CRACOW GATE
The Cracow Gate, one of Lublin’s top landmarks, was built as a part of the city walls in the 14th c. The gate owes its name to the historic royal route leading from Cracow, via Lublin to Vilnius. It served as a defensive structure, an observation tower for the fire rescue, and a residence of the clock-master operating the clock. The gate also had a trumpeter who would play a bugle call.
The oldest, Gothic part of the gate was built from limestone and bricks, whereas the two-storey extension from vitrified bricks. The octagonal, plastered clock tower and the foregate were erected in the mid 16th c. The gate is crowned with a Baroque cupola with a monogram ‘SAR’ (Stanislaus Augustus Rex) and a date – 1782, added during the reconstruction works supervised by Dominic Merlini.
The present form of the Cracow Gate was achieved after renovation works in the years 1959-1964, which restored the original appearance of the gate and adapted its interiors for the needs of the Lublin History Museum.
Reconstructed in the 1980s together with fragments of the historic city walls, the tower is a remnant of the Gothic defensive structures surrounding the Old Town in the 13th c. The donjon was built from stone veneered with brick. Wooden platforms fixed inside the tower provided access to the embrasures.
During the Old Polish period thick church candles were made in the donjon, using hemp ropes along which molten wax flowed into the moulds.
The finial of the tower was reconstructed during the restoration works in 1993.
TRINITARIAN TOWER
The impressive Trinitarian Tower was once a mere gate in the building of the Jesuit College adjoining the city walls. It was in 1819 that it was reconstructed according to the design by Antonio Corazzi and began to dominate over Lublin. The 60 metre high tower is crowned with a finial - a brass cockerel that, as legend has it, used to warn local residents of oncoming danger and still watches over Lublin.
Presently the Trinitarian Tower is the seat of the Archdiocesan Museum of Religious Art, which hosts interesting collections of sacral sculptures and art works from the Lublin Region.
From atop the tower you can see a fabulous panorama of Lublin, which fully rewards the effort of climbing 207 steps leading to the viewing terrace.
OLD THEATRE
This was the first permanent theatre in Lublin and one of the oldest institutions of this kind in Poland.
It was built in 1822 according to the design by its owner and architect Łukasz Rodakiewicz. It was decorated with Classicist figurative ornaments such as arcades, leaf-like feminine masks and gryphons. The auditorium accommodated a total of 334 seats.
The Old Theatre had successfully functioned until the opening of a new, presentable municipal theatre (now the Juliusz Osterwa Theatre) in 1887.
In the beginning of the 20th c. the building was turned into a cinema first called ‘Theatre Optique Parisien’, then ‘Rialto’, ‘Wiedza’, ‘Panteon’ and ‘Adria’. After World War II it hosted the Staromiejskie Cinema, which operated until the 1980s. After that, the neglected building gradually fell into disrepair.
Thorough renovation works completed in 2012 restored the Old Theatre to its former glory.
CHURCH AND MONASTERY COMPLEX OF THE DOMINICAN ORDER
The Dominican Order probably arrived in Lublin in 1230. They built a wooden oratory of the Holy Cross, which was later replaced with a brick Church of St. Slanislaus Bishop and Martyr.
The great fire of Lublin in 1575 considerably damaged the church. After the reconstruction, the church had a new barrel vault and a façade in a Lublin Renaissance style designed by Rudolf Negroni.
One of the most important events taking place at the church was the celebration of a thanksgiving mass attended by King Sigismund Augustus after the signing of the Union of Lublin in 1569.
The temple enshrined a fragment of the True Cross, brought to Lublin by the Bishop of Kiev Andrzej in 1420, which supposedly had miraculous powers. Unfortunately, in 1991 the holy relics were stolen and have never been recovered.
In 1967 Pope Paul VI granted the Dominican church the title of a minor basilica.
The Dominican monastery neighbouring the church was constructed in stages until the 18th c. Legend has it that the act of the Union of Lublin was signed in the refectory of the monastery. Since the last renovation works completed in 2012, historic exhibits connected with the order have been displayed in the northern wing of the building. The most valuable objects can be seen in the treasury.
SMALL TOWN HALL (5 ARCHIDIAKOŃSKA STREET)
The name of this 16th-century townhouse is connected with the fact that the place held meetings of the City Council during sessions of the court tribunal in Lublin. A sgraffito ornament shaped like the Lublin coat of arms was placed over the main door of the building to commemorate this historic event.
TOWNHOUSE IN 3 ZŁOTA STREET
The building dates back to the 16th c., as most townhouses located in the Old Town. Till the end of the 19th c. it had been the property of the Riabinin Family. There lived Jan Riabinin, an eminent historian and archivist who researched the history of Lublin.
Since 2001 the building has been the seat of the Józef Czechowicz Literary Museum.
