Wawel Cathedral with a Private Guide

• You will visit the most famous cathedral in Poland
• With the help of a private guide in your chosen language, you will learn the history and secrets hidden by the cathedral on Wawel Hill.
• A comprehensive tour of the cathedral takes 1.5 - 2 hours.

The cathedral is a three-nave Gothic basilica made of brick and limestone. Over the following centuries, a complex of various accompanying buildings was added to the nave.

The cathedral is surrounded by three towers. On the north side of the Sigismund Tower, the Sigismund Bell hangs, and the Clock Tower higher than it is decorated with a Baroque helmet. On the south side, we can see the Silver Bells Tower. The Sigismund Chapel covered with a gilded dome, the work of Italian builders of the Renaissance period, attracts attention.

Apart from the kings and their families, the cathedral also houses Polish national heroes and writers. The latter was dedicated to the Crypt of the Poets, where Mickiewicz and Słowacki are buried.

Of the nineteen chapels that surround the cathedral, it is worth taking a closer look at at least a few. The Sigismund Chapel hides the tombstones of the last kings of the Jagiellonian dynasty. It is the most outstanding Renaissance work in Poland. It is sometimes called "the pearl of the Renaissance north of the Alps".

The Świętokrzyska Chapel was build as the mausoleum of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk and his wife Elżbieta Rakuszanka. Its most valuable element is the marble tombstone of the king, carved by Wit Stwosz. It is an outstanding example of late medieval stone carvings.

The Potocki Chapel, originally a Gothic one, was rebuilt by a late Renaissance sculptor, Jan Michałowicz from Urzędów. In the 19th century it was transformed into the Empire style. It is one of the few homogeneous examples of Classicism in Krakow.

The cathedral leads to the entrance to the Royal Tombs and the tower with the Sigismund Bell.