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Cultural Centre – the former building of The Gymnastic Society 'Sokół’

Cultural Centre – the former building of The Gymnastic Society 'Sokół’

From school, we were going to “Sokół” to take part in gymnastics. We were also going to “Sokół” to watch performances. I remember my friends from Wadowice, Halina Królikiewiczówna-Kwiatkowska.(…) A lot of memories.

John Paul II
Wadowice, 16 June 1999

sokolThe “nest” in Wadowice i.e. the club of the Gymnastics Association “Sokół” was set up as the second in Galicia in 1887. Two years later, its seat was built, back then called “Sokolnia”.

It was a single-storied building covered with a gable roof with richly decorated gable walls. To the inside, we could go through three doors with a semi-circular finish, which have been preserved to this day. Inside, there was an exercise and theatre room and numerous club rooms.

In the interwar period, the youth of Wadowice participated in sports activities in great numbers. In the “Sokół” building, patriotic ceremonies were organized. The plays by Greek classics were performed on stage there. Karol Wojtyła took part in sports and cultural activities. In the performance of “Antygona” played on the square market in Wadowice, the Pope had a double role – of an actor and of a co-director.

In the 1950, the upper part of the building was destroyed and rebuilt in order to assume the present-day shape. Currently, the building is the seat of the Wadowice Cultural Centre.

Date of introduction: March 22, 2016