Karol Wojtyła, the later Pope John Paul II, spent forty years in Krakow – as a student, curate, priest, and then auxiliary bishop and Archbishop Metropolitan of Krakow. It is hard to point out all churches, houses and sites he visited. However, some sites are particularly closely associated with the Polish Pope and they are retraced by a special trail: Retracing John Paul II. The trail begins at the Krakow Bishops’ Palace at 3 Franciszkańska Street with the famous “Papal Window,” and leads among others to the Wawel Cathedral, through the Old Town and Kazimierz to the district of Dębniki, where Karol Wojtyła lived right before the Second World War and during the Nazi German occupation, and then to many sites outside the city centre, such as churches and sanctuaries in Nowa Huta, Łagiewniki, or the former “Solvay” Soda Plant.

Objects on the trail