Royal Route in Kraków

For centuries, kings rode along this same route to Wawel to be crowned, and funeral processions carried their coffins the same way. The Royal Route runs from Matejko Square through St Florian's Gate, the Main Market Square and Grodzka and Kanonicza streets up to Wawel Hill. It is about two kilometres long, passes most of Kraków's key sights, and you can walk it in an hour without buying a single ticket.

History: a road for coronations and funerals

The name refers to the ceremonial entries of monarchs, coronations and funeral processions that took this route until 1734. The cortège started in Kleparz, entered the city through St Florian's Gate, recorded since 1307, crossed the Market Square and, via the old settlement of Okół, reached the cathedral on Wawel. As Wawel was the royal burial place, funeral processions later followed the same road. The city describes it as the route of coronation entries, funeral processions and religious processions.

The route and what to see

• Matejko Square: the Grunwald Monument, the Academy of Fine Arts and St Florian's Church.
• The Barbican of 1498–1499, a round Gothic outwork with seven turrets and walls over 3 m thick, built under King John I Albert for fear of a Turkish attack.
• St Florian's Gate (34.5 m to the top of the spire) and Floriańska Street with Jan Matejko's House, the Pod Różą hotel and the Jama Michalika café.
• The Main Market Square, about 200 m on each side and 4 hectares in area, one of Europe's largest medieval squares: the Cloth Hall, the Town Hall Tower, the Mickiewicz monument, the little church of St Adalbert and St Mary's Basilica with Veit Stoss's altarpiece and the bugle call played every hour.
• Grodzka Street: the Dominican and Franciscan churches (the latter with stained glass by Wyspiański), the Wielopolski Palace, the Romanesque St Andrew's Church and the Baroque Church of Saints Peter and Paul with its statues of the apostles.
• Kanonicza Street, once home to the cathedral canons, lined with Renaissance and Baroque houses including the House of Długosz.
• Wawel: the Royal Castle with its arcaded courtyard and the cathedral with the Sigismund Chapel and the Sigismund Bell.

Interesting facts

Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, lived on Kanonicza Street from 1953 to 1958. Kanonicza is the quietest stretch of the route, and at its end Wawel Hill with the castle and cathedral rises straight ahead. City hall now occupies a palace on All Saints Square, so part of the coronation road passes the seat of Kraków's government.

Tripto tip

The walk itself is free and takes 1–2 hours; with visits to St Mary's, the cathedral and the castle chambers, plan half a day. Check tickets and opening hours on each site's own website, as they change through the year. Floriańska Street and the Market Square get very crowded in season, so start early in the morning. The route runs through a pedestrian zone, so leave the car outside the centre, and for a change continue along Grodzka past the Lutheran St Martin's Church and little St Giles' Church to the Arsenal at the foot of Wawel.