"Tu, w tym mieście, w Wadowicach, wszystko się zaczęło ..." Pielgrzymowanie i turystyka religijna do miasta rodzinnego Karola Wojtyły

"Here, in this town, in Wadowice, it all began ..." Pilgrimaging and religious tourism to Karol Wojtyła's hometown

Summary: Over 750 Roman Catholic pilgrimage centres have now been registered in Poland. A major role is played by sanctuaries of international territorial outreach: Jasna Góra in Czórce" (since 2004 St Joseph's Sanctuary) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima. The paper contains an analysis of the pilgrimage and tourist movement to Wadowice in the years 1996-2006, and the distribution of this movement over a year. It is estimated that in 2005, the year of the death of God's Servant John Paul II, around a million visitors came to visit the town. Also in that year the Museum at the former family home of John Paul II recorded the highest number of visitors (over 430 thousand). The largest numbers of groups are recorded on the anniversaries of birth of the Holy Father John Paul II (18 May), the anniversaries of his death (2 April) and the anniversaries of the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtymost of them from the Kraków, Tarnów, Katowice and Kielce dioceses. Pilgrims and tourists from abroad account for ca. 15% (over 30 thousand). The largest numbers of foreign pilgrims come from Europe (mainly Italy, Germany, Slovakia, France and Spain). Among the countries outside Europe the residents of the USA prevail. In 2001 visitors from 94 countries were reported to visit Wadowice. The pilgrimage movement is highly seasonal - it begins in April and continues to the end October.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2007, z. 18, s. 77-96.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922

Pełny tekst (987 KB)