The Royal Castle on the Wawel Hill.
The Wawel Dragon
On the top of the Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland, there is a magnificent castle - a residence of Polish kings since medieval times. Today the Wawel Royal Castle is probably the most prominent tourist attraction not only in Kraków, but also in Poland. And the legend of the Wawel Dragon contributes to making Kraków even more attractive.
At the foot of the hill there is a cave which was once a medieval inn and brothel. Nowadays it is open for tourists from the beginning of May until the end of October and it is closed for winter time due to danger of slipping on icy rock stairs inside. According to the legend, the cave was the dragon`s den, so no wonder near the entrance we can admire a stone statue of a dragon which breathes fire every two minutes. It was designed by a famous local sculptor Bronisław Chromy in 1972.
The Wawel Dragon is the most famous dragon in Poland, deeply rooted in Kraków`s tradition and culture. Every Polish child knows it very well. The Wawel Dragon and its multiple embodiments are present in streets, stores, schools, offices, radio and TV stations, literature and theatre, advertisements and events.
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The Royal Castle on the Wawel Hill. |
The towers of the Castle. |
Once upon a time, many centuries ago, in a cave near the Vistula River lived a giant fire-breathing dragon. It was a veritable nuisance to the local inhabitants because he not only had a bad habit of devouring their cattle but, what is worse, ….. human virgins.
The news of the dragon`s nasty behaviour spread all over the country. Many knights came in an attempt to slay the beast, however, none was successful since it burnt valiant fighters before they could draw out their swords. King Krak, who ruled in the city at the time, became desperate. He promised to reward the dragon slayer with his daughter`s hand and half of the kingdom.
One day a poor shoemaker Skuba appeared before the king and volunteered to kill the horrible creature. He knew that he did not have any chances in a one-on-one duel. Instead he came up with an idea to poison the beast. He decided to prepare a special dish for the dragon – a sheep stuffed with tar and sulphur. At dawn Skuba placed the prepared sheep at the cave's entrance.
As soon as it came out of the cave, the dragon greedily devoured the sheep for his breakfast. Soon it felt like his stomach was on fire. The fiery feeling was so intense that the dragon stood on the bank of the river and started to drink water. But it was to no avail - the dragon went on drinking more and more. His belly grew bigger and bigger until it blew up in a powerful explosion.
All residents of Krakow rejoiced seeing the happy end of their dragon problem. The brave and clever shoemaker married the beautiful princess and after King Krak's death became a ruler of Krakow.
ART part I
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| The statue of the Wawel Dragon standing on a giant rock at the foot of the castle. | |
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| The statue of the fire-breathing dragon. | The head of the fire-breathing dragon. |
More pictures of the statue and the den: http://www.ga.com.pl/smok.htm
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The kindergarten children stage a play about King Krak, shoemaker Skuba and the Wawel Dragon which is lying on the floor in front of his cave. |
Shoemaker Skuba approaches the dragon with his stuffed sheep. |
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The kindergarten dragon devours the stuffed sheep. |
The dragon is bored while his mates perform the traditional krakowiak dance. |
Commerce
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Dragon mascots and gadgets can be bought at Kraków`s street stalls. |
Advertising
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 The Polish Grain Mills in Kraków have chosen the Wawel Dragon for their emblem.
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A giant dragon advertises a local taxi service. |
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Events
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The Golden, Silver and Bronze Dragons Awards are prizes given to victorious directors at the annual Krakow Documentary and Short Film Festival. The festival has taken place since 1961 and is the oldest film festival in Poland. First a national only event, it later became an international competition.
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| The logo of the Krakow Film Festival, the oldest in Poland. |
The statuette of the Golden Dragon, the main prize. |
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3rd Recycling Festival in Kraków. A 30-foot tall copy of a dragon was built of 650.000 bottle caps. A dragon`s leg above looks as if it was covered with scales. |
Media
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The Wawel Dragon, a female lady called Matilda, appears in the logo of RMF, the biggest and most popular Polish privately owned radio station, broadcasting from Kraków. |
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Literature
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The first mention of the Wawel
Dragon appeared in Wincenty Kadłubek`s "Chronicles of the Kings and Princes
of Poland” in 13th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wincenty_Kadlubek
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Stanisław Pagaczewski, a storyteller from Kraków, wrote a series of books for children about the adventures of the Wawel Dragon and his friends (http://baltazar-gabka.pl/ksiazka.htm). Pagaczewski`s dragon is a noble vegetarian who fights villains and helps the weak. The books became so popular with children all over Poland that one of them (http://baltazar-gabka.pl/fragment.htm) was even put on the primary school reading list. A cartoon series, based on the book, was made in the 80s. http://baltazar-gabka.pl/kolorowanki.htm
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| Grzegorz Rosiński, a well-known Polish comic artist, who created a hit series “Thorgal,” had also made a comic book about the Wawel Dragon. You can see how the bait sheep is stuffed with sulphur and tar. | |
Decoration
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| Copper dragon gargoyles decorate roofs of the Wawel Castle. |
A dragon fountain décor in one of Kraków`s shopping centres. |
Dragon Parades
Below you can see photos from two Dragon Parades in Krakow. They are quite a new tradition, but have already become popular with locals and tourists. There have been five parades so far, each of them devoted to a certain lead motif.
4th Dragon Parade in 2004 : http://www.republika.pl/jerzybo/dragonparade.htm
(The European Union)
5th Dragon Parade in 2005: http://www.republika.pl/jerzybo/dragonparade2.htm
(The 750th anniversary of Kraków)
