The fields below the old Poor Clares monastery in Stary Sącz feature a wooden construction, standing on a small mound. It's a papal altar. It was raised after the memorable mass said on 16th June 1999 by John Paul II in that very spot, when he canonised St. Kinga. There is a small exhibition of souvenirs connected with the Polish pope next to the altar, as well as a set of buildings of the Diocesan Pilgrimage Centre of John Paul II. Every pilgrim who is interested in the sites connected with the late pope's life in the region will definitely arrive at this place, sooner or later. However, John Paul II, proclaimed saint in 2014, had come to this place not only in 1999. Even before he was pope, Karol Wojtyła used to visit the area as a tourist and priest with youth groups, and then as a bishop and Archbishop of Cracow. He expressed it in his famous "geography revision", when he pointed to the trails he used to take in Beskid Sądecki, during the canonisation of 1999.

As Karol Wojtyła, he was an avid and hardened hiker. He traversed both the Low Beskids and Beskid Sądecki. He also used to say masses in beautiful surroundings, such as alpine valleys or mountain tops, for the groups he travelled with. Karol Wojtyła also frequented ski slopes in winter, particularly Przechyba and its mountain hut. One of the most important places connected with the person of St. John Paul II in Beskid Sądecki is a commemorative altar on the top of Błyszcz mountain by Obidza and Tylmanowa. Here, in 1972, a solemn mass of the "Oaza" movement took place, participated by Karol Wojtyła, then a cardinal and Archbishop of Cracow.
Today, many tourists and pilgrims can literally follow in the pope's footsteps thanks to the Papal Trails. They are properly marked and lead through the ridges of Radziejowa and Jaworzyna Krynicka in Beskid Sądecki, and further east through the Low Beskids. In many places you can find information boards with trail maps, as well as monuments and plaques commemorating Karol Wojtyła's presence.