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Krakow, Poland
Our walk took us to the Wawel Castle, where the cathedral, today a symbol of Polish national identity, can be visited outside of mass hours (six services on a Sunday!)
For over a thousand years a cathedral has been on the site, and from the mid-11th century the kings and queens of Poland resided in the state rooms and had their coronations and funerals in the grounds too. For A Very Long Time.
Following the loss of independence in the late 18th century, the castle served as army barracks for Austrian soldiers, who somewhat tragically demolished many of the buildings within the castle walls. In the early years of the last century Wawel was returned to the Polish people and a monumental conservation project undertaken.
This is what we saw inside:
(there are no pics to show as it is strictly “nie wolno” to take photos inside any of the exhibitions, and so ours are necessarily limited to outdoor grey foggy shots.)
*big ornate brass door hinges
*enormous tapestries – easily taller than two people and nearly three times as long
(what fun to guess the stories being told – hint: you’ll need to be familiar with biblical themes and a spot of Greek mythology)
*embossed leather wall coverings – from floor to ceiling in room after room after room
*safes with interesting locking mechanisms
*candles standing in wall-mounted shining silver candlestick holders
*intricately carved oversized wooden furniture
*four-poster bed for a dwarf (OK, so it wasn’t for a dwarf, but it sure was short)
*three metre wide marble staircases
*larger-than-lifesize portraits, that didn’t look so big coz the rooms they were in were proportionately gigantic…massive….tall…..wide…..spacious….huge
*delightful friezes a good metre high marching around the tops of other equally enormous rooms
*carved wooden heads staring down from the ceiling
*gold
*solid stone architraves surrounding solid metal doors
*poets’ crypts
*highly decorated heaters about the size of an English telephone box
(Looking to Rob for a description of them, he managed in slow deliberate words, “Gaudy painted floral green things, but they looked quite impressive despite that.”)
*Queen Jadwiga: crowned at age ten, married at age twelve to a Lithuanian prince (and so began the Christianising/?Catholicising? of Lithuania), restored the university, generous benefactor of the poor, died in childbirth at the age of twenty-five – a short but influential life with a legacy still revered now (and that was all back in the 1300s)
(not that we saw her today – we just read about her)
*objects discovered in archaeological excavations – fascinatingly displayed in cabinets lining a walkway leading you *over* the remains of stables, coach-house, kitchens and a chapel
*ionic columns (cheekily called “ironic columns” by Mboy6 to an older sibling, who has had a recent habit of misusing the word “ironical”)
a week ago the leaves were brillaint gold ~ now look!
(waves at Reader Allie – recognise “your” picture?)
Tags: 2008/09, children, history, postcard: Poland, quote, tradition, weather
rayres
Haha, I do indeed recognise “my” picture!
How is it that Krakow looks so insanely beautiful in every kind of weather?