Wawel Dragon Statue () is a monument at the foot of the

Wawel Hill The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') 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 o ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in front of the Wawel Dragon's den, dedicated to the mythical

Wawel Dragon The Wawel Dragon (), also known as the Dragon of Wawel Hill, is a famous dragon in Polish legend. According to the earliest account (13th century), a dragon (, "one who swallows whole") plagued the capital city of Kraków established by legend ...

. Installed in 1972, the statue is capable of letting out fire from its mouth on demand. Usually it does so every 15 minutes.

Legend

The Wawel Dragon (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Smok Wawelski'') is a famous dragon in Polish mythology who lived in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill on the banks of the

Vistula River The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...

. One of the many popular stories about the dragon takes place in Kraków during the reign of King Krakus, the city's mythical founder. In the legend, the dragon terrifies local villagers by destroying their houses and eating up their young daughters. Desperate to solve the problem, King Krakus promises his daughter Wanda's hand to any brave man who can defeat the dragon. A cobbler named Skuba takes up the challenge and stuffs a lamb with

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

for the dragon to eat. Skuba leaves the lamb near the dragon cave and the unwary beast devours the bait. Soon after, the dragon's thirst grows unbearable and he drinks so much water from the River Vistula that he explodes from the uncontainable volume. King Krakus then weds his daughter Wanda to the victorious Skuba. In the oldest, 12th-century version of this tale, written by

Wincenty Kadłubek Wincenty Kadłubek (; 1150 – 8 March 1223) was a Polish Catholic prelate and professed Cistercian who served as the Bishop of Kraków from 1208 until his resignation in 1218. His episcopal mission was to reform the diocesan priests to ens ...

,Mistrz Wincenty tzw. Kadłubek, "Kronika Polska", Ossolineum, Wrocław, 2008, the dragon was defeated by two sons of a King Krak,

Krakus II Krakus II (; ) was a mythological ruler of Poland. He was the successor of and son of the alleged founder of the City of Kraków, Krakus I, and he was the younger brother of Lech II, according to Wincenty Kadłubek. He ties the family to the nat ...

and

Lech II Lech II was a legendary ruler of Poland mentioned by 15th century chronicler Jan Długosz. He was the son of the alleged founder of the City of Kraków, Krakus I, and he was the brother of Krakus II. Bibliography * Jan Długosz, Roczniki, cz ...

Statue

The statue was designed by Polish sculptor Bronisław Chromy and completed in 1969; it was installed in its present location in 1972. Bielowicz notes that the statue was made in 1969 but was not unveiled in its current location till 1972. The statue is made out of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and stands on a large

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

boulder. It is tall. Some early designs for the statue included a more traditional

water fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a Tap (valve), tap. The Drinking, drinker bends down to the ...

. A later variant proposed that it should be partially submerged in the nearby

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river, but this was rejected. In the end, the statue was designed to breathe fire; it was also modernized recently so that the fire breath can be triggered by a SMS

text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...

(the statue can do so at minimum of 15 seconds intervals). The service is popular, and receives at least 2,500 requests a day. The fire uses

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

as fuel. Without any text messages, the fire breaths occur at about five-minute intervals. The statue has been described as a "traditional" element of the modern Kraków landscape, and as a major tourist attraction of the city, particularly for children.

References

{{Kraków Wawel Monuments and memorials in Kraków 1972 establishments in Poland 1972 sculptures Sculptures of dragons Fire arts Articles containing video clips