Visit to Wawel

It has been a while since we posted, but I can only claim illness as an excuse. We have all been battling head colds and other minor maladies. However, in the first week of November we did venture out to actually walk through Wawel Castle. We had driven past Wawel countless times, but, as is common when you live somewhere interesting, we had not visited yet.

http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/

We started out below the castle to see the famous bronze sculpture of the legendary dragon, Smok. It was a hazy day in the Wisła valley, but, unusually, the sky had cleared.

Each day, Smok would roam across the countryside, killing the citizens, burning their homes and devouring their livestock. Smok especially enjoyed eating young girls, and required a sacrifice of a young girl in front of its cave once a month. The King (Legendary Krak) sent his bravest knights to kill Smok but each met his doom. Every girl in the city was eventually sacrificed except one, the King's daughter Wanda. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter's hand in marriage to anybody who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day, a poor cobbler's apprentice named Skuba Dratewka accepted the challenge. He stuffed a lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon's cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incredibly thirsty. He turned to the Vistula River for relief and he drank and drank. But no amount of water could quell his aching stomach, and after swelling up from drinking half of the Vistula river, he exploded. Dratewka married the King's daughter as promised and they lived happily ever after.

Megan would not appreciate being eaten very much (being squeamish that way), so she particularly enjoys this story. I'm not sure if she relishes getting married to a cobbler (or anyone for that matter), but I imagine it is better than being eaten.

Wawel was the seat of the Polish monarchy for centuries (until 1596), and had been continuously inhabited since the stone age (it is easily defensible and located on a rich river system). The city of Krakow grew at its base from about the 7th century. Here, Megan sits on one of the broad southern ramparts.

This castle is a fortification and a residence for the Polish kings and queens through the early part of the golden age of Poland, when Poland, during the Jagiełło dynasty was part of the great commonwealth with Lithuania that dominated Central Europe. The rulers needed a grand residence and they certainly built one. Although much of what exists now has been renovated and added on since then, this view is probably faithful to the 16th century (except for the blue construction barrier, of course).

Note the juxtapopsition of architectural styles and the different building materials on these facades. Corinthian columns in front and Dorian in the facade in the back.... The castle fell into disuse following a fire in the late 16th century and the movement of the Royal seat to Warsaw in 1609. It didn't help that the Swedes invaded in 1655 and ransacked the place. Following Poland's partition by Russia, Austria, and Prussia (in 1795), the Austrian army occupied the castle hill and fortified it, maintaining it until they turned it back over to the Poles in the early 20th Century. The cathedral and palace and grounds are now part of a museum dedicated to preserving the artifacts and architecture of this symbol of Polish statehood.

And now Wawel attracts tourists, scholars, official receptions and ceremonies, and, apparently, accordion players dressed in traditional Krakowiak dress. I think Megan was more frightened of these guys than the bronze dragon. At least the dragon was generally quiet (aside from belching flame every 5 minutes - no really, he does, and you can get it on demand by texting SMOK to 7168).