Market Square – John Paul II Square
Market Square – John Paul II Square
When I look at this market square, almost every detail is for me linked with a memory of the earliest period of my life.
John Paul II
Wadowice, 7 June 1979
The original urban arrangement of the city came from the turn of the 13th and 14th century. It was a result of the first granting of the charter and its streets had a chessboard layout, along with a centrally located square with the dimensions of ca. 70 x 70 metres.
In the market square, there were a small wooden town hall being a seat of city authorities and a well and behind the eastern frontage of the square there was a parish church with a cemetery. The steeple, due to the fact that the temple was located on an elevated slope, was the highest point in the city. The main road ran through the market square from north to south.
Over the centuries, fires and following reconstructions have gradually changed the appearance of the city. At the end of the 18th century, when Wadowice was already under the Austrian Partition, the Galician Trade and Postal Road was built. It connected Vienna with Lviv and ran through the market square in Wadowice, due to which it became the main road of the city. The buildings in the western and eastern part of the market square have been partially demolished due to which the new route ran through the central square of the city. Further changes in the development took place in the first half of the 19th century, when the remains of the eastern frontage of the market square were demolished, which resulted in opening the façade of the parish church to the square. Thus, the market square changed its shape from the original square into a rectangle with the dimensions of 115 x 70 meters. In the years 1820-1822, the church cemetery was moved to a new place at Tatrzańska Street (now Al. Matki Bożej Fatimskiej) which formed a space for the further development of the modern city centre.
Over the years, the market square has witnessed the history of Wadowice. Here, the economic life of the city was going on, craft workshops and stores were located and a fair was held on Thursdays. The market square was also a socio-cultural centre of the urban community – here, patriotic manifestations and army parades were taking places, poets and writers met here and during the Interwar period we could hear the melodies played by the famous orchestra of the 12th Infantry Regiment in the old alleys. In one of houses next to the market square, the world-famous opera singer, Ada Sari, was born.
Everyday, young Karol Wojtyła walked across the market square, on his way to the elementary school, located in the Town Hall, and later on to the grammar school at Mickiewicza Street. The way through the market square also led to “Górka”, to the Barefoot Carmelite Monastery.
The market square was a place where Pope John Paul II met the Wadowice residents during his pilgrimages to his home town. During the first visit to Wadowice, on 7 June 1979, the Holy Father mentioned old Wadowice in his homily, recalled his colleagues, religious orders and priests from his home parish. Shortly after the consecration of the new St. Peter the Apostle Church in Wadowice on 14 August 1991, John Paul II visited his first parish church – Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church. During his third pilgrimage to his hometown, on 16 June 1999, John Paul II took a unique sentimental journey to his youth in pre-war Wadowice. From the altar installed on the market square, he said: “Here, in this city, in Wadowice, everything started, the school started and the studies started, the theatre started. And priesthood started”. With affection in his voice, he recalled the charming corners of the city, the witnesses of his childhood and youth.
Wadowice honoured its Great Compatriot with a monument standing on the market square next to the Basilica and consecrated in June 2006 by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz.
In the years 2010-2013, the market square was revitalised. The old sewage and stormwater drainage systems were replaced, new power, water supply and telecommunication networks were installed. The new granite surface was laid, a new fountain was installed and the old well was reconstructed. Into the market square surface, 161 plaques were embedded to commemorate John Paul II’s pilgrimages to his homeland and to more than 100 countries around the world.
Date of introduction: March 22, 2016