- Smocza Jama
Smocza Jama ("dragon's den") is a
limestone cave in theWawel Hill inKraków . Owing to its location in the heart of the former Polishcapital and its connection to the legendary Wawel Dragon, it is the best known cave inPoland .Morphology
Smocza Jama has two entrances, one natural and one artificial — a 19th century waterwork well. They are connected by three large chambers. A side passage, discovered in 1974, leads under the St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus's Cathedral. In the underground pools lives a rare
crustacean troglobiont , "Niphargus tatrensis ", relict of theTertiary sea fauna.Smocza Jama has the length of 276 m and vertical range of 15 m.
History
Smocza Jama was first mentioned on the turn of the 12th century in
Wincenty Kadłubek 's "Chronica Polonorum ", which is also the source of the first known version of the Wawel Dragon legend, later further developed byJan Długosz andMarcin Bielski . The name of the cave was first given in 1551 inMarcin Bielski 's "Kronika wszystkiego świata ".In the 16th and 17th century, a famous
public house of ill fame had been operating at the entrance to the cave and inside. It served as an inspiration for poets such asJan Andrzej Morsztyn .In the 18th century,
Wawel was fortified. Inside the cave, supporting pillars were raised under the walls, and its main entrance was bricked up. Two remaining smaller openings were bricked up in 1830.The cave has been reopened in 1842 and made accessible to the general public. In 1972, a fire-breathing statue of the Wawel Dragon by
Bronisław Chromy has been erected at the entrance to the cave.See also
*
Culture of Kraków External links
* [http://www.sktj.pl/epimenides/jura/smocza_p.html Smocza Jama] pl icon – with a map
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