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 THE ORIGINS OF CRACOW was to be seen then but stretches of deep swamps and ponds. Access to the castle was possible only by one narrow path, now represented by Castle Street (ulica Grodzka), and defended, in the Romanesque period, by a stone belfry and wooden fortifications. The Dragon's Cave (Smocza jama) was probably, as in German castles, an integral part of the fortress.

During the wars with Conrad II and the domestic troubles, occasioned by a revival of paganism, under the government of Mieszko II (1025-1034), a son of Boleslaus, order and Christian institutions were maintained in Cracow alone. This fact, together with the fortified site of the castles, definitely gave to Cracow its importance for the whole empire. From this time forth the monarchs choose Cracow for their place of residence and promote its prosperity. The town gains in ascendencyascendancy [sic]; it assumes, even at this time, the leading part, as an important centre of civilization, among the cities of the vast Polish Empire. Casimir I (1034-1058) was aided by the Emperor Henry III to win back his throne which had been shaken by a relapse of the people into paganism. Casimir found Poland devastated by the internal troubles under Mieszko II, and saw its waning importance in politics and for civilization; he therefore endeavoured to raise the general standard of culture by means of settling foreign monks all over the country, which procured him the surname of the Monk. On the Wawel, next to his royal residence, he settled a colony of Benedictines called from Liège. The abbot of this convent, Aaron by name, became at the same time Bishop of Cracow, and bore the title of archbishop. Hence the Benedictine Order spread its beneficial, civilizing influence over the whole country; wherever its monks came, they implanted the fear of God and the culture of the Occident. To this Order Boleslaus the Bold and Judith his wife had already ceded the royal possessions and castle of Tyniec, situated at about five miles' distance from Cracow: this became a large abbey, with one hundred villages under its administration. Even to-day the majestic ruins of the convent-buildings look proudly down, from a powerful rock, into the reflecting waters of the Vistula.