COVID-19 update: Wawel is open and free to enter for walks around the courtyards and gardens. All exhibits at Wawel are currently closed except for Dragon's Den and Sandomierska Tower. More information here.

Opened in 1978 by Karol Wojtyła just before he became Pope John Paul II, the fabulous Cathedral Museum features a wealth of religious and secular items dating from the 13th century onwards, all related to the ups and downs of the Cathedral next door. Among its most valuable possessions is the sword deliberately snapped into three pieces at the funeral of the Calvinist king, Zygmunt August (1548-1572) - the last of the Jagiellonian dynasty, as well as all manner of coronation robes and royal insignias to boot. A large monument of Pope JPII stands outside the entrance.