Collegium Marianum in Klecza Dolna

Collegium Marianum in Klecza Dolna near Wadowice, popularly known as Kopiec, is a monastery and the mother house of the Pallottines in Poland. Today it contains a retreat house and a primary school, so it is not a site visited like a museum.

History

The house was founded in 1909 by Fr Alojzy Majewski, who ran a boys' secondary school in it from the start. At various times it housed a secondary school, a lower and a higher seminary, and during the Second World War a school for Luftwaffe cadets. In 1952 the communist authorities closed the Collegium and set up a tuberculosis hospital in the confiscated buildings. In 1956-1962 the house functioned temporarily, after which the hospital occupied it again. The Pallottines regained the buildings permanently in 1984. In 2006 the celebrations of the centenary of the congregation's presence in the Polish lands began right here.

Today

From 1993 to 2014 the Pallottine novitiate was located here. Today the Collegium has a retreat house for organised groups, with a refectory, chapels, an assembly hall and a meeting room. In 2013 the Public Catholic School on Kopiec, a primary school, was opened next to it. Because it is a working school and a religious house, entry to the grounds depends on the consent of the hosts.

Nearby

The centre of Wadowice is about 2.5 kilometres away. There you will find the Family Home of Pope John Paul II and the Basilica of the Offering of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Klecza Dolna itself stands the Church of St Lawrence.

Practical information

• Location: Klecza Dolna near Wadowice, the hill known as Kopiec.
• Arrange the rules of entry, of staying at the retreat house and of visiting with the Pallottines before your visit.