Papal altar in Stary Sącz

Medals can be purchased at the papomat in the entrance to the John Paul II Centre!

The most important commemoration of the visit of the Holy Father John Paul II to the Sadecki region and the canonisation of Blessed Kinga on 16.06.1999 is the Papal Altar in Stary Sącz.
The interest of pilgrims and tourists in the Altar led the local authorities and the Ordinary Bishop to decide to keep it as an extraordinary reminder of the historic event. It is the only papal altar left in the world after the Holy Father’s visit to the place of celebration.
The rooms where the sacristy for the cardinals and bishops was during the canonisation celebrations now house the museum’s Hall of Remembrance.

The most important exhibits are souvenirs from the canonisation Mass in Stary Sącz, the Holy Father’s first feather, papal medals, the papal robe, papal tourist equipment, and the chain with the seal closing the doors of the Sistine Chapel during the Conclave held after John Paul II’s death.

Next to the Papal Altar, a Pilgrim House has been built with 74 beds in single and double rooms, 2 meeting rooms, a chapel, a kitchen and a dining room with full board.

The Papal Altar, together with the Pilgrim House and the infrastructure being built around it, constitutes the John Paul II Diocesan Pilgrimage Centre, which functions as a pastoral centre for tourists and pilgrims in the Sadecczyzna region. Through activities and celebrations, it commemorates important events in our history, recalls and explains papal teaching, and inculcates the ideas to which John Paul II led.