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Polish gov’t earmarks EUR 8 mln for Royal Wawel Castle

18.03.2023 16:30
The Polish government will allocate a fresh sum of PLN 38 million (EUR 8 million) for the Royal Wawel Castle, to widen audience access to the historic building in the southern city of Kraków, according to officials. 
Audio
Polands Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński meets reporters at the Royal Wawel Castle in the southern Polish city of Kraków, on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Piotr Gliński meets reporters at the Royal Wawel Castle in the southern Polish city of Kraków, on Saturday, March 18, 2023.PAP/Art Service

The funding boost was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Gliński on Saturday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.  

Meeting the media at the Royal Wawel Castle, the deputy PM praised the venue’s “diverse offer” of cultural attractions for visitors and the “solid work” of its staff.

He said this was reflected in “growing audience numbers,” adding: “We expect around 2 million people to visit Wawel this year.”

Gliński, who is also Poland’s culture minister, noted that between 2021 and 2022, the government had injected PLN 84 million (EUR 17.7 million) into the historic castle, including “for the reopening of the magnificent Crown Treasury.”    

He added: “A further PLN 30 million (EUR 6.4 million) has already been allocated in 2023.”

EUR 8 mln project to open Wawel’s vaults to public

The deputy PM told reporters: “Today we would like to announce an unprecedented project to open the vaults of the Royal Wawel Castle to visitors.”

He stated: “The project is designed to give audiences access to parts of the Wawel Hill and the Royal Wawel Castle that had not been accessible to the public before.”

Gliński declared: “This project is already under way and it is worth PLN 38 million (EUR 8 million).”

“In 2023, the government will spend PLN 22 million (EUR 4.6 million) on this project,” he pledged. 

During Saturday’s news conference, the deputy PM also unveiled a never-before-shown sketch for Jan Matejko’s famous painting The Prussian Homage, to mark the beginning of The Year of Jan Matejko, the PAP news agency reported.

(pm)

Source: PAP, propertynews.pl

Click on the audio player above to listen to a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.