At the end of our journey we go to Cracow. Above the town on the hill near the Vistula Wawel Castle is undoubtedly the most important of the castles located on the Cracow-Czestochowa Upland. He was the prince's residence long before the founding of the Polish state, and the first Piasts settled here at the beginning of the tenth century. Initially, it was made of wood.

 

The first stone buildings were built in the 11th century, but only Władysław Łokietek and his son Casimir the Great created a real royal residence here. In the days of Zygmunt Stary and Bona the castle took on the character of a Renaissance mansion. With the transfer of capital to Warsaw, Wawel lost its importance. After the capture of Cracow by the Austrians in the mid-nineteenth century, it was transformed into a military barracks.

In order to save the castle from degradation, under the pretext of giving it to Franciszek Józef, before the First World War he was repaired. Today it is the seat of the museum and the treasury of national memorabilia.