraków, it has been hailed by many art historians as "the most beautiful example of Tuscan renaissance north of the Alps". Financed by King Sigismund, the chapel was designed by Bartolomeo Berrecci. It is square-based with a golden dome and houses the tombs of its founder as well as King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland and Queen Anna. The design of the internal sculptures, stuccoes and paintings was carried out by some of the most renowned artists of the era, including Santi Gucci, Hermann Vischer, and the architect himself, Georg Pencz.

In 1520 the Royal Sigismund Bell was cast, by Hans Behem, in bronze; it is the largest of the five bells hanging in the Sigismund Tower and was named to honour King Sigismund I the Old. It weighs almost 13 tonnes (28 thousand pounds) and requires 12 bell-ringers to toll it. It's rung only on special occasions, mostly religious and national holidays, and is regarded as one of the country's national symbols. The hanging of the bell is the subject of a painting by Jan Matejko.

The 18th and 19th centuries were to be a period of decline and misfortune for Wawel. The decline had begun as early as 1609, when King Sigismund III moved permanently to Warsaw. Despite the concerns of successive governors, both the castle and its precincts began to fall into ruin, which was in part due to occupying Swedes between 1655-1657 and again in 1702.

The decline worsened drastically when the hill was occupied by the Prussian army in 1794; at this time, the royal insignia were looted (apart from the Polish coronation sword) and taken to Berlin, where they were melted down for their gold, precious gemstones and pearls, which were handed to the Directorate of Maritime Trade in Berlin.

After the Third Partition of Poland (1795), Wawel fell under Austrian rule. Austrian soldiers converted the hill into barracks and as a consequence, much destruction and alteration took place: the Renaissance arcades of the courtyard were walled up, the interior of the castle was changed and parts of the buildings were demolished; amongst the buildings destroyed were the churches of St. Michael and St. George.

Following the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising and the fall of the Republic of Kraków, three large buildings housing a military hospital were built on the hill. During the latter half of the 19th century, the Austrians rebuilt the defence walls, making them a part of the expanded Kraków fortification system (two new caponiers were made). At the same time, the Poles tried to retake the hill.

In 1815, the funeral of Prince Józef Poniatowski took place at Wawel Cathedral. Since that event, national heroes have been entombed within the cathedral; prior to this date, only bodies of monarchs were interred there. In 1818, the body of national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko was buried in St. Leonard's Crypt. During the reconstruction of Potocki Chapel in a classical style, the statue of Prince Arthur Potocki by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was placed within the chapel. A second work by Thorvaldsen was placed in Queen Sophia's Chapel.

In 1869, due to the accidental opening of the coffin of King Casimir III, a second funeral was performed. Consequently, an initiative was taken to renovate other monarchs' tombs in the cathedral. The underground crypts were connected with tunnels, sarcophagi were cleaned and refurbished and new ones were funded. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria paid for a sarcophagus for King Michael, whose wife was from the House of Habsburg.

In 1905, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, in his capacity as King of Galicia and Lodomeria, ordered his troops to leave Wawel. The Austrian withdrawal permitted the commencement of restoration work managed by Zygmunt Hendel and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz. During the renovation, the Rotunda of Virgin Mary was discovered as well as other notable relics of the past. The renovation of the Wawel Hill was funded by public subscription. The names of the donors were inscribed on the bricks used to build the wall near the castle's northern gateway. The Coat of Arms Gate was built at this time and the statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko was placed nearby.

Between 1902 and 1904, Włodzimierz Tetmajer decorated the walls of Queen Sophia's Chapel with paintings depicting Polish saints and national heroes.

Józef Mehoffer painted murals in the vault of the cathedral and created stained-glass windows in the St. Cross Chapel as well as paintings in the Szafrańcy Chapel. Mehoffer is also responsible for the stained-glass windows in the transept which depict the Sufferings of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

During Poland's twenty years of independence after World War I, Polish authorities decided that the Wawel Castle was to be a representative building of the Polish Republic and would be used an official residence by the State Governor; this position was further re-enforced when, in 1921, the Polish Parliament passed a resolution which gave Wawel official status as the residence of the President of Poland. No legal acts have been issued by the independent Polish authorities redacting this resolution (apart from the decision of the Stalinist State National Council (KRN) to change the Wawel Castle into a museum).

In 1921 a statue of Tadeusz Kościuszko sculpted by Leandro Marconi and Antoni Popiel was placed on the ramparts of king Władysław IV Vasa on the northside.

In 1925, a column fragment of Wawel Castle was incorporated into Chicago's landmark Tribune Tower. Located in its own niche over the upper-left corner of the main entrance; it is a visual tribute to Chicago's large Polish populace, the largest such presence outside of the Republic of Poland.

