Basilica-cathedral Stanislas Saints and Venceslas of Cracow
The cathedral of Wawel or Basilica-cathedral Stanislas Saints and Venceslas of Cracow is the principal church of the Archidiocèse of Cracow. The national sanctuary, the kings, the poets and the national heroes of the Poland are buried there.
The cathedral is on the hill of the Wawel which shelters also the royal castle. During centuries, Wawel was then the center of the ecclesiastical and monarchical capacity of Poland.
The first cathedral, whose vestiges are relatively very few, was built after the institution of évêché in Cracow in 1000. Destroyed approximately 140 - 180 years later, it was rebuilt in first half of the 12th century. The cathedral was burnt in 1305 or 1306, which constituted the reason for which the king Ladislas Ier of Poland decided to rebuild it in the Gothic style. He was also the first monarch crowned and buried in this cathedral.
Under the reign of Sigismond Ier the Old man, Bartolomeo Berecci of Florence builds celebrates it “vault of Sigismond” - a masterpiece of the art of the Rebirth.
The kings of Poland and the bishops, throughout the history, modified the cathedral, its vaults and its decoration, in accordance with the styles and with the tastes of the time.
Today, the cathedral is one of the Polish historic buildings most important. It is registered (with all the historical center of Cracow) on the Liste of the world heritage of UNESCO.
At the entry of the cathedral, one finds bones of mammoth, whose legend says that when they fall, Cracow will be destroyed.
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