A bend of the Vistula

Wyspiański’s thought of the rebirth of the Polish glory and getting rid of the “spiritual lifelessness of the Poles resulting from the soothing worship of the past” in the context of the Wawel hill and cathedral returned in July 1903, after the signing of the agreement between the Galician Wydział Krajowy [National Department] and the Austrian government, as a result of which the Royal Castle was vacated by the troops which had been occupying it. Collaborating with Władysław Ekielski, Wyspiański produced a design for the redevelopment of the Wawel hill, inspired by the Athenian castle and “the Acropolis of Troy".