A New National Pantheon

Municipal, religious and academic authorities appear to have come to an understanding about a new national pantheon in Krakow. The prospective site is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which is located on Grodzka Street along the “Royal Way”.

The need for a new pantheon stems from the fact that the Crypt of Honour at Kazimierz’s Church on the Rock has run out space. The last person to be laid to rest there was literary luminary Czesław Miłosz. In 2004, he joined twelve other celebrated figures, including composer Karol Szymanowski, actor Ludwik Solski and uomo universale Stanisław Wyspiański. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is considered a magnificent example of the early Baroque. However, besides an ideal location, it is the extensive crypts beneath the edifice that have proved the clinching factor. At present, a thorough study of the crypts is being prepared by the AGH University of Science & Technology.