„Tu, w tym mieście, wszystko się zaczęło”. Znaki papieskości w otoczeniu wizualnym Wadowic
“It All Started in This Town”. Papal Symbols in the Visual Surrounding of Wadowice

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the visual surrounding of the hometown of John Paul II from the vantage point of the pope’s person, and including commemorative plaques, monuments, and information. With this purpose in mind the author applied the concept of the iconosphere, with photographs as an essential element of the article. Signs referring to papal qualities may be arranged in circles of the dissemination of the sacrum, whose centre is the parish church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin Mary in the town market square. The first circle is thus the square itself, with the municipal office building featuring an inscription: “The Wadowice self-government ever faithful to John Paul II”. The market square also includes a Museum – the Family Home of John Paul II and a Municipal Museum, which at the time of the research displayed an exposition on the pope. A separate part of the space is composed of shops offering devotionalia dominated by likenesses of the pope. The second circle is the town. Within this range the papal narration is organised by the Karol Wojtyła Route composed of sites important in the life of the future pope and accompanied by numerous uncoordinated references. The third circle is the John Paul II Rail Trail, linking Wadowice and Cracow by means of a special “papal” train. The fourth and fifth circles of the dissemination of the sacrum encompass Poland and the whole world. Apparently, symbols of papacy constitute the myth of Wadowice conceived as a papal town.

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