Richard Monte looks at the history and heritage on show in Krakow, one of the European Cities of Culture 2000.
The Polish city of Krakow, with its royal castle and cathedral, its medieval university and market square, has always been a centre of political, religious, educational and commercial interest. This year, as one of the European Cities of Culture, this rich heritage has become the focus of a programme of festivities, which underline why this Polish city is one of Europe's cultural treasures. 
Henryk Sienkiewicz is arguably Poland's best known novelist outside his home country. His fame rests on one book, the novel Quo Vadis (first published in 1896), which has been translated into forty-eight languages and published in more than eighty countries. It is essentially a love story set in first-century Rome, in which the early Christians struggle against the might of the pagan Roman Empire. Although it has been the inspiration for numerous films, including the Hollywood production fifty years ago, until now it has never been adapted for the big screen in Poland. This month a major new adaptation by the Polish film director, Jerzy Kawalerowicz and the Chronos Film Production Company, will bring Quo Vadis to a new international audience. To coincide with the premier, an exhibition will open at the Warsaw National Museum, looking at the way in which Polish artists were inspired by the novel and its depiction of ancient Rome.
The film's premier comes at an important time for Poland. Over the last few decades the country has felt closer to Rome than ever before, through the influence of the Polish Pope John Paul II. Christianity played a significant part in recent years in hastening the collapse of the old Communist regime and the country is now on the brink of joining the European Union, bringing it closer to the West than Russia.
Sienkiewicz originally wrote the book to depict the Polish ....
The Eagle and Three Crowns
Richard Monte describes a new exhibition at the Warsaw Royal Castle which examines Poland's relations with Sweden between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
In the middle of the sixteenth century Poland was a wealthy country governed by the Jagiellon Kings, whose riches had been built upon a monopoly of the Baltic Sea trade around Gdansk. By the end of the eighteenth century, Russia, Prussia and Austria had divided the country between them and Poland was wiped off the map for 123 years. How could such a prosperous and powerful country disappear so easily? The answer appears to lie within the Polish system of government itself. The weakened Royal Republic with its emphasis on freedom and liberty, which was established when the Jagiellon dynasty ended, ironically led to its own downfall.
The abolition of the hereditary monarchy placed the election of the king in the hands of the nobles. If no Polish heir to the throne was available, foreigners were eligible to stand. The land- hungry Swedes to the north eyed the wealthy republic greedily. In the tradition of the Vikings they set out to pillage and loot and bring back this wealth for themselves. After suffering several devastating defeats at the hands of the Swedes, including a period of five years, 1655-60, known as 'the Deluge', Poland was severely weakened and could offer little resistance to the combined power of Russia, Prussia and Austria.
The current exhibition at the Warsaw Royal Castle examines Poland's relations with Sweden between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and in particular looks at ....