The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on the orders of King Casimir III the Great and enlarged over the centuries into a number of structures around an Italian-styled courtyard. It represents nearly all European architectural styles of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The Wawel complex, with the cathedral on the right and the castle on the left.
An older section of Wawel from the 14th century, now the Cathedral Museum.
The Wawel complex, with the Cathedral on the left and Castle to the right. Over centuries, various styles of architecture have evolved side by side.
Smok Wawelski, Wawel's legendary dragon
The Vistula is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at 1,047 kilometres in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km2 (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km2 (65,200 sq mi) is in Poland.
Vistula in the Polish region of Kuyavia and southern Pomerania.
Vistula River in the vicinity of Płock, Poland
Vistula River near Bydgoszcz, Poland
Medieval Wawel Castle in Kraków seen from the Vistula river