Karol Wojtyła: John Paul II -- Monuments in Poland

The regard and affection in which the people of Poland held and continue to hold John Paul II is extraordinary. Attesting to this are the myriad monuments erected in his honor while he was still alive. Kazimierz Ożóg, who for some years has maintained a Polish language catalog of free standing exterior monuments of the Pontiff in Poland indicates he is aware of 227 at last count.

To provide the English-speaking public some measure of this, assembled below is a selection of 16 of the John Paul II monuments from Polish cities and villages, large and small. Clicking on any one of miniature images gives access to pages devoted each to one monument. The photographs on the latter pages serve as links to the Polish site featuring the originals of the photos.

	KALISZ Monument on St. Joseph's Square. Unveiled on May 30th 1999, the monument stands at the location where the Pontiff said mass when he visited the city.
	KRAKÓW Statue in the courtyard of the Bishops' Palace, ul. Franciszkanska 3, The work of the Italian sculptor Jole Sensi Croci, the bronze statue was a gift that Italian artists gave to John Paul II in 1980 and one he proffered to his native archdioceses of which he had been the archbishop in the years 1964-1978.
	KRAKÓW Located in Park Srzelecki (Riflemen's Park) adjacent to Lubicz Street. The statue was unveiled on July 1, 2000 by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski. The artist of the six foot high statue, Czeslaw Dzwigaj, was inspired by a photograph taken at a Papal audience in which was included a delegation of the Fraternity of the Kurkowie, an Association of Riflemen which owns the Park in which the monument is located and it former times used the location for sharpshooting practice.
	KRAKÓW-MISTRZEJOWICE Monument located adjacent to St. Maksymilian Kolbe's Church in Mistrzejowice Unveiled on January 1991, the statue was a gift of Tomislaw Kecman and Risto Gusterov of Macedonia. Including its base, the monument rises to a height of 16 feet. It is the first papapl statue created by Gustaw Zemla.
	KRAKÓW Monument located in the Rakowiecki Cemetary The monument was unveiled on April 10, 2005, that is on the morrow of the funeral of John Paul II in Rome. The work of Czeslaw Dzwigaj, the 5 foot monument of the kneeling Pope stands at the entrance of the path leading to the graves of the Pope's parents and brother which the Pope visited on each of his nine pilgrimages to Poland.
	KRAKÓW Located adjacent to the Church of the Good Shepard> Unveiled on 23 October 1998 the six foot high bronze statue is one of a series of similar ones (see below) created by Stefan Kowalówka, a sculptor from Wegrzec near Kraków
	LASKOWIEC Located near the peak of the Laskowiec massive Dedicated on July 15, 2001 the monument stands on one of the one of the higher mountaintops of the Small Beskid chain.
	LICHEŃ Monument located in front of the new Basilica. The work of Krakow sculptor Marian Konieczny, unveiled on September 15, 1999. the monument rises to a height of 14 feet.
	ŁÓDŹ Located adjacent to the cathedral The seven foot bronze statue portrays John Paul II as he appeared on his 1987 visit to the city.
	ŁOWICZ Located on Łowicz's Market Square adjacent to the Cathedral. The monument was unveiled in June 2000 on the first anniversary of the Pope's visit to Łowicz on 14 June 1999.
	LUBICHOWO Monument located adjacent to the Parish Church Made of marble-based artificial stone the monument is the work of Lębork sculptor Tomasz Sobisz.
	LUBLIN Monument stands in the courtyard of the Catholic University of Lublin. The monument portrays a moment made famous by a photograph of Poland's Primate, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński greeting Karol Wojtyła following his election to the Papacy.
	PIOTRKÓW TRYBUNALSKI The John Paul II monument was erected in the John Paul II Park in 1999. Standing on field stones the monument, the work of sculptor Krystyna Faldyga - Solska rises to a height of 7 and a half feet..
	POZNAŃ Located adjacent to the cathedral The monument, portraying a dynamic John Paul II, is the work of sculptor Krystyna Faldyga - Solska.
	SZCZECIN Located on the grounds of Jasne Blony The almost 10 foot hight monument stands on a grassy area, part of the City's park system at a spot where the Pontiff celebrated Mass when visiting the City.
	TARNÓW Monument stands in Tarnów's Cathedral Square The work of Bronisław Chrom of Kraków's Academy of Fine Arts, the John Paul II monument in Tarnów was the first one to be erected in Poland. Unveiled on June 29, 1981, the bronze sculpture stands 14.5 feet high adjacent to the south wall of the Cathedral's presbytery. It lacks a pedestal, this because of the sculptor's desire to accentuate its relationship to the ground from which it arises much as a tree trunk - a reference to the Pope having arisen from the Polish lands.
	WADOWICE Located at the entrance of St. Peter's Church The work of the Italian sculptor Luciano Minguzzi, the 9 foot high bronze statue John Paul II stands on a granite base at the entrance of the Church. Originally offered by the artist to the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow, the monument was unveiled in Wadowice, the birthplace of Karol Wojtyla, on September 14, 1991 on the occasion of his visit to the town and his consecration of the Church.
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