Studia Waweliana (1.1992)

THE NEW ARRANGEMENT OF THE ROYAL CRYPTS
IN THE WAWEL CATHEDRAL IN THE 1870S

Summary

For many centuries the royal cathedral on Wawel Hill was
the coronation and funerary church of the kings of Poland. When
in the late 18th century the Polish Kingdom was partitioned by
three hostile powers and there were no more Polish monarchs, it
was decided to bury in the Wawel basilica the bodies of the most
eminent sons of the motherland and thereby create the Pantheon
of the Nation. Soon after the Congress of Vienna two national
heroes — Prince Józef Poniatowski and Tadeusz Kościuszko
— were laid to rest in the Wawel crypt In the course of time
crowds of Poles would visit the Wawel Pantheon in order to iearn
in this ancient sanctuary the history of the nation, to forget if only
for a while, their political bondage and, finally, to pay tribute to the
Polish kings.

In the middle of the 19th century the royal tombs in the
Wawel Cathedral were in a state of neglect; however, funds were
lacking for their necessary restoration. It was not until the remains
of Casimir the Great were accidentally found in 1869 and in this
connection the Polish people most generously contributed money
towards the restoration of the monarch's tomb that it was possible
to undertake indispensable work. Aheady in August of the same
year Józef Łepkowski's project, referring to the unrealized „Project
of the restoration of the royal tombs at the Wawel" of 1862, was
accepted. Building operations were begun in the crypt of St
Leonard in 1872 under the direction of the architect Teofil
Żebrawski. A series of royal catacombs was extended by the crypts
under the Sigismund and Vasa Chapels, those crypts being
connected with that of St Leonard by means of a long passage
under the southern arm of the ambulatory.

Side by side with the adaptation work in the royal crypts
renovation of the coffins of the monarchs was started. Their
restoration made possible the exploration of some royal tombs.
Until recently the view prevailed that all or the huge majority of
the royal coffins had been restored; however, in all probability this

was done in no more than five sarcophagi, i.e. of Anne the
Austrian, Constance the Austrian, Sigismund III Vasa, Anne the
Jagiellonian, and Barbara Zapolya. The restoration work carried
out by Antoni Hutlauer is documented by the reports of the
opening of the royal coffins, kept in the Museum of the Jagiel-
lonian University.

The building and restoration work having been finished in
1875 and the coffins ranged in the renovated interiors, the
furnishing and decoration of the crypts commenced. Particular
attention was given to the altar in the crypt of St Leonard, which
Countess Katarzyna Potocka intended to endow. Out of severai
interesting designs the version of the outstanding French architect
Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was chosen. Numerous aristo-
cratic famihes presented paraments and other objects for the
furnishing of the royal crypts.

In the painstakingly restored royal catacombs a new custom
was introduced — to say in the crypt of St Leonard a com-
memorative Mass for the kings of Poland, usually on the day of
their death. This was possible thanks to numerous endowments
initiated in 1875. At the same time Requiem Masses began to be
celebrated for the Polish kings on All Souls' Day and Masses for
them throughout the week following that day.

In 1877 one more crypt was adapted to receive the sar-
cophagus of King Stephen Batory, until then buried in the Lady
Chapel. The removal of his coffin from beneath the monument
raised to him in this chapel made possible the first exploration of
the tomb of the great monarch.

The transferring of Batory's remains was the finał stage of
the restoration of the royal tombs, which henceforth survived
unaltered both in terms of their symbolic meaning and the
mode of display until the time when Poland regained her indepen-
dence, functioning uninterruptedly as „a witness to the nation's
history".

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