Legend of the little foot of Queen Jadwiga

There is an inscription on the wall of the Church of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary known also as the Church Na Piasku. It reads “stópka Królowej Jadwigi” i.e. “the little foot of Queen Jadwiga”. Underneath, there is a stone protected by bars. According to legend while passing together with her court by the Church na Piasku that was being built at that time, Jadwiga noticed that one of the builders was very sad. She asked him for the reason and learnt that he had no money for the physician to bring relief to his very ill wife. The Queen promised to help: she set her foot on a stone, removed the golden clasp from her slipper, and offered it to the stonemason. When she left, the workers noticed that pressed in the stone, as if in soft clay, was the trace of her foot. Together they used their chisels to remove the stone from the ground, and carved on it the date of the event – AD 1390 – and placed the stone in the wall of the church, where it can be seen to commemorate Queen Jadwiga’s good heart.


Photo by Barbara Błońska