The city of Lublin is an ancient city, and plays an important role in Polish history for several reasons. It is located in an area of Poland that was often contested by wars long ago and it was of some importance as a city along a trade route, especially for trade between Poland and Lithuania. In 1569, it was the site of the signing of the Union of Lublin, a pact which united Lithuania and Poland, created a superpower in Europe at the time, a union which was instrumental in saving Europe from foreign domination.
In later years, Lublin was a center for Jewish culture and education, home to many Jews and a world-renowned center for Jewish study. By 1918, about 40% of Lublin’s population was Jewish. The Nazis in World War II exterminated nearly all the Jews and the few that remained later left, mostly to Israel.
Today Lubin is a somewhat poor city, but rich in history. We stayed there for an evening and visited the Castle which was close, and several churches. I took quite a few pictures. You can see some of them here: http://poland.leonkonieczny.com/Albums/Poland%202011/Lublin/index.html.
Looks like a very clean city, very nice buildings, cobblestone? streets,
and neat. nice to see the pictures.