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Wadowice

File:Plac_Jana_Pawła_II_w_Wadowicach_nocą.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ212856· pop 54· linked from 216 articles

Wadowice () is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the birthplace of Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II and Godwin von Brumowski, Austria-Hungary’s best flying ace with 35 credited and an additional 8 possible wins in the air.

OverviewAI-generated

Wadowice is a city in Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It serves as the administrative center for Gmina Wadowice. The city has a population of 17,905, comprising 8,345 males and 9,560 females. Its total area is 12.98 square kilometers, with an elevation above sea level of 450 meters. The local postal code is 34-100, and the dialing code is 33.

The municipality is twinned with Assisi, San Giovanni Rotondo, Pietrelcina, and Carpineto Romano. Wadowice is located in Europe and uses the Europe/Warsaw timezone. The city’s license plate code is KWA.

Synthesized by Vinony from 51 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

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7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality
Wadowice
Region
województwo małopolskie
Country
Polska
Population
19,238
Timezone
Europe/Warsaw

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

45US AQIGood
PM2.5
11.0 µg/m³
PM10
15.7 µg/m³
As of 2026-08-11 03:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.name
Wadowice
Settlement.image_skyline
Plac Jana Pawła II w Wadowicach nocą.jpg
Settlement.imagesize
280px
Settlement.image_caption
View of the Main Square with the Baroque Basilica of Presentation of Virgin Mary
Settlement.image_shield
Wadowice herb.svg
Settlement.image_flag
Flag_of_Wadowice_city.gif
Settlement.pushpin_map
Poland
Settlement.pushpin_label_position
bottom
Settlement.subdivision_type
Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1
Voivodeship
Settlement.subdivision_name1
Lesser Poland
Settlement.subdivision_type2
County
Settlement.subdivision_name2
Wadowice
Settlement.subdivision_type3
Gmina
Settlement.subdivision_name3
Wadowice
Settlement.leader_party
PiS
Settlement.leader_title
Mayor
Settlement.leader_name
Bartosz Kaliński

via Wikipedia infobox

Travel guide

Get in

It is easily accessible from Kraków and Katowice by car, bus or train. The is located on walking distance from the most important sights. Regional trains from Kraków's main train station cover the distance in around 1,5 hours. One way tickets cost 12,50 zł.

See

thumb|right|240px|Basilica in Wadowice thumb|right|240px|Birth house of JP II

Eat

Numerous cafes around the market square sell famous papal cake (kremówka).

Go next

Around Wadowice there are more attractions and places worth seeing such as: Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Bielsko-Biała Lanckorona

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~9 min read

Encyclopedic overview

13 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Late modern period
  • World War II
  • Present
  • Economy
  • Culture and sightseeing
  • Religion
  • Sport
  • Twin towns – sister cities
  • Notable people
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

Wadowice () is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the birthplace of Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II and Godwin von Brumowski, Austria-Hungary’s best flying ace with 35 credited and an additional 8 possible wins in the air.

== History == thumb|left|Fragment of a map from 1592 with Vadowice marked The first permanent settlement in the area of today's Wadowice was founded in the late 10th century or early 11th century. According to a local legend, the town was founded by a certain Wad or Wład, a short form for the Slavic name of Ladislaus (). The town was first mentioned as Wadowicze in St. Peter penny register in the years 1325–1327. In 1327 it is also mentioned (under the same name) in a fief registry sent from prince John I Scholastyk of Oświęcim to Bohemian king John I, Count of Luxemburg. At this time it was a trading settlement belonging to the Dukes of Silesia of the Piast dynasty, and according to some historians it was already a municipality. In 1430 a great fire destroyed the town. It was soon rebuilt and granted city rights, along with a city charter and a self-government, based on the then-popular Kulm law. The privileges, granted by Prince Kazimierz I of Oświęcim led to a period of fast reconstruction and growth.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wadowice” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (27)

On the map

3 mapped locations