Fire-breathing dragon sculpture not allowed to breathe fire

A famous dragon sculpture that spits out real fire is going to be a little less dramatic this month. The Wawel Dragon–or Smok Wawelski–in Krakow, Poland will have to hold its fiery breath so that authorities can see why it has been guzzling too much fuel lately.

Krzysztof Wojdowski, spokesman for Krakow’s road infrastructure office, told the Associated Press that officials will inspect the gas lines and pipes that feed the19-feet metal dragon to look for ways to reduce energy bills. The sculpture is expected to begin to breathe fire again by March, pending the investigation.

The dragon sculpture at the foot of the Wawal Castle in the southern historic city attracts millions of visitors every year. Flames shoot out from its snout every three to five minutes using a natural gas nozzle in its mouth. It was created by Polish sculptor Bronislaw Chromy during the 1960s and officially installed in 1972.

It is inspired by the ancient tale of the Wawel Dragon. The beast lived in a den under Wawel Hill and terrorized the residents of King Krak’s city–current day Krakow. Some tales say that the beast fed on cattle, while others say it only ate young virgins. No knight was able to vanquish the beast with force, but then a young shoemaker named Skuba outsmarted the dragon. Skuba took a ram’s hide and loaded it with sulfur and pitch. He placed the ram hide in front of the dragon’s den as bait. The dragon ate the hide and immediately felt a shooting pain and burning in the throat. In order to quench this burning thirst, the dragon drank from the nearby Vistula River. Depending on who is telling the story, the dragon either drank so much water that it burst from fullness or the gasses produced by a mix of water and sulfur caused the dragon to explode. Either way, the beast was vanquished and the townfold–and very brave shoemaker–rejoiced. 

[ Related: Could dragons be real? Not in the way we think. ]

The fire-breathing sculpture now stands at the foot of Wawel, near the dragon’s former den. Visitors can now explore into this dark cave that leads down from Wawel Hill to the banks of the Vistula River.

To see another sculpture with a fire element, you can visit Herning, Denmark’s Elia. The spherical metal dome sculpture created by Ingvar Cronhammar will occasionally spout fire from a center column. 

 

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