Sigismund Bell

The most famous, though not the oldest, Polish bell was hung on the highest storey of the Sigismund Tower on 12th July 1521. It was named after King Sigismund the Old who commissioned it. In 1520 it was cast by the bell founder Hans Beham of Nuremberg and signed with his craftsman’s seal (cachet). The body of the bell features bas reliefs of St Sigismund and St Stanislaus, and coats-of-arms of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Latin inscription in the upper part of the body reads To God Best & Greatest and to the Virgin Mother of God, and his Holy Patron Saints, the illustrious Sigismund, King of Poland, had this bell worthy of his mind and the grandeur of his deeds made in Anno Domini 1520.

Tradition maintains that as long as the bell is hanging in the tower, Kraków will meet no evil fate. It is easy to imagine the dread inspired in the residents of Kraków when the clapper (called “heart” by Poles) has split. So far, the heart – suspended on leather thongs and weighing 365 kg (57 cwt 6 lb) – has cracked three times: on the frosty New Year’s Eve of 1864, at Easter 1939, and quite recently – on Christmas Eve 2000.

The ringing of the bell is heard only on special holidays, Church festivities, and in the most solemn hours in the life of the nation. It pealed to announce the birth of royal offspring, and tolled farewell to monarchs going on their last journeys. It has also accompanied the funerals of great Poles buried in Wawel. Legend attributes its deep, velvety sound to a bunch of silver strings cast into the melting pot brimming with effervescent metals by Walenty Bakwark, the famous lute player at the Royal Court.

With its diameter of 2.5 m (8.2 ft), height of 2 m (6.5 ft), and weight of 11 metric tons, “Zygmunt” was for centuries Poland’s largest bell. It had not been dethroned until 2000, when another bell weighing 19 metric tons was installed in the shrine in Licheń.

The Sigismund Tower is entered from the Chapel of St Margaret which plays the role of the Cathedral’s sacristy.

Here You cand find more informaction on visiting the tower with the Sigismund Bell.


King Sigismund I, with his family and court, observes the hanging of the Sigismund Bell in 1521, as painted by Jan Matejko in 1874, National Museum in Warsaw