Most excursions in Krakow begin from the Wawel Castle.
And actually Excursion to the Royal Castle It is the most popular and visited by tourists.
As a rule, this tour includes a leisurely inspection of the entire castle area. The following should be visited by the Cathedral, where, at will, you can see the royal tips, inspection of the Zigmund chapel. There will be time to visit museums, including royal chambers and a throne room. At the end of the excursion you will be offered to visit the "Caves of the Spirit" (or the dragon caves, if you want), passing through which you find yourself on the opposite side of the castle, which goes straight to the hang.
Royal Castle Wawel (Polish. Wawel ) - This is the main attraction of Krakow, he proudly towers above the city on the Hill of the same name on the left bank of the Vistula. In essence, Wawel is a symbol not only Krakow, but also of all Poland and is important for the Polish people. By the way, in Poland there is even a confectionery factory, producing candy and chocolate with the name "Wawel".
Stone fortifications began to be erected at this place at the end of the XIII century. Soon, all the buildings on the hill were rebuilt into the Gothic style, and in about 1340, the city walls and walls of the castle were connected.
In the Wawel Castle, not one generation of Polish royal families began to live for the centuries-old history. However, during its existence, not only Polish kings lived here. Krakow was repeatedly conquered, respectively, and Wawel's castle constantly changed the owners: Lithuanians lived in it, barracks were arranged for the Austrian military. He was plundered several times, and also burned the Swedish army as a result of the Northern War. During World War II, fascists were located on the territory of the castle. Moreover, in 1945, during the retreat, the Germans minted him and were going to blow up. But I already wrote about the wonderful "salvation" of Krakow.
The majestic Wawel is a single architectural ensemble.
Long existence and numerous restructuring have changed a little medieval castle device. He did not even change to the arrangement of one of the courtyards in the form of Italian "Palazzo" with three open gallery.
Building the castle have signs of romance style, gothic, rebirth, Baroque style and others. The feature of the interiors of the castle is the rare weave of the Gothic style along with the elements of the Renaissance era. For a while, Krakow Royal Yard had close ties and was focused on Italian cultural achievements. Wavere worked in Wawel (architects, artists, sculptors) from Italy, including from Milan.
A tour of the Wawel Castle is often starting with inspection of the highest tower of the complex, the Senatorial Tower with which many legends are associated. She was built in the XV century and first called Lyublask. The tower has very thick walls from the burned brick, as a result of which he could keep the defense for a long time even under strong artillery fire. More aware of the purpose of the Senatorial Tower is a prison for high-ranking officials.
On the territory of the castle there is the Cathedral of the Saints Stanislav and Vaclav. Before entering the mammoth bones, it is believed that they bring happiness to Krakow. Inside the Cathedral, pay attention to the stunning altar of the debris, it was here before the monarchs before returning from hiking was pinned military trophies. Representatives of the tsarist dynasty also always buried in the Cathedral. If desired, tourists can visit the tomb of the Polish kings. In 2010, the President of Poland Lech Kacinsky was buried here with his wife Maria, who died in a plane crash near Smolensk.
The Wawel Cathedral became famous for the fact that at one time her bishop was Karol Putyla - the future head of the Roman Catholic Church of John Paul II.
In the neighborhood there is a famous Zigmund chapel. Outwardly, it is weakly similar to the temple - rather, on the pompous building of the Renaissance. Beautiful such building.
Pearl chapel is a huge Bell Sigmund (Polish. Dzwon Zigmunta). This is the most famous bell in Poland. His ringing can be heard on certain days of national and catholic holidays. Additionally, the bell is ringing in particular cases, including the day of the invasion of Germany to Poland, on the eve of the country's entry into the European Union, every visit of the Pope John Paul II to Poland, as well as the funeral of Adam Mitskevich, the Roman Pope of John Paul II and Lech Kachinsky.
Now in narrow spans, every visitor chapel can rise and look at the legendary Bell of Sigmund. But the people there are not reading. According to reference, there you need to hold for the bell and make one desire (but only once).
Currently, the Royal Castle of Wawel is the famous Museum Center of Poland. In the halls of the Armory House there are priceless collections of weapons (among them the historical sword Schcherbets), in other rooms the castle is stunning beauty of the tapestries, various historical documents, etc., deserve the attention of the royal chambers, the throne room, treasury.
Summing up, I will say that in the vaven you can spend more than one hour. Here usually crowded and guides are forced to constantly "customize" their group of tourists. Therefore, it makes sense to attend Wawel to independently dispose of your time without tosing to excursions. And if you want to listen to an interesting story, then you can smear. Next to the castle is a large parking lot, where excursion buses stop. Come there and wait until a bus with a Russian-speaking guide will arrive. It is impossible not to notice them, for our tourists are the most noisy in the world. Alternatively, you can "catch" the tour is already on the territory of Wawel.
I almost forgot. Now in one of the halls of the Royal Castle (just where the Italian courtyard is located) the greatest artistically creation is stored - the picture of Leonardo da Vinci "Lady with Mornosta". For an additional fee you can see this picture. We, by the way, are not lucky. During his stay in Poland, we called several times in Krakow on business. And that day, when they decided to come to see the picture, there was a great religious holiday in the country (November 1 - the day of all saints) and absolutely all exposures were closed. It happens…