With most eyes and cameras pointing towards Wawel it’s easy to miss St. Bernard’s, a church and monastery founded by St. John of Capistrano (1386-1456), a Franciscan priest who made a name for himself by among other things encouraging anti-Jewish pogroms. Constructed in the second half of the 15th century, St. Bernard’s was meant as a refuge for those wishing to atone for their sins and live in accordance to the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi. Fearing it would be commandeered as a strategic base by the invading Swedish troops the Poles burnt the church to the ground in 1655, later rebuilding it in its current Baroque style.