Krakow (Day 3) - Wawel one last time

Monday was not an ideal day to visit Wawel as most of the exhibits in the Royal Wawel Castle were not open to the public. We decided to go back there again in the morning before taking off for Brno (well, through Hukvaldy, which I will write about after this posting).

The Royal Wawel Castle has gone through tough times. It was in the early 16th century that King Sigismund I the Old and his wife renovated the castle into a gorgeous Renaissance palace. But King Sigismund III Vasa moved the capital to Warsaw, and the castle was neglected until it was totally deteriorated at the time of the Swedish invasions in the mid 17th century and early 18th century. Later rebuilding started again but was cut short by the outbreak of World War II, and during the Nazi occupation, the castle became the headquarters of the Nazi General Government and the residence of Governor-General Hans Frank. 

The castle is going through a massive reconstruction even now, and in fact all the rooms in the Royal Private Apartments were all reconstructed recently.