The tradition of burying notable Polish national in the cathedral has continued into the 21st century: in 1927, the ashes of the romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki were brought to the cathedral, ten years later the statesman and former Leader of Second Polish Republic, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, was interred in a vault beneath the Silver Tower and in 1993 the remains of the World War II military leader Władysław Sikorski were finally returned to Poland for burial in the crypt. More recently, the bodies of President Lech Kaczyński and his wife were entombed in a sarcophagus, in the antechamber of the vault beneath the Silver Bell Tower.

During World War II, when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany, the Wawel Castle was the residence of governor general Hans Frank, later to be executed as a German Nazi war criminal; during his despotic regime Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man (1513-14), part of the Czartoryski collection, was removed from Wawel and to this day has yet to be returned to Poland. Many of the tapestries have disappeared too, their whereabouts unknown; however, 150 of the tapestries which along with many of the Wawel's other treasures had spent the war years, for safety, in Canada have been returned to the castle and are, today, part of the Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection on public display along with countless art treasures and items of historical Polish significance.

The 14th-century former Cathedral house, in the shadow of the Silver Bell Tower, between the Vasa Gate and the former Clerical Seminary, now houses the John Paul II Wawel Cathedral Museum. It was opened in 1978 by Karol Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków (later Pope John Paul II), and displays many historic Polish artefacts both spiritual and temporal which were formerly kept in the cathedral's treasury.

The Crown Treasury situated in the historic Gothic rooms which were used from the 15th century on for storing the Polish coronation insignia and Crown Jewels, feature on display priceless objects from the former Treasury that survived plunder, among them the memorabilia of Polish monarchs including members of their families and eminent personages, like the hat and sword given to John III Sobieski by the pope after the Battle of Vienna, as well as the coronation sword Szczerbiec.

State Rooms

Royal Private Apartments

Exhibition "The Lost Wawel"

Exhibition "Oriental Art"

The Royal Gardens

Dragon's Den

Ostrowski, Jan K. (1992), Cracow (in Polish), International Cultural Centre, ISBN 83-221-0621-1 .

Franaszek Antoni Wawel, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Arkady, 1988, ISBN 83-213-3448-2

Grychowki Michał, Czyżewski Krzysztof J., Katedra wawelska, Katowice: Videograf II, 2001, ISBN 83-7183-172-2

Ostrowski Jan K., Podlecki Janusz, Wawel. Zamek i katedra, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Karpaty, 1996, ISBN 83-85204-25-3

Skowron Ryszard, "Wawel. Kronika dziejów", Kraków: Zamek Królewski na Wawelu, 2001, ISBN 83-88476-05-X

Introduction by Sacheveral Sitwell. (1969). Great Palaces (Wawel Castle by Stefan Kozakiewicz). London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd. ISBN 0-600-01682-X.

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The Wawel Royal Castle ( Polish pronunciation: ; Zamek Królewski na Wawelu) is a castle residency located in central Kraków, Poland, and the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the world. Built at the behest of King Casimir III the Great, it consists of a number of structures from different periods situated around the Italian-styled main courtyard.

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Auschwitz II Historical Gate, Oswiecim, Poland

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Auschwitz II Historical Gate, Oswiecim, Poland

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Auschwitz II Historical Gate, Oswiecim, Poland

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The Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust.

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On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp in German-occupied Poland. The Germans had already fled westward, leaving behind the bodies of prisoners who had been shot and thousands of sick and starving survivors.

Now, 75 years after the liberation, hundreds of survivors from across the world will travel to Auschwitz and other locations to mark the anniversary this week and next week.

More than 1.1 million Jews were killed in Auschwitz and the adjacent Birkenau death camp in gas chambers or from starvation, disease and forced labor in the meticulous Nazi effort to rid Europe of its Jews. Overall, the Holocaust claimed 6 million Jewish lives, wiping out a third of world Jewry.

The main ceremony will be the World Holocaust Forum today, Jan. 23, in which dozens of world leaders will arrive in Jerusalem for the largest-ever gathering focused on commemorating the genocide and combating modern-day anti-Semitism. Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prince Charles and the presidents of Germany, Italy and Austria are among the more than 40 dignitaries who will be attending the event.

The events come amid a global spike in violence against Jews and in a climate in which a survey showed that 80% of European Jews said they felt unsafe in the continent.
Here is a photo essay of an Associated Press photographer's recent visit to what's left of the Auschwitz death camp, in 18 haunting images.

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What's left of Auschwitz death camp, in 18 haunting images

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On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp in German-occupied Poland. The Germans had already fled westward, leaving behind the bodies of prisoners who had been shot and thousands of sick and starving survivors.

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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland and its population is officially estimated at 1.8 million residents