Smocza Jama

Dragons Den - Dragon's Cave

Useful Information

photography — **Sebastian Münster**: Smok Wawelski, dragon of Kraków, Cosmographie Universalis, 1544. Public Domain.

Location:	Wawel 5, 31-001 Cracow. In Cracow, at the foot of Wawel Hill, under the Royal Castle towers. Entrance from the Royal Castle. (50.053260, 19.933612)
Open:	MAY to JUN daily 10-17. JUL to AUG daily 10-18. SEP to OCT daily 10-17. [2007]
Fee:	Adults PLZ 3, Children (0-6) free. [2007]
Classification:	Karst Cave Dragon Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=276 m, VR=15 m, A=205 m asl.
Guided tours:	L=120 m, St=135, D=20 min. V=250.000/a
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	E. M. Firlet (1996): Smocza Jama na Wawelu Universitas, Krakow
Address:	Smocza Jama, King Vavel's Castle, Wawel 5, 31-001 Cracow, Tel: +48-12-422-52-55, Tel: +48-12-422-09-04.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1190	first mentioned in Wincenty Kadłubek's Chronica Polonorum.
1544	first pictured in an xylograph.
1551	name Smocza Jama first used by Marcin Bielski in the book Kronika wszystkiego świata.
16th century	an infamous inn or public house is operated at the entrance to the cave and inside.
1829	cave visited by Ambrozy Grabowski who entrered throu one of the openings in the ceiling with ladders.
18th century	Wawel fortified, public house closed, cave reinforced with supporting pillars, main entrance bricked up.
1830	two smaller cave entrances also bricked up.
1842	cave reopened and opened to the public as a show cave.
1860	opening bricked up again by the occupation authorities.
1870s	stairs built from the level of the castle fortifications and cave reopened.
1874	A. Alth conducts geological and archaeological research.
1890s	stairs demolished and cave no longer accessible.
1918	current entrance to the cave through a well built, electric light installed and reopened.
1966	a comprehensive study of the cave and cave renovated.
1972	fire-breathing statue of the Wawel Dragon created by Bronisław Chromy erected at the entrance to the cave.
1974	a space behind one wall been discovered using geophysical methods, it was accessed by drilling a short tunnel.
1983	sump at the far end of the new passage crossed by a group of cavers led by A. Paulo and A. Gorny, 140 m of new passages discovered.

Description

Smocza Jama is the most popular cave of Poland with about 250,000 visitors every year. An obvious reason is the location of the cave: right in the center of the Voivodeship capital Kraków (Cracow). Another is the legend of the Wawel Dragon, which every child in Poland knows. Or probably it's the dragon sculpture which breathes fire since 1972.

For there was in the windings of a certain rock a fiercery ferocious monster, called by some a holophage. To its voracity was due each week a particular count of heads of cattle, according to the count of days. Should the citizens neglect to cater for the monster, as if offering a sacrifice, they would be chastened by paying just as many heads of humans. Gracchus, unable to bear such calamity, for he had more love for the land he was son of than for his own children, summoned his sons secretly, brought forward his plans, laid his advice. "These are foes" — he said — "to courage — timidity, to grey hair — unreason, to youth — sloth. For it is no courage if it is timid, no grey haired sagacity if it is unreasonable, no youth if it is slothful. Furthermore, if no opportunity occurs to practice courage, one needs to conceive it. Who, therefore, would ever decline glory that comes of itself, unless he was outrightly inglorious himself! Yet the well-being of citizens, defended and preserved, triumphs for perpetuity. For one should not care of oneself, when there is a danger to the public. Therefore it befits you [...] to arm yourselves to slay the monster, it befits you to face it [...]."

Bishop of Kraków Wincenty Kadłubek (13th century): Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae

Smocza Jama has a huge natural entrance, a portal at the foot of Wawel Hill and a single main passage which is about 80 m long. This was actually all that was known until 1974 when new passages were discovered. But the cave is not visited from the portal, the tour starts on top of the hill in the castle grounds. A brick tower on top of a 19th century well allows access to the far end of the cave. It's a 21 m descent on a spiral staircase with 135 steps. From here the cave is horizontal, but the floor is clay and uneven, good walking shoes are definitely a good idea.

It's easy to see that this is a natural cave, but many walls are covered by brick walls and pillars which support the ceiling. It was made when the Wawel hill was fortified in the early 19th century, and the natural entrance was bricked up. Obviously the cave was a security problem, attackers could have used the cave to enter the castle. But they did not realize that there were openings in the cave ceiling, and only closed the portal. When Ambrozy Grabowski entered through one of the openings in the ceiling with ladders, the two openings were also bricked up a year later. However, a natural cave is quite stable, and it's not clear if the support is actually necessary. Most likely, those pillars have no use and if they were actually needed, they would probably crumble because they are not massive enough. If the cave never had many speleothems, or if they were removed by visitors or during the construction of the castle is unknown. What actually changed is unclear, but Florian Straszewski cleared the cave of rubble at his own expense and made it possible to visit it only 12 years later in June 1842. This made this cave the oldest show cave in Poland. It was operated as a show cave until 1860, when it was bricked up again by the occupation authorities. Those occupiers were the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only a few years later, by the decision of Emperor Franz Josef, stairs were built from the level of the castle fortifications to the cave. Those stairs are today mostly destroyed, this destruction started in the late 19th century and made the cave again inaccessible.

The current state is more or less a result of World War I, after the war Poland was restored as the Second Polish Republic. As the cave was of cultural importance, it was immediately made accessible, this time through a tower which before served as part of the waterworks system. The cave was equipped with electric light and was more or less in the state seen today.

The cave has a rather huge chamber, which is 10 m long, 6 m wide and 3 m high. A second chamber which is 25 m long and 10 m high and wide is the largest of the cave. A third chamber has about the size of the first chamber. A staircase on the wall leads up to one of those bricked up entrances. At the end, a narrow passage continues a little deeper under the forecourt with the dragon statue. Again, this is not part of the tourist route. The cave visitors leave the cave through a short enclosed tunnel. The artwork, a sculpture of a dragon who actually breathes fire, was created by the artist Bronisław Chromy. It was placed at the entrance to the cave in 1972.

The intensive exploration of the cave started in 1966, with archaeological excavations and scientific studies. During this research, they found a void behind one wall using geophysical methods. After the scientif work was completed in 1974 the cavers accessed a new passage by drilling a short tunnel. The were stopped by a sump, which wasd finally crossed in 1984. A group of cavers led by A. Paulo and A. Gorny, discovered another 140 m of new passages. Those passages are narrower and often low, and only accessible for cavers with a special permit.

A popular legend recalls that a dragon use to live in the cave whose main source of sustenance was human flesh, preferably young virgins. The towns folk were at their wits end until a local cobbler came up with a brilliant idea. He filled a sheep's' carcass with sulphur and left it outside the cave. Next morning, the dragon, starving hungry gulped down the sheep in one mouthful. Soon, the sulphur gave him a raging thirst, so the dragon rushed to the river and proceeded to gulp down litres of water. The sulphur expanded and the dragon burst wide open and the cobbler together with the towns folk all lived happily after.

The cave has been known for centuries and there is another account from the 13th century about a dragon. It was written by Wincenty Kadubek and describes how Prince Gracchus (Krak), ordered his sons to slay the beast.

Today, at the cave entrance there is a bronze dragon which breathes real fire every few minutes.

In summer lengthy queues form at the entrance. It is recommended that you get to the ticket office before it opens, to avoid a long delay.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.