Crypt

Crypts are situated under the Wawel Cathedral. The first crypt, Sigismund, was built in the first half of the 16th century. In the beginning, only Polish rulers were buried here. Since the 19th century, the crypts were also a place of rest of the most distinguished commanders, poets, politicians, and people of culture.

In the beginning, Polish rulers were buried directly under the floor of the Wawel Cathedral or inside. The first crypt was built after the death of John I Albert. These separated rooms were forgotten after the years. It wasn't until the 19th century, when a group of architects and artists including, among others, Jan Matejko, started working on organizing them. They connected certain rooms with passages what allowed opening the Royals Tombs to the public.

In the 19th century, distinguished commanders, politicians, and people of culture had been also buried here. An apogee of this trend took place after the regaining of the independence in the interwar period. Thanks to this, Wawel crypts are today the most important national necropolis. It's a place of rest of, among others, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Adam Mickiewicz, and Juliusz Słowacki. The most characteristic crypt is the Saint Leonard Crypt. It's a former Romanesque rotunda hidden today under the floor of the Gothic cathedral. It is here where Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II, said his first mass.