Built around 1870, the tenement house at No 7 Kościelna Street where the Holy Father John Paul II was raised has been operating as a papal museum since 1984. Visitors may take a trip through different stages of the Holy Father’s life by touring the multimedia exhibition that invites reflection and shows what the climate and life was like in pre-war Wadowice.
The Family Home of John Paul II museum (Muzeum Dom Rodzinny Ojca Świętego Jana Pawła II) attracts 300,000- 400,000 visitors each year to tour the few rooms in which John Paul was born and raised. The tour begins on the ground level and ascends by ramps to the top of the museum. The two main rooms of the original home are the central focus of the museum, with the multimedia exhibit constructed lovingly around them. The museum includes personal items that were meaningful in John Paul’s life, including the Vatican clock (which was stopped at the moment of his death) and the Polish bible, which was read to him by the sisters in his final moments.