 Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral.
The elliptical cupola covering the late-baroque Potocki Chapel, designed by Pompeo Ferrari and built 1727-1730, is the most beautiful in the cathedral. The parietal tomb of Archbishop Teodor Potocki (d. 1738), who pronounced Stanisław I Leszczyński king upon the death of Augustus II the Strong, and the epitaph of Ignacy Krasicki, poet and Archbishop of Gniezno (d. 1801).
The 14th-century Kołudzki Chapel was renovated in 1647 with consistent interior furnishings. The four corners of the world are personified on the mid-18th-century polychrome vault. The early-baroque portal with its 17th-century renaissance grille from Gdańsk is one of Poland’s greatest blacksmithing achievements. The foundation plaque of the chapel has Szymon Kołudzki’s (d. 1656), portrait, epitaph and tombstone.
St. Nicholas Chapel, also known as Dzierzgowski Chapel, dates from the 14th century. The Gothic arcade has the remains of 14th-century Gothic sculptural ornamentation featuring hunting scenes engraved in artificial stone and a mid-16th century renaissance polychrome. The chapel is embellished with two precious renaissance tombstones: the first was sculpted from red marble by Bartolommeo Berecci and features the reclining figure of Abp. Andrzej Krzycki (d. 1573), humanist and politician; the second was for Abp. Mikołaj Dzierzgowski (d. 1559), a supporter of Queen Bona Sforza, and was sculpted from sandstone and red marble by Hieronim Canavesi. There is also a round tondo with the Madonna of Giovanni Maria Padovano in the copestone.
The Łubieński Chapel was created 1642-1648 by joining two medieval chapels and restructured along early-classicist lines in 1778. The early-baroque portals from c. 1640 are made of marble and closed with renaissance grilles from Gdańsk. The early-baroque tomb of Archbishop Maciej Łubieński (d. 1652) is made of marble and alabaster. The altar painting from 1646 has portraits of Łubieński family members.
The Cathedral is a three-nave basilica-looking structure with polygonal presbytery and ambulatory and many adjacent chapels of noble and aristocratic families, some personally funded by the head of the family or the monarch of Poland. Under the tiled floor several discoveries were made; these included the relics of earlier pre-Romanesque buildings and several tombs of former archbishops. In the crypt of the cathedral there is a 1006-year-old sepulchral stone inscription on display, the oldest of its kind in the country, discovered by archeologists. Other aspects of the crypt may include the remaining fragments of the walls of the first temple funded by Mieszko I of Poland.
In the center of presbytery of the cathedral stands the golden baldachin and beneath it the silver gilded baroque reliquary - the coffin of St. Adalbert with a wooden, probably cedar, box dating from the twelfth century covered with reliefs with the remains of the saint inside. Behind the shrine stands a red marble medieval tombstone dating from 1480 commemorating the patron. On the north side of the chancel (presbytery) there is a gold-plated stool with the emblem of Primate Stefan Wyszyński and above the throne hangs the coat of arms of the present Archbishop of Gniezno, Józef Kowalczyk. In addition, at the end of the presbytery there is a large sacrificial altar with a relief of St. Adalbert. Above the altar is a rainbow beam with a precious Gothic crucifix from linden tree dating from around 1430. The rest of the nave consists of chairs for the faithful and a small room for church officials.
Otto III was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his early death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Bolesław I the Brave, less often known as Bolesław I the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025, and the first King of Poland in 1025. As Boleslav IV, he was also Duke of Bohemia between 1002 and 1003. He was the son of Mieszko I of Poland by his wife, Dobrawa of Bohemia. According to a scholarly theory, Bolesław ruled Lesser Poland already