Under Wawel Castle by the River Vistula there is a cave which was once a medieval inn. Nowadays it is a tourist attraction during the summer, but is closed during the winter due to the dangerous icy stairs inside. In front of the entrance to the cave is a 20 feet tall, bronze statue of a dragon, erected in 1972, that exhales fire every five minutes.
According to the legend, this cave was once inhabited by a dragon who loved to devour cattle, and worse....human virgins, who it had delivered to its cave, in exchange for which it would leave the town in relative peace. Many knights came from all over the country in an attempt to slay the beast, however none was successful as it burnt them before they could draw their swords. Eventually Krakow began to run out of girls and soon the only one left would be the king's daughter. Not wanting to sacrifice her, the king promised her hand to whoever could kill the dragon.
A poor shoemaker had the idea to poison the beast. He decided to prepare a special dish for the dragon.....a sheep stuffed with tar and sulphur which he placed at the cave's entrance. The dragon greedily devoured the sheep for his breakfast. Soon he felt like his stomach was on fire and he stood on the bank of the river and started to drink water. The dragon kept on drinking more and more and his stomach grew bigger and bigger. As nothing seemed to help he kept drinking until he exploded. The shoemaker married the beautiful princess and after the king died he became the ruler of Krakow.