The Statue of Smok is located on the outskirts of the castle and accessible on the path that goes around the castle. It is free to see and is not required to visit the cave in order to get up close. The statue itself is about 3 metres tall and occasionally breathes fire, adding to the magic of the legend that is Smok. It is not a periodic event when it breathes fire, but based on the natural gases under the castle so sometimes can be every couple of minutes, sometimes longer. None the less be sure to have the camera ready!

Great little statue that breathes fire. However, people are really disrepectful there. Even when the fire starts, people keep putting children on the statue as if it were a playground... It's not possible to take a decent picture without having some kids on it, and if they get hurt, they'll only have their irresponsible parents to blame.

Just under Wawel Royal Castle by the river we came across this statue. We'd already read the story of Smok the Dragon then was surprised by the flames that come about every 5 minutes - we stopped because we saw people holding up phones ready for 'something' aimed at the statue then saw the flames. There is a sort of lair looking area behind but it was gated and locked. We found it a little fun stop off.

Standing on the Vistula riverbank in the shade of Wawel Castle is a rather ugly likeness of the Wawel Dragon (Smok Wawelski). According to local legend - once reposed in the large cave behind him when not out and about in town scarfing up virgins and sheep. Finally vanquished when he was tricked into eating a bag of sulphur.

Every few minutes the dragon spews fire. On its own it’s a nice sculpture to look at. The fire breathing bit just adds a little extra. I pity any pigeon sitting in its mouth at the wrong moment….

A nice monument, didn't see it make fire because of how overcrowded this area was. There are about 7 children climbing on this monument at all times it seems. I was really looking forward to this because I love slavic folklore but the people kind of ruined it for me. I would still recommend seeing this though.

This is a great bit of fun on the banks of the Vistula, next to Wawel Castle. The flames are about every five minutes and it usually has people crowded around it. Certainly a nice little distraction to visit.

This statue was pointed out to me on a walking tour I was doing. It's located on the river just below Wawel Castle. Apparently at various points it randomly breathes fire - but as far as I could tell it appeared to be broken in Feb 2020. If it breathed fire it would probably be more exciting, but as a statue it's not really that impressive.

That is an hour of my life I'm not getting back. "It's supposed to breath fire every 5-10 minutes" - what an load of old rubbish! We waited one hour and... guess what!? No fire! If you want to be disappointed and drain your phone battery, it's a must visit!!! It's an unforgettable experience!

Since medieval times fairytales have been part of Polish folkore. The dragon who used to live in a cave under Wawel hill instilled fear on virgins and children. He was eventually killed by the ruler to underscore the goodness of the latter. There are many different versions of the story. The theme of Good versus Evil later on took a Catholic form: evil was symbolized by the devil. Remarkable that the dragon monument was erected during communist rule in 1972. Perhaps to divert attention?