(51K)
432 x 645
|
St. Marys in Wadowice, 35 miles southwest of Krakow, where Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in 1920.
|
(56K)
432 x 645
|
Interior of the Church.
|
(56K)
432 x 645
|
In the center is the baptismal font where JPII was baptized.
|
(42K)
645 x 432
|
Karol and his father lived in a spartan, one-room apartment behind the church. His mother died when he was almost 9, his older brother when he was 12.
|
(24K)
645 x 432
|
John Paul II is possibly the most athletic Pope in history. In his youth, he played soccer as a goal-keeper and enjoyed swimming, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing and kayaking. Note the skis and paddle in the corners.
|
(38K)
432 x 645
|
Today the rooms hold various artifacts and photos from his life.
|
(33K)
432 x 645
|
Cassock from the different stages: priest, bishop, cardinal and Pope
|
(40K)
432 x 645
|
Interior courtyard of the apartment.
|
(35K)
645 x 432
|
The town square in front of the Church and apartment.
|
(43K)
645 x 432
|
Wojtyla graduated from secondary school in 1938, and he and his father moved to Krakow where he enrolled at Jagiellonian University to study literature and philosophy.
|
(65K)
645 x 432
|
The basement room at 10 Tyniecka street, Krakow, where Wojtyla moved to in 1938.
|
(35K)
645 x 432
|
View of the Vistula river from the apartment. Nazi's invaded in September of 1939, and Karol was forced to work in nearby quarry while studying at an underground seminary.
|
(59K)
432 x 645
|
Nearby in the Debniki district is the Church of St. Stanislaw Kostka, where he would attend Mass and receive communion every morning.
|
(62K)
645 x 432
|
Interior of St. Stanislaw, a large, modern, parish church.
|
(38K)
645 x 432
|
St. Stanislaw is also the place where Fr. Wojtyla would say his second mass after being ordained (on Nov. 3, 1946).
|
(58K)
645 x 432
|
A picture of one of the buildings (Collegium Novum) of the Jagiellonian University where Wojtyla studied and was chaplain. (The university's theology department was abolished by the communist government 1954, so Wojtyla continued his studies at the Seminary of Krakow.)
|
(32K)
645 x 432
|
The Wawel Cathedral of Krakow, also dedicated to St. Stanislaw. Ordained in 1946, who would have thought that only 17 years later he would take over the Cathedral as the Krakow Archbishop.
|
(41K)
432 x 645
|
The St. Leonard's crypt (12th century) under the Wawel Cathedral, where John Paul said his first mass as a priest.
|
(38K)
432 x 645
|
The Archdiocesan offices and residence of the Archbishop of Krakow. As Wojtyla continued his studies for the priesthood, he acted and worked in a chemical plant until August of 1944. But when the Germans began rounding up Polish men, he took refuge in the archbishop's residence, and remained here until the end of the war.
|
(59K)
645 x 432
|
Courtyard of the residence with his monument and the "most famous window in the world" from which he always greets the people coming to see him during his papal visits.
|
(43K)
432 x 645
|
Plague commemorating the pope's visit in 1979. After he himself became Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojytla would reside here from 1964 until Oct. 1978 when he left for Rome to participate in the conclave which elected him Pope.
|
(52K)
645 x 432
|
The chapel in the Archbishop's residence where Fr. Wojytla was ordained on Nov. 1, 1946.
|
(39K)
432 x 645
|
A statue of one of the Polish kings (plaza Matejki) with the Church of St. Floriana in the background.
|
(43K)
432 x 645
|
St. Florian's Church is where Fr. Wojtyla was a vicar (assistant priest) and served as chaplain to university students; later he would be hired as a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin and commute there by overnight train to teach.
|
(66K)
432 x 645
|
Interior of St. Florian's. Fr. Wojtyla also founded and ran a very successful service that dealt with marital problems, from family planning and illegitimacy to alcoholism and physical abuse.
|
(45K)
645 x 432
|
Kanonicza street, named such because it is where many of the Cathedral canons lived. The houses on this splendid street are some of the most ancient in Krakow.
|
(65K)
645 x 432
|
Fr. Wojytla resided here at number 19 Kanonicza street from 1951 until in 1958 when he was named the auxiliary bishop of Krakow - then he moved to the adjacent number 21 until 1963, when he became Archbishop (and a Cardinal in 1967).
|
(44K)
645 x 432
|
Today the residence holds the Archdiocesan museum, including Fr. Wojtyla's old room, which looks like he just left - including his bed, desk, and various memorabilia.
|
(50K)
645 x 432
|
Some of the other rooms of the residence, including the dining area, which now form part of the museum.
|
(48K)
432 x 645
|
Interior courtyard of the residence.
|
(47K)
645 x 432
|
Lower level of the courtyard.
|
(27K)
645 x 432
|
One of the many rooms of artwork in the museum.
|
