A cat has been found living in the lair of a legendary dragon that once dwelled beneath Poland’s most famous castle. After evading numerous rescue efforts over the course of two days, the animal was eventually lured out of the cave with food – just as the dragon supposedly once was.
At the end of last week, the Kraków Animal Welfare Society (KTOZ) received reports of a cat being spotted in the vicinity of and then disappearing into the famous dragon’s den beneath Wawel Castle, the former seat of Poland’s kings.
The “den” is a limestone cave from which, according to myth, a dragon once terrorised the city before being vanquished by being tricked into eating a sheep filled with sulphur. Today, a statue of the dragon stands outside the cave, breathing fire every few minutes.
Attempts by members of the public to capture the cat proved futile, as whenever someone entered the cave the animal could not be found. Inspectors from KTOZ were also unsuccessful in their initial attempts to retrieve the cat as it was able to conceal itself within the den.
They then tried waiting for it to emerge on its own, but the creature remained reluctant to leave its new home. The search continued for two days before the KTOZ team eventually located the cat hiding behind metal bars that block off a small chamber within the cave. However, they were unable to reach the frightened animal.
The cat was eventually tempted out of its hiding place after a cage containing food was placed within the main cavern of the den. Less than an hour later, KTOZ was notified by Wawel staff that the cat had been successfully caught.
“The frightened animal was tempted by the food left behind, like the Wawel dragon was with a sheep,” KTOZ wrote on Facebook. The cat is now in the care of KTOZ, which runs the city’s main animal shelter, and has been given the name Wawel.
A large black-and-white cat named Gacek has become the top-rated tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin https://t.co/12dtKDye81
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 9, 2023
Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.
