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History–Tours
19792–10 June 1979 · Kraków

John Paul II's first pilgrimage to Poland

The Archbishop's Palace in Kraków, Karol Wojtyła's residence before he became pope, with a papal banner
Photo: Jan Mehlich (Lestat). CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Eight months after Kraków's archbishop Karol Wojtyła became the first Polish pope, he returned to Communist Poland. Huge crowds gathered for his open-air masses, above all in Warsaw's Victory Square, where he prayed for the Spirit to renew 'the face of this land', and on Kraków's Błonia meadow. The visit showed Poles their own strength, and Solidarity was born the following year.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Błonia meadow, KrakówVast city meadow where the closing mass drew one of Poland's largest crowds.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Archbishop's Palace, Franciszkańska 3The 'papal window' from which he spoke to crowds in the street.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: John Paul II Family Home, WadowiceMuseum in the flat where Karol Wojtyła was born and grew up.Map ↗
  4. Site 4: Piłsudski Square, WarsawThe former Victory Square, where a plaque in the paving marks the 1979 mass.Map ↗

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