Wawel Castle Courtyard & Cathedral

The interior courtyard of Wawel Castle is quite splendid with its numerous arches and columns.

Here's a video I took of the interior courtyard inside Wawel Castle.

This room is reserved for the President of Poland whenever he visits Krakow. Not too shabby but not as grand as I had envisioned, likely the difference in eras.

After finishing up on the tour of the castle, we headed back outside towards the entrance of Wawel Cathedral. Here are some side shots of the cathedral which looks like a gorgeous mixture of different types of architecture. It certainly reminds me somewhat of Pena Palace in Sintra near Portugal albeit with a much more serious and solemn facade.

Across from the entrance to the Cathedral is a statue of Pope John Paul II where, as Father Wojtyla, said his First Mass in the Crypt of St Leonard's. On the right is a fascinating object located at the main entrance to the Cathedral. Hanging above the door on the left are the bones of an 'ancient creature' which if they fall, will presage the end of the world, according to legend. Hope Krakow doesn't get too many earthquakes...

The interior of the Cathedral is a gorgeous repository of objets d'art ranging from Gothic to Renaissance to Baroque to Classical to modern. This cathedral is certainly among one of the finest cathedrals I've seen in Europe in terms of its interior collection.

Last but not least, there is a plaque with the image of Frederic Chopin embedded inside to commemorate one of, if not the most, prolific composer for the piano, Chopin, within the Crypt of National Bards.

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