POLAND ~ Wawel Cathedral - Krakow - UNESCO ~

... First of 4 great Polish postcards👍... and indeed my first ever from "Krakow"😉... this one shows Poland's most important national sanctuary... the cathedral attached to Poland's royal castle is huge and impressive, especially the tombs are fantastic... it holds a special place in the history of the Polish State due to the fact that it was the church of Polish kings for 400 years... the most important state ceremonies: coronations, weddings, baptisms and funeral ceremonies of Polish royalty were celebrated at Wawel Cathedral’s High Altar... a special place in the Pantheon of Kracow bishops is due to Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who was raised to the highest Church dignity and became the spiritual father of the entire world as Pope John Paul II...  In 2008 his monument was built, facing the entrance to Wawel Cathedral... with wonderful  minisheet depicting Pope Francis❤️...   Big Thanks Dustin!!【ツ】

"We are all well aware that to enter this Cathedral can not be without emotion. More I say, you can not enter it without the internal tremor, without fear because it contains in it – as in almost no Cathedral of the world – the enormous size, which speaks to us in all our history, our entire past." ________________________________________ Kardynał Karol Wojtyła 8 March 1964

Krakow is located in the south east of Poland founded in 1257 and has always been one of Poland's most important cities and important cultural and educational centers. Until 1609 Kracow was the Polish capital, when it was moved to the more central Warsaw.

The Wawel Cathedral ( Katedra Wawelska), is a Roman Catholic church located atop of Wawel Hill. The building you see is the third church on this site, consecrated in 1364. The present-day cathedral  is basically a Gothic structure but chapels in different styles were built around it later.

In 1978 the entire old town was named UNESCO site.

Stamp:

World Youth Day  - Joint Issue with Vatican City
(Issued 10-05-2016)