At No 2 Rynek Street (now known as No 7 Kościelna Street) in Wadowice Poland, sits a tenement house which the Wojtyla family occupied beginning in 1919. The tenement house was built in 1870 and served as a hardware store in the front and a book binding workshop in the back during the early 1900’s. Ultimately the Wojtyla family would move in, in 1919. Karol Józef, Pope John Paul II, lived there for the first eighteen years of his life.
In the early 1980’s most of the tenants had moved out of the home which spurred on the beginning of the restoration of the building. In the early 2000’s it was donated to the Archdiocese of Krakow.
The house itself has been turned into a four story museum that showcases the life of Pope St John Paul II where we can journey through his life. On the first floor are reproductions of what the Wojtyla family’s apartment would have looked like which consisted of 3 rooms – a living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen.
The replica of the apartment is based on the memories of the neighbors and friends of Pope John Paul II.
Inside the apartment there are many displays that belonged to the Wojtyla family such as napkins embroidered by Karol’s mother, a bookcase, dishes, and photo albums of the family. Looking out the kitchen window, you can see the church sundial with the inscription “Time is running, eternity is waiting” which is the view that Karol would see every day.
In the bedroom there are two beds on display and in between the beds is a kneeler where Pope John Paul II would recall seeing his father praying.
As you walk through the museum there is one dark room that explains the events of the assassination attempt on his life, the gun used in the attempt can be viewed in a glass case and a statue of Our Lady of Fatima sits above. St John Paul II said Our Lady saved him, “One hand fired, another hand deflected the bullet”.
There is so much to learn here about the life of Pope John Paul II!
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