President Lech Kaczynski and the First Lady Maria Kaczynska will be buried in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, alongside Poland’s kings and national heroes.

The decision was taken by the late president’s twin-brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his daughter Marta.The funeral will take place at 14.00 CET, Sunday.  

Relatives of the presidential couple had the choice of three burial sites, including the Warsaw St John’s Cathedral, which holds the remains of the last Polish monarch Stanislaw August Poniatowski, presidents of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz and Ignacy Moscicki, renowned Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz,

Another choice was in the Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw, where many illustrious Poles, mainly artists are buried in the Avenue of Notables, including a composer Stanislaw Moniuszko, pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, Noble-prize winner Wladyslaw Reymont, film director Krzysztof Kieslowski, actor Tadeusz Lomnicki.

Wawel Cathedral holds the tombs of Polish kings, national heroes, generals, revolutionaries, including Jan III Sobieski, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the national poets: Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Slowacki and Cyprian Kamil Norwid, as well as Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, founder of the Second Polish Republic.  

The tomb of the presidential couple would probably be placed next to the tomb of Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, head of the Polish government in exile and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces. (mg)

The funeral will take place a day after a mourning ceremony at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw. (mg/pg)