Woolly says – It was a slightly dull day but that didn’t deter us from our next part of the adventure, having herded up the women we walked the short distance to Kraków Barbican, a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls.
One of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers that once encircled the royal city of Kraków.
The circular building was rather sweet and finding a door that led upwards we went to investigate. Lovely key shaped window holes gave us views over the town and roof tops on one side while on the other we could peer into the interior of the barbican itself.
Having circled the building, we arrived at the door to take us back to ground level to find the most wonderful of locks on the wooden door.
The ground level was nearly filled with a large stage, but each wall gave us information about the building of the city walls.
Less than twelve feet away we stood and admired Florins Gate which had been built in or around 1307 following a Tatar attack of 1241 which destroyed most of the city. The permit for the construction of new city defences featuring stone watchtowers, fortified gates and a moat was issued by Prince Leszek II the Black in 1285. The gate named after St. Florian became the main entryway to the Old Town.
We showed our tickets to the lady at the door and headed inside, climbing up staircase after staircase. The first floor showed us a portrait of the prince and some spears, whilst the top floor housed a TV which I didn’t feel had been there in the prince’s time.
A small doorway led us onto the defence walls themselves and a view down the road to where our accommodation was, I turned to point out a building encased bridge opposite that was reminiscent of some we had seen in Venice to Jo, when I realised that she had turned green.
I’ve never been great at heights but for some reason although not that high up this one had really turned my stomach. We hurried along the walls taking a keep peek into a chapel that was housed in one of the other towers before making a quick descent so that I could try and bring my head and stomach back to a more normal feeling.
Woolly says – After a quick drink while Zoe went into a rolling pin shop, who knew they had whole shops of rolling pins, Jo gingerly said she was ready to continue.
Crossing across the Market Square we took one of the many roads towards the river and Wawel Royal Castle based on Wawel Hill, being one of the most historically and culturally significant sites in Poland. A fortified residency overlooking the Vistula River, it was established on the orders of King Casimir III the Great with some of the oldest buildings being traced back to 970 AD. From below it looked most impressive.
We climbed up the steep bank and headed towards the queue for tickets, with only five lots of people in front of us we wondered why twenty minutes later we still hadn’t reached the desk. This seemed to be due to the convoluted ticket system whereby you had to choose which parts of the castle you wanted to see and buy a separate ticket for each and every one, it seemed to take forever to get ours printed for the State Rooms and Treasury. Finally with tickets in hand we entered the castle grounds which were based around an Italian styled courtyard. As we looked around, we could see all manner of European architectural styles of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
We also found that there was a large Cathedral which wasn’t mentioned at all at the ticket desk and required us to join another queue to buy further tickets to enter, Jo muttered under her breath about seeing about that in a minute and took the lead in taking us through an archway under a rather pink building.
The courtyard we entered was huge with balconies and windows on three sides, I rubbed my paws in glee and trotted up the four flights of stairs turning left at the top
to enter a Throne Room which had a magnificent ceiling and large tapestries hanging along the walls.
A doorway led us through a vestibule area with an equally impressive ceiling and a range of paintings.
The Eagle Room came next with more ceiling art, and I realised that my neck was starting to ache from starring upwards. A mammoth cupboard took up one side of the room with portraits of royalty above. On the opposite wall was a large marble fireplace which would have allowed for a wonderfully large fire to be lit.
A small finely decorated area with hand painted wallpaper led us into the chapel where the Royal family would have had a personal priest to conduct their services.
A small room came next who’s walls were covered in pictures.
Before entering a much bigger area with the best ceiling yet, a massive tapestry covered the whole of one of the walls. The tour appeared to stop there, and we had to retrace our steps wondering where the bed chambers were.
Climbing down a floor we entered an exhibition of Turkish tents which seemed unusual a find in Poland, they were however beautiful, and I wondered how we had never seen a single one in our years in Turkey.
Dotted amongst the tents were cases of Turkish armour.
The next area was filled with a large cross and a number of church related items which seemed a strange combination when mixed with tents. Reaching the end of this part we headed back downstairs and into the courtyard. I felt like we had missed something but on checking a large board with a map it seemed as though we had completed the State apartments leaving us to enter the Treasury.
This proved to be an absolute highlight, starting with pendants that had been used in battle, far bigger than I had ever thought something like this would be.
We wandered past saddles, helmets and chain mail which were beautiful.
The next area was nearly filled with a life sized model wearing a ceremonial robe which looked as though it would weigh several tonnes.
A small room showed us an unusual looking hat and some swords as well as well as an incredibly intricate tapestry in the brightest of colours.
And a large case contained all manner of Royal wax seals.
Even better was to come in the next area which seemed to be filled with all things silver including tankards that had silver coins to decorate their sides, medals and platters.
In one corner was a much smaller room filled with a plethora of items including a very sweet owl made of silver and a coconut shell which seemed an odd combination as well as an ivory and mother of pearl chessboard once owned by King Sigismund III.
The last room had vaulted ceilings and contained the Pole’s most prized artefact of all, the Sword of the Kings of Poland dating back to the 14th century which was a very fine piece.
Finding ourselves back outside we realised that it had taken less than an hour and a half to compete everything that our tickets allowed us to do, I peered up at Jo and flicked my tail towards the impressive looking Cathedral. Formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Saint Stanislaus and Saint Wenceslaus, the current Gothic cathedral is the third edition on the site; the first was constructed and destroyed in the 11th century and the second one, constructed in the 12th century, was destroyed by a fire in 1305. The construction of the existing church began in the 14th century on the orders of Bishop Nanker. Over time, the building was expanded by successive rulers resulting in its versatile and eclectic architectural composition. Looking at the outside it was easy to see the many additions.
With no queue at the ticket office Jo was in and out in moments clutching our new tickets, entering through a large green door we walked straight into the first of many signs telling us that no pictures could be taken which is always a blow.
Filled with large alabaster sculptures, a fairly modest altar for a Cathedral and hundreds of tombs it was very grand. We headed down into the crypt area to view the Royal tombs which were incredible in their design and adornment, sadly as we can’t show you the pictures you will just have to visit yourself.
With the afternoon nearing its end we wandered back towards the Market Square passing some lovely buildings and what seemed like hundreds of shops filled with Christmas decorations which the women insisted on ‘popping’ into before arriving back at the square in time for tea.