Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice

Medals for sale at the presbytery behind the church!

When Karol Wojtyła, a native of Wadowice, was elected to the See of Peter on 16 October 1978 – Pope John Paul II – the Wadowice church became known throughout the world. Frequently visited by pilgrims from many countries, it has become a centre of religious worship of increasing importance.

Initially it was a small and wooden church. Wadowice at that time, a small trading settlement situated in the forks of the Skawa and Choczenko rivers, was often destroyed by cataclysmic floods and fires. In 1440, one of the largest fires in the town’s history occurred. The fire also destroyed the church at that time. The town rebuilt itself from the destruction thanks to, among other things, royal privileges and the renewal of the town’s rights under Chelmno law. It was then, in the mid-15th century, that the construction of an oriented brick church began near the market square in Wadowice. The presbytery of the present church, which is a remnant of that medieval Gothic building, dates from this period.

Wadowice is a special place of pilgrimage because of the figure of St John Paul II. It was here, in Wadowice, that Karol Wojtyła, later to become a priest, bishop, cardinal and successor of St Peter, was born.

As head of the Catholic Church, he came to Wadowice three times, in the years: 1979, 1991 and 1999, during which time he prayed in the Basilica and met with the inhabitants of his hometown.