OLD TOWN MARKET SQUARE
The market square was marked out almost 700 years ago, after Lublin received its civic charter (15th August 1317). In 1575 a great deal of the wooden buildings burnt down and new presentable brick townhouses were erected in their place. Many of them have preserved their original exterior appearance and historical ornaments. The ones especially worth seeing include:
The Townhouse of the Klonowic Family (Rynek 2) – it used to belong to Sebastian Klonowic, an acclaimed poet, town councillor and mayor. The façade is decorated with sgraffito medallions with images of four poets and writers associated with Lublin: Biernat of Lublin, Mikołaj Rej, Jan Kochanowski and Wincenty Pol.
The Townhouse of the Lubomelski Family (Rynek 8) – it has an original Renaissance portal with the Zadora coat of arms, the date 1540 and initial of the name Jan Lubom. The cellar has been turned into a museum - the Fortuna Cellar – where you can see unique historic wall polychromes depicting secular topics as well as modern multimedia presentations about the history of Lublin.
The Townhouse of the Konopnica Family (Rynek 12) – it has always been regarded as the most beautiful Lublin townhouse owing to rich interior design and outstanding decorative Renaissance façade from 1610. The building is crowned with an impressive attic. The 2004 renovation of the façade restored it to its full glory.
The Townhouse of the Wieniawski Family (Rynek 17) – in the first half of the 19th c. the building belonged to Tadeusz Wieniawski, father of the brilliant violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski, born here on 10th July 1835.
CROWN TRIBUNAL (OLD TOWN HALL)
In its heyday this outstanding edifice situated in the centre of Market Square served as the Crown Tribunal (1578 – 1794) – the highest judicial instance for the nobility from the whole Małopolska Region, established by King Stephen Bathory. The only other tribunal in the Kingdom of Poland was in Piotrków Trybunalski. Widely-practised corruption of judges and unjust sentences led to the dissolution of this institution. The most notorious case was a so-called a court of devils that supposedly took place in 1637. About 150 years later the building was redesigned by Dominic Merlini, a court architect of King Sigismund Augustus, and gained the shape we can see today.
Presently the Crown Tribunal serves the function of the Wedding Register Office. The cellars of the building are the starting point of the Lublin Underground Route.
RYBNY SQUARE (FISH SQUARE)
Rybny Square was a market place where fish caught in the Czechówka River were sold. The Pawęczkowska townhouse in the square, named after one of its owners, was originally meant to be a church of the Trinitarian Order but the death of its benefactor, Dominik Lubomirski, stopped the building works. Some people blamed the unfinished investment on the stone of misfortune which lay nearby at the time.
PO FARZE SQUARE
The name of the square is connected with the first church built within the city walls – the Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel. It was founded in the 13th c. by Leszek the Black as a votive offering for the victory over the Jatvingians. In the 15th c. a mighty tower was added to the western side of the church, which was visible from a 5-kilometre distance. The parish church was demolished in 1857 due to its poor condition on orders from the Lublin governor Albertow. Most of the interior furnishings were taken to Lublin Cathedral.
Fully reconstructed foundations of the parish church and a scale model of it can be seen in Po Farze Square. The restoration of the landmark took place in the beginning of the 21st c.
OLD VICARAGE
Originally it was a fortified tower, a part of the city walls, with a gate leading from the castle to the parish church. In the 16th c. it was converted into a residence for vicars who permanently took care of the parish church.
Over a period of time the building was reconstructed and gradually extended into a townhouse existing today. The place where the tower used to be is highlighted with red brick colour.
FORMER RECTORY (11 GRODZKA STREET)
Originally it was a rectory of the Parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel. In the second half of the 19th c. the building was confiscated from the Catholic Church by the Russian authorities. Later it was given to the Jewish Community and served as an orphanage for Jewish children (‘the Shelter’) and a nursing home for elderly and disabled Jews.
On 24th March 1942 during the liquidation of the ghetto, the Nazis executed all the children, old patients and the staff of the Shelter.
Presently the building hosts the Youth Culture Centre ‘Under the Acacia.’
GRODZKA GATE
This fortified gate built in the 14th c. was a part of the defensive city walls. It was also a gateway between the Christian and Jewish quarters, which is why it was often referred to as the Jewish Gate.
It was originally built as a quadrilateral structure crowned with crenels. Later on a foregate supported with buttresses was added.
In the end of the 18th c. the Good Order Committee (Boni Ordinis) ordered the gate to be rebuilt in a Classicist style without the defensive features. The date MDCCLXXXV and the monogram ‘SAR’ (Stanislaus Augustus Rex) placed on the façade remind of this renovation.
Presently the building is the seat of the Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre, where you can see a scale model of the Jewish district in Podzamcze before Wold War II.