About This Location
Over this narrow Old Town lane runs a covered passage linking the Royal Castle with St John’s Cathedral. It looks like a simple bridge between buildings, but it was also a safety measure. The first version was built in the late 1500s for Queen Anna Jagiellon, so the royal court could move without stepping into the street. Its most famous chapter is tied to one morning in 1620. King Sigismund III Vasa was on his way from the castle to mass at the cathedral when a nobleman, Michał Piekarski, rushed at him with a war axe. The king was wounded, but survived, and the attacker was caught on the spot. The punishment was meant to shock the city, and later stories described it as especially brutal. After the attack, this kind of protected route mattered even more. The covered passage helped keep royal movement discreet and safer, away from crowds and sudden threats. It is a small piece of architecture, but it carries a big message about life in a capital where politics, religion, and violence could collide in seconds.