Museum

The museum part contains gifts, offered to John Paul II by pilgrims. They have been donated to the Center by Vatican. Most of these have been donated to John Paul II by Polish people. Most of all, the museum collection expresses love for St. Peter’s Successor. It is also a testimony of spiritual good which appeared during twenty-seven years of the pontificate. Many of the items have historical and artistic vale. The collections are organized and elaborated in an electronic catalogue. A large part of the paintings, medals and other collection items has been used to decorate the walls of the Polish Home and is exhibited in cabinets.

About 10,000 items have been catalogued so far. They encompass almost all kinds of art: photographs, graphics, inlays, maps, medals, paintings, sculptures, numismatic items, distinctions, liturgical items, jewelry, drawings, standards and fabrics.

A significant place of the museum collection is taken by the testimony of Polish martyrdom in the twentieth century. These include items belonging to prisoners of concentration camps and soldiers fighting for freedom of their Motherland.

A special value for Polish cultural legacy lies in items belonging to Polish kings and cultural patrons. These include old prints, including a Hebrew Bible from 1543 and the second edition of the New Testament, translated by Rev. Fr. Jakub Wujek, from 1594, original letters by kings Zygmunt August and Jan II Sobieski, a missing page from the draft of Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz and the only existing draft of the Na smetne wiesci poem by Cyprian Kamil Norwid.