Monument to John Paul II

Memories ... in memory of the battles where many young people lost their lives

This spot – which can be reached, among other places, along the "Path of Silence" (Sentiero del Silenzio) – was dedicated to "Papa Giovanni Paolo II" (Pope John Paul II), whose real name was Karol Wojtyla. He was born in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920 and, after the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, was elected – to almost everyone's surprise – as his successor at the head of the Catholic Church. As a young man, he had experienced dictatorships under the Nazi regime in German-occupied Poland and later under communist rule. During the so-called "Cold War," his support for freedom movements, especially in Eastern Europe, and his contribution to the fall of the so-called "Iron Curtain" were correspondingly strong and passionate.Karol Wojtyla (Giovanni Paolo II) died in the Vatican in 2005 after a long illness.