Our trip continued with a visit to Krakow, Poland to search for the dragon that once lived in the caves at the base of the big hill where now stand the huge castle and cathedral that was the center of the Polish kings for many centuries.  In Polish the word for dragon is smok and since this is the dragon of Wawel Hill, the dragon is called smok wawelski.

Legend has it that the dragon was terrorizing the countryside, eating everything in sight, including young girls.  In desperation the king offered the hand of his daughter to whomever could slay the beast.  All the brave knights tried and failed.  Finally a poor cobbler stepped up.  The king was dubious but said OK.  So the cobbler asked for a freshly slain sheep. He took out the innards and filled the inside of the sheep with sulfur and placed it in front of the dragon’s cave.  The dragon wolfed it down.  Soon after the sulfur began to burn the dragon’s stomach.  To stop the pain and ease the burning, the dragon started drinking up the river that flowed next to its cave.  He drank and drank and drank so much that he finally burst open and died!.  Needless to say, the cobbler married the princess.

In the 1970s a huge 20 foot bronze statue of the dragon was erected in front of the cave.  And true to the description the dragon belches fire every 5 minutes from a gas jet that’s inside its mouth.  Great fun!  And of course all the tourist shops around the hill specialized in kitschy dragon stuff.  Even more fun!  The flying dragon is from one of those shops – he’s about 18 inches long and really flies when the wind chime at the back moves.

The dragon of Krakow

Flying dragon from Krakow - he really flies!

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