Archdiocesan Museum in Kraków

The Archdiocesan Museum in Kraków displays sacred art from the 13th to 19th centuries and personal items of Pope John Paul II, housed in his former residence.

Planning your visit

The Archdiocesan Museum occupies the building where Karol Wojtyła lived — first as a young priest and later as Archbishop of Kraków, before his election as Pope John Paul II in 1978. His rooms are preserved with personal effects: the desk, the skis and kayak paddle reflecting a genuinely outdoor life, vestments, and objects from his papacy.

For Polish visitors this carries weight difficult to overstate. John Paul II's 1979 pilgrimage to Poland is widely regarded as a decisive moment in the emergence of Solidarity and the eventual collapse of communist rule, and he remains a central national figure.

The wider collection is sacred art from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries: Gothic panel paintings, medieval sculpture, liturgical objects and vestments drawn from churches across the archdiocese, including work of high quality that would be the centrepiece of a lesser museum.

It stands on Kanonicza Street, one of the oldest and best-preserved streets in Kraków, on the approach to Wawel. Allow an hour. The main booking is an entry ticket. Current availability is shown below.