The Royal Cathedral on Wawel Hill is the most historically significant church in Poland. It is here that Polish kings and queens were crowned, married, and buried, and the royal tombs in its chapels represent a continuous record of Polish history from the early 11th century through to the 20th. The cathedral has been rebuilt and expanded many times, and the result is a complex of 18 chapels in styles ranging from Romanesque to Baroque.
The most celebrated space is the Renaissance Sigismund Chapel (1519-1533), considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture north of the Alps — its golden dome is visible from below the hill. Inside, Sigismund I and Sigismund II lie in marble sarcophagi beneath gilded walls that still carry the original 16th-century decorations. The crypt below the cathedral holds the coffins of Polish kings, national heroes including Tadeusz Kościuszko and Józef Piłsudski, and — controversially — the poet Adam Mickiewicz, whose remains were transferred here in 1890. The cathedral museum holds royal coronation vestments and religious treasures. Separate tickets are required for the cathedral, treasury, and Sigismund Tower.