Poland

The “Wieliczka” Salt Mine is one of the most valuable monuments of material and spiritual culture in Poland. Each year it is visited by more than one million tourists from all over the world. The masterpiece is the extraordinary Chapel of St. Kinga, a church where everything – from its chandeliers to the altar – is made from salt.Continue Reading

Wadowice is a special place for pilgrimages with regard to Pope Saint John Paul II. It was here in Wadowice that Karol Wojtyła, future priest, bishop, cardinal and finally pope was born. Wadowice – Birthplace of Karol Wojtyla Being the head of the Catholic Church, Karol Wojtyla visited Wadowice three times: in 1979, 1991 and 1999. On his visits he prayed in the Basilica and met inhabitants of his home town.Continue Reading

The Royal Cathedral – Royal coronations at Wawel Cathedral Krakow Wawel Cathedral holds a special place in the history of the Polish State due to the fact that it was the church of Polish kings for four hundred years. Beginning from Władysław the Short, all but two Polish kings – Stanisław Leszczyński and Stanisław August Poniatowski – had their coronations at Wawel Cathedral.Continue Reading

Silesian Jerusalem in Wambierzyce The town was also rebuilt on the model of Jerusalem in the 18th and 19th centuries, hence it is called the ‘Silesian Jerusalem’. The largest Calvary (landscaped Way of Cross) in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe, was raised on the slope opposite the basilica.Continue Reading

Basilica in Trzebnica St. Hedwig of Andechs and St. Bartholomew’s basilica in Trzebnica, the convent and the convent complex of the Borromean Sisters. The abbey in Trzebnica was founded in 1202 by Henry the Bearded and his wife Hedwig. It was the first female Cistercian Convent in Poland. The abbey was quite wealthy – until the secularization of church property in 1810 the Cistercian Sisters owned 73 villages and 25 folwarks (serfdom-based farms).Continue Reading

Our Lady Kebelskiej The Gothic sculpture of the Madonna and Child dates from the first half of the fifteenth century (around 1420 to 1440). It was made from a trunk of the lime tree with a height of 85 cm and a diameter at its widest point 27 cm. Its prototype was a stone statue of the Madonna from Vimperk.Continue Reading

Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul – This bestselling book that birthed the Divine Mercy movement Divine Mercy Krakow shrine At the heart of the Divine Mercy shrine in Kraków-Łagiewniki stands the chapel where the miraculous image of Merciful Jesus and the tomb of St. Faustina are to be found. This small church, consecrated in 1891 and dedicated to St.Continue Reading

Lichen Basilica – Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen The history of the foundation of the Lichen Basilica dates back to 1813, when Tomasz Kłossowski a Polish soldier fighting under Napoleon near Leipzig was seriously wounded. He invoked Our Lady, begging her not to let him die in a foreign land.Continue Reading

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludzmierz  One of the key figures for the Marian cult in ludzmierz was Karol Wojtyła, who used to come here to pray on many occasions. The most important church fair is celebrated on 14 and 15 August (the festival of the Assumption of Mary).The figure of God’s Queen Mother of Podhale was donated to the church in Ludźmierz around 1400.Continue Reading

Sanctuary of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Madonna In 1999, the Sanctuary of the Passion and of the Madonna of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska was inserted by the UNESCO in its World Heritage List, with the following motivation: “Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a cultural site of great beauty and of spiritual importance.Continue Reading

History of the Statue of St. Anne How figurine of St. Anne came to Gora Swietej Anny? You will not find the answer to this question. When, in 1655. Franciscans came to Mount Chełmska, it was already at the church. St. Anne. In the chronicles of the monastery there are no communications on the subject. The first 200 years of the figure is therefore difficult to reproduce, leaving only the legends and fairy tales.Continue Reading