Izabela Sołjan

Nowe centrum pielgrzymkowe w krakowskiej dzielnicy Łagiewniki-Borek Fałęcki

New pilgrimage centre in Krakow’s Łagiewniki-Borek Falecki district Krakow is a city with a unique, rich religious heritage, including major sanctuaries. However, their situation has largely changed over the history. The most important ones started in the 1980s and are still being developed. As a result of the growing worship of Divine Mercy and Sister Faustyna, the convent in Krakow-Łagiewniki has been transformed into an international pilgrimage centre, hosting approx. 2 million pilgrims per year. In the early 21st century a new complex of sacred buildings, the “ Have No Fear ” John Paul II Centre, began to be built in the close vicinity of the sanctuary, as a centre devoted to the worship and remembrance of the great Pole and Pope. In this way a new religious pilgrimage centre sprang up far from the Krakow city centre. The aim of the present article is to present the centre and its importance for religious tourism now promoted in the city.

Visitors’ diversified motivations and behavior – the case of the pilgrimage center in Krakow (Poland)

ABSTRACT The article presents the visitors’ motivations and behavior at the pilgrimage center in Krakow (Poland). Here, the relation between these elements, i.e. whether their motivations have a correlation with what buildings they visit, is emphasized for the first time. The most important motivations for visits were religious and tourist ones, often rated equally high by the same respondents. They visited religious, cultural and tourist buildings and facilities. The stay of visitors with religious motivations was not limited to religious practices, but was extended by tourist behavior. Similarly, visitors with tourist motivations visited religious buildings and participated in religious practices. However, they visit tourist and cultural facilities more often. Additionally, the three groups of respondents were categorized and, on the basis of importance of the religious and tourist motivations, three types were distinguished, i.e. pilgrims, religious tourists and tourists. Their characteristic has been expanded by the analysis of their behavior. Nowadays, visitors’ motivations and behavior at pilgrimage centers include those typical for pilgrims and tourists in the traditional meaning. In addition to their religious function, these sites offer cultural and tourist facilities. The article highlights the dedifferentiation approach to visitors’ motivations and behavior, and in respect of the spatial organization of pilgrimage centers.