DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0141
the left, and a house with the Cathedral Museum, and the Vicarage
(Wikarowka) on the right. A few dozen metres farther opens the
spacious outer courtyard, sloping slightly to the southwest. Only
now can one appreciate the size of the Wawel plateau. Left, rises
the massive building of the former royal kitchens, and the recessed
gate-building leading to the inner courtyard. Ahead, along the
southern edge of the hill, stretch the relics of the partly recon-
structed defensive walls. From the side of the Vistula, there is the
large building of the former Austrian hospital, now housing
museum storages; finally, the northern side of the courtyard is
flanked by the elongated curve of the Cathedral houses and the
building of the former seminary. Vertical accents of this varied
view are the Thiefs’ (Zlodziejska), Sandomierz (Sandomierska)
and Senators’ (Senatorska) Towers, relics of the medieval forti-
fications, which give the southwestern skyline of the Wawel
a distinct rhythm. Between the Thiefs Tower flanking Cathedral
houses from the west, and the former hospital building, the other
approach to the Wawel opens onto the courtyard: it was built only
in the nineteenth century, and gently slopes towards Stradom
across the southern side of the hill.
The empty space of the outer courtyard is the result of
nineteenth-century demolition. Originally, the so-called lower
castle stood here, a small town of its own, inhabited by court ser-
vants. In place of the present lawns, there were numerous houses,
gardens, and even ponds where fish for the royal table were
farmed. Of the medieval churches of St George and St Michael
the foundations survive, and have been raised above ground level
so that the ground plan of the buildings could be read. Modern
times saw not only demolition but also reconstruction of the
Wawel buildings. The royal kitchen building and the former
hospital pose an almost insoluble problem for conservators:
although they scar the architectural landscape of the historic
complex, their demolition is impossible and any change extremely
complicated.
Both historically and artistically, the most valuable buildings
*34
(Wikarowka) on the right. A few dozen metres farther opens the
spacious outer courtyard, sloping slightly to the southwest. Only
now can one appreciate the size of the Wawel plateau. Left, rises
the massive building of the former royal kitchens, and the recessed
gate-building leading to the inner courtyard. Ahead, along the
southern edge of the hill, stretch the relics of the partly recon-
structed defensive walls. From the side of the Vistula, there is the
large building of the former Austrian hospital, now housing
museum storages; finally, the northern side of the courtyard is
flanked by the elongated curve of the Cathedral houses and the
building of the former seminary. Vertical accents of this varied
view are the Thiefs’ (Zlodziejska), Sandomierz (Sandomierska)
and Senators’ (Senatorska) Towers, relics of the medieval forti-
fications, which give the southwestern skyline of the Wawel
a distinct rhythm. Between the Thiefs Tower flanking Cathedral
houses from the west, and the former hospital building, the other
approach to the Wawel opens onto the courtyard: it was built only
in the nineteenth century, and gently slopes towards Stradom
across the southern side of the hill.
The empty space of the outer courtyard is the result of
nineteenth-century demolition. Originally, the so-called lower
castle stood here, a small town of its own, inhabited by court ser-
vants. In place of the present lawns, there were numerous houses,
gardens, and even ponds where fish for the royal table were
farmed. Of the medieval churches of St George and St Michael
the foundations survive, and have been raised above ground level
so that the ground plan of the buildings could be read. Modern
times saw not only demolition but also reconstruction of the
Wawel buildings. The royal kitchen building and the former
hospital pose an almost insoluble problem for conservators:
although they scar the architectural landscape of the historic
complex, their demolition is impossible and any change extremely
complicated.
Both historically and artistically, the most valuable buildings
*34