Wawel Royal Castle hosts final exhibition day on 4 October
Published on 10/04/2026 at 07:41 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow is hosting the final day of Soon Everything Will Change, an outdoor exhibition by Joanna Rajkowska that runs through 4 October 2026. The presentation places three contemporary installations in the Royal Gardens and the outer courtyard, connecting a temporary art event with one of Poland’s major historic sites.
Joanna Rajkowska exhibition ends at Wawel on 4 October
The exhibition opened on 24 April 2026 and ends on 4 October 2026. The castle’s official programme identifies Rajkowska as the artist and Dr Bogumila Wisniewska as curator. Its official exhibition page places the works in the gardens and the courtyard rather than in an indoor gallery.
The three works are The Hatchling, The Nest and Soon Everything Will Change. The first is a large common blackbird’s egg measuring 240 by 160 centimetres. The second is a real hooded-crow nest associated with Rajkowska’s Greetings From Jerusalem Avenue project. The third is a geode filled with amethysts beside the castle’s archaeological reserve.
The closing date gives visitors in Krakow a final opportunity on 4 October 2026 to encounter the full outdoor presentation. The geode is positioned in the outer courtyard, while the other two works are located in the Royal Gardens, so the exhibition follows a route through different parts of the hilltop complex.
Royal Gardens connect contemporary art with Renaissance design
The Royal Gardens provide the setting for two of the installations. The castle says the gardens were reconstructed through research into Renaissance gardens, including their plants, pathways, beds and architectural elements. They contain an upper terrace, a lower terrace and a small vineyard, details recorded in the Royal Gardens description.
This arrangement gives the October 2026 closing date a specific physical context. Visitors do not encounter Rajkowska’s works as a separate white-room display; they find them among reconstructed garden features and beside the castle’s archaeological remains. The result brings geological time, urban nature and a historically researched landscape into the same visit.
Wawel Royal Castle stands on Wawel Hill beside the Vistula River. The hill is a Jurassic limestone outcrop that reaches nearly 228 metres above sea level, while the royal residence developed through several historical periods. The castle’s own history account describes early medieval political importance, a major fourteenth-century expansion and the Renaissance rebuilding associated with King Sigismund I the Old.
The site is part of the Historic Centre of Krakow, which UNESCO inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978. That status covers the wider historic urban complex, including Wawel Hill, rather than treating the castle as an isolated monument. The temporary exhibition therefore places contemporary work inside a protected historic landscape with a documented royal and architectural history.
Visiting Wawel Royal Castle: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Soon Everything Will Change is on view at Wawel Royal Castle through 4 October 2026, with installations in the Royal Gardens and outer courtyard.
- The exhibition’s final day is 4 October 2026. The Hatchling and The Nest are in the gardens, while the geode is in the outer courtyard.
- The castle stands on Wawel Hill beside the Vistula River in Krakow. The visit combines the outdoor exhibition with the historic hilltop complex.
- The Royal Gardens include upper and lower terraces. The upper terrace requires climbing a high staircase, and some routes use uneven pavement and a steep passage beneath the curtain wall.
Searching for Wawel Royal Castle on social platforms
These links open searches for Wawel Royal Castle on each platform.
Frequently asked questions about Wawel Royal Castle
When does Soon Everything Will Change take place at Wawel Royal Castle?
The exhibition runs from 24 April to 4 October 2026. Its final day is 4 October 2026.
What is shown in Soon Everything Will Change?
Joanna Rajkowska’s exhibition presents The Hatchling, The Nest and a geode filled with amethysts across the Royal Gardens and outer courtyard.
Where is Wawel Royal Castle and how do you get there?
It is on Wawel Hill beside the Vistula River in Krakow, within the city’s historic centre.
