King John III Sobieski - Krakow, Poland
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Metro2
N 50° 03.716 E 019° 56.343
34U E 424063 N 5546055
John III Sobieski was not only King but a successful military commander. This relief commemorates his victory at the 1683 Battle of Vienna.
Waymark Code: WMQ1HN
Location: Małopolskie, Poland
Date Posted: 11/29/2015
Views: 9
This relief is on the side of St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow's Old Town Square. It depicts the King on horseback...victorious over a wrecked landscape and a captured Turk. An allegorical female figure..probably representing Victory is seen as well.
The engraving below reads:
"W DWOCHSETNA ROCZNICE ODSIECZY WIEDNIA NA CZESC KROLA JANA III MIASTO KRAKOW POLOZYLO WRZESNIA MDCCCLXXXIII"
which Google translates as
"TWO VIENNA BATTLE hundredth anniversary in honor of King John III of the City of Krakow laid SEPTEMBER MDCCCLXXXIII"
Wikipedia's article on the Battle (
visit link) informs us:
"The Battle of Vienna (German: Schlacht am Kahlen Berge or Kahlenberg; Polish: bitwa pod Wiedniem or odsiecz wiedenska; Modern Turkish: Ikinci Viyana Kusatmasi, Ottoman Turkish: Beç ?al?asi Mu?a?arasi) took place in Vienna on 11th and concluding on the 12th of September 1683 after the imperial city of Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations in league with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Holy League) against the invading Muslim Ottoman Empire and chiefdoms of the Ottoman Empire, and took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna. The battle marked the first time Poland and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Turks, and it is often seen as a turning point in history, after which "the Ottoman Turks ceased to be a menace to the Christian world". In the ensuing war that lasted until 1698, the Turks lost almost all of Hungary to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.
The battle was won by the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the latter represented only by the forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. (The march of the Lithuanian army was delayed, and they reached Vienna after it had been relieved.) The Viennese garrison was led by Ernst Rüdiger Graf von Starhemberg, an Austrian subject of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. The overall command was held by the senior leader, the King of Poland, John III Sobieski, who led the Polish forces.
The opposing military forces were those of Ottoman Empire and those of Ottoman fiefdoms commanded by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha."
and read more about the King at (
visit link)