The metal statue of the Wawel Dragon is placed in front of the dragon’s den at the bottom of the Wawel Hill, by the riverside. It is a great attraction especially for children, as it noisily breathes fire every few minutes.

As the popular folk legend has it, during the reign of King Krak – the legendary founder of Krakow, an evil dragon had a cave under the Wawel Hill. It used to kill the locals and devour their livestock. Every month, a young woman had to be sacrificed to appease the ravenous beast. As a result, only one young woman was left in the town – the king’s daughter – Wanda. The king got desperate, because all of the brave knights failed to kill the beast. Eventually, he promised the hand of his daughter to anyone who would kill the dragon. One day, a poor cobbler’s apprentice – Dratewka stuffed a lamb skin with sulphur, sewed it up and put in front of the cave. When the dragon swallowed the animal, it became extremely thirsty. To quench its enormous thirst he started drinking water from the Vistula river. When he drank half of the water from the river, its belly was so swollen that the beast blew up. Dratewka married Wanda and they lived happily ever after.