The Archdiocesan Museum
ul. Kanonicza 19
The place to see mementoes relating to the Polish Pope, John Paul II, whose collection of works of sacred art includes the oldest Polish painting.
According to tradition, St Stanislaus, the Bishop of Kraków and martyr from the 11th century, one of the most important patron saints of Poland, whose relics are venerated in Wawel Cathedral and the Church “on the Rock”, lived in the place where the mansion No. 19 stands today. The museum is named after Cardinal Karol Wojtyła – as the future Pope John Paul II, lived in a small room on the first floor of the House of St Stanislaus in 1953–58, currently made accessible to visitors. After he was made a bishop, he moved to the adjacent Deanery at No. 21, where he lived until the end of 1967. Presented here today are mementoes connected with the Polish Pope from the different periods of his priesthood and pontificate, from the first skis that he used in the 1950s to the service on which he was given breakfast when he visited the museum during one of his pilgrimages to Poland already as the pope. The museum boasts a permanent exhibition of sacred art from the 13th to the 19th centuries, encompassing sculpture, painting, and liturgical vestments and vessels. The collection includes the oldest Polish painting: Saints from Dębno, which dates back to the 13th century. Exhibitions of contemporary art are also held in the museum.
Tickets: normal PLN 10, concessions PLN 6, family PLN 20, group members PLN 6