The Municipal Public Library in Bolesławiec invites you to a meeting with Janusz Skowroński entitled “It Began in Bolesławiec – Karol Wojtyła’s Cycling Trip.” It will take place on Thursday, April 3, at the “Format” Gallery (Sądowa Street).
There will be two meetings that day: at 11:30 a.m. for young people and at 5:00 p.m. for everyone interested.
“It all began in Bolesławiec,” says Janusz Skowroński, who reconstructed and described in detail the route of the cycling trip now known as the Papal Trail in the Karkonosze Mountains. The route, crossing the Jelenia Góra and Wałbrzych basins, began precisely in Bolesławiec on September 1, 1956. Rev. Karol Wojtyła travelled it with four friends—young scholars from Kraków. This fact is not widely known in our city. It is therefore worth hearing this fascinating story, supplemented by a presentation of photographs. The itinerary included both the attractions of Lower Silesia—the natural environment and landscapes—and places of worship, as well as historic religious and secular architecture. John Paul II recalled this trip to Bishop Tadeusz Rybak, saying how much the Lower Silesian churches had astonished him at the time—their number and beauty.
Janusz Skowroński is a journalist, writer and popularizer of the history of “small homelands” in Lower Silesia. He is the author of books including “The Mysteries of the Jizera Mountains,” “The Mysteries of Czocha Castle,” “Pearls from the Kwisa” and “Forgotten Mysteries of the Karkonosze,” as well as articles in regional magazines.
(commissioned information)