Lublin is an academic center in Poland with 5 universities. It was granted municipal status under the royal privilege of King Ladislas the Elbow High (love that title) in 1317.

It’s Old Town (Stare Miasto) boasts to be one of the finest urban complexes of its kind in Poland. This is again, where we spent most of our time exploring.

The Cracow Gate (Brama Krakowska), is Lublin’s architectural symbol, and has for centuries served as the main entrance to the Old Town. Within the interior of the old city walls are numerous old buildings, churches, cafes, the town square, and a maze of narrow winding streets and allies.

I particularly enjoyed the slightly contemporary and artsy twist of using historic photographs to decorate the windows of many of the Old Town’s historic buildings.

The hill on which the Old Town lies is adjacent to the castle hill – the seat of the early medieval settlements in the 6th – 9th centuries.

The original castle was destroyed during the “Swedish deluge” in the 16th century. The extensive Neo-gothic structure on the hill today was erected as a prison in the years 1824-26.

This prison, I am told, was used by the Nazis to hold prisoners before sending them to the nearby Majdanek concentration camp, which we visited and I will share with you next time.