The Royal Castle in Krakow hosts the exhibition ‘Wawel Underground. Lapidarium”. The new permanent tour under the eastern wing of the Royal Castle presents a complex and innovative exhibition, archaeological and architectural-construction project, which will become known as one of the most important museum events.

The exhibition of modern architectural details is in the eastern wing of the royal palace. It fills the historic spaces of the Renaissance cellars and is integrally connected with the Lost Wawel exhibition. The underground architectural reserve is a series of historic rooms created in the first quarter of the 16th century. Structured into an enfilade and covered with brick barrel vaults, the rooms were built using many stone elements from the demolition of the Gothic palace. 

Visitors will be able to see for the first time how the Renaissance residence was built and experience a history that has been hidden for centuries for natural reasons but has now been uncovered. Using a play of light and modern technology (self-exploration displays, multimedia projections, 3D reconstructions), visitors can also see clear traces of the earlier buildings and facilities of the Gothic castle including the lower part of the Jordan Tower and the medieval well.

Profiles of architectural details used secondarily as building material of the lowest floor of the new building are visible in the walls of the rooms, which gives an extraordinary aesthetic and display effect. They are lapides viventes – living stones. In addition, clear traces of earlier buildings and equipment of the Gothic castle survive in the basement rooms including the lower part of the Jordanka tower or the palace well. These elements form part of the exhibition narrative relating to the medieval buildings of the upper castle and, as witnesses of the past, speak to us through the speech of the stones.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński