Before the palace was built, the bishopric of Kraków had been located at Wawel since the year 1000, where the remains of earlier buildings still exist. The palace, erected in its present location at ul. Franciszkańska 3 street across from the historic Franciscan Church in Kraków, was mentioned for the first time in the 14th century. It was consumed by fire in 1462 and then rebuilt. The palace was reconstructed with a new staircase and rusticated portals by Bishop Piotr Gembicki in 1642-1647. It was renovated after the Swedish invasion in 1655, and refurbished again in 1817-1820 by Szczepan Humbert. In 1850 a citywide fire burned most of the furnishings and exhibits of national mementoes. Architect Tomasz Pryliński supervised the renovation of the palace in 1881-1884. In spite of its turbulent history including fires and various national calamities such as the Partitions, the palace always served its original purpose.
Architecture
The palace is a example of 19th century architecture, with elements of Polish Renaissance and Baroque decorations including arcadedloggia in the courtyard, added by architect Gabriel Słoński around 1567. The general layout of the palace established by the mid 17th century remains the same despite later renovations.
The palace, usually closed to the visitors except for a museum, is one of the more popular religious destinations connected with the life of Pope John Paul II. Between 1958 and 1978 the palace was a residence of CardinalKarol Wojtyła, who in October 1978 became the first Slavic Pope in history, adopting the name John Paul II. Wojtyła had first lived in the complex during World War II, when he was a student of the clandestine Kraków Archdiocese Seminary run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha during the NaziOccupation of Poland. Following an August 6, 1944 Nazi roundup of thousands of men and boys in Kraków, in which Wojtyła narrowly escaped capture, Sapieha insisted that the seminary students stay in the Bishop's Palace until the Germans left the city. Wojtyła was ordained to the priesthood soon after the end of war, on November 1, 1946, by Sapieha in his private chapel. Housed not far from the palace is the Archdiocesan Museum where many relevant artifacts can be found. Following John Paul II's death on April 2, 2005, some 40,000 Catholics gathered in front of the palace for a night vigil and prayer. On each anniversary of his death, thousands of flowers are placed around the building and many fires are lit. The window above the entrance is known as the "papal window", as from here John Paul II spoke to the crowds that gathered to see him. In the courtyard stands a statue of John Paul II sculpted and gifted to the palace by artist Jole Sensi Croci in May 1980.
