When you arrive to Lublin by bus, the first city building which you can see is the Lublin Castle, which is the part of the old town and is directly opposite the main bus station. It is not very impressive from the first sight, but to understand the role of the castle you need to know its story.
So, to begin the story of the Lublin Castle, let’s lift the veil of history. The Great Lublin Castle is located on a hill and has little to do with defense original building, which was built in the XIV century. The majestic residence was built about 1520 by King Sigismund. In 1569 the Union of Lublin was signed and ratified there. The only remembrance of the old Castle is round tower. Today it serves as observation platform. Incredibly beautiful landscape opens from the platform of that tower. Very nice panorama of Lublin opens in front of you. It is really worthy to climb there. When you see it once, you will never forget it.
During the wars that were conducted by Poland in XVII-XVIII centuries, the castle was demolished and a prison was built on its place in 1826. A new prison was built on the initiative of Stanislav Stashic. The building was made in neo-Gothic style and was used for the detention of political prisoners. The prison had been working for 128 years. During World War II and the Nazi occupation period 40 thousand of people, mostly members of the resistance movement, were imprisoned there. All of those people were held in detention and most of them died in the death camps. In July the 22nd in 1944, the Nazis carried out the mass murder of 300 prisoners of the castle. Some people said that the blood was poured on the stairs.
The building has got its current appearance in the XIX century. The marvelous church was built on the territory of the Castle in XIV. It has very impressive frescos there. The Trinity Chapel is one of the most beautiful churches in Lublin. The only owner of the Lublin Castle is Lublin museum now. Lublin museum exhibits various subjects from archeology and ethnography to painting. Here you can see the famous painting by Jan Matejko “Union of Lublin”. The museum exhibition is incredible. Personally I was impressed by ethnography exposition and the exposition of church history. The Museum exhibited the history of Ukrainian revolution of 2013, so called “The revolution of dignity” in photos. There are exhibitions of coins, nice exposition of development of photography, exposition of modern art, exhibition of the weapon. Everyone would find something interesting for themselves.
Unfortunately, I visited the museum only once during the Museum Night. There was very huge queue to the museum, but I and my friends managed to do it. The inside yard of the Castle is nice, and I would say that it is even cozy. We were lucky to see small performance about the Polish army. I had chance to see the original costumes of Polish army. I was surprised by the fact that they had some elements of Turkish army costumes.
The Lublin Castle is one of the famous places of the city. It is the landmark of the city. You should visit it if you want to get the full picture of Lublin city.
Irina Ilyashevych