The history of the Krakow Fortress starts at the time when the Austrian army occupied Wawel Castle in 1846. It was then decided to build a fortress. Walls, trenches, bastions and forts were built. By the end of the 19th century Krakow was surrounded by a triple ring of fortifications and at its centre stood the stronghold of the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill.

Technical developments in artillery quickly rendered useless fortifications built in the middle of the 19th century. To combat this, a ring of defensive batteries was formed away from the city centre. Already during World War I the outer ring had a total of 32 different forts (armoured, infantry, etc.). Only a few have survived to this day as the rest were destroyed in the second half of the 20th century.

The rest of the forts (unused) can be visited on the Krakow Fortress Route. This is a walking and cycling trail (marked with yellow/black/yellow signs) but some parts can be reached by motorists. It is made up of two parts, the section from Fort „Mogila” to Fort „Salwator” and from Fort „Laskowa” to Fort „St. Benedict” (on the right bank of the River Vistula).

Krakow City Hall (woj. Malopolskie)

www.krakow.pl