Wawel in the Polish system of conservation services

Piotr M. Stępień

Abstract

The article describes the system of historic preservation care provided to the architectural complex of outstanding historical value located on the Wawel Hill. The historic preservation supervision is organised in a very particular way, i.e. responsibilities of the Regional Historic Preservation Officer are delegated to the Head of the Wawel Royal Castle acting as Historic Preservation Officer of the Wawel Hill. His area of competence covers the entire Wawel Hill within the boundaries set forth in the register of historic monuments and sites (A-7), i.e. not only the museum premises and the land on which it is located (owned by the State Treasury) but also church facilities (including Wawel Cathedral) and hill slopes for which Cracow Municipality is responsible. It seems that there are sound reasons behind the scope of historic preservation supervision covering both movable (exhibit items) and immovable (architecture) properties. With regard to Wawel, it is also particularly important to keep this ensemble of great historical significance under joint historic preservation supervision. It is therefore not recommended for three separate bodies, i.e. the museum, the church, and the municipality, to be responsible for this group of historic monuments. This results from the fact that a standardised and uniform concept needs to be defined for this ensemble and a great number of problems pertaining to technical and conservation issues need to be solved comprehensively. Furthermore, this article details duties carried out by Historic Preservation Officer of the Wawel Hill and explores matters for which Regional Conservation Officer is responsible. The author is of the opinion that the organisation of the discussed historic preservation supervision may be a role model for other residences of great historical value and other protected ensembles used as museums.