Lublin Castle (Lublin)

 castle, museum, monument, murder site, fortification, massacre, Neo-Gothic (architecture), Brick Gothic (architecture), interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage

A castle adjacent to the Old Town district of Lublin. The hill on which it is located was first fortified with a wood-reinforced earthen wall in the 12th century.

In the first half of the 13th century the stone keep was built which survives to this day and is the tallest building of the castle, as well as the oldest standing building in the whole city. In the 14th century, during the reign of Casimir the Great, the castle was rebuilt with stone walls.

Probably at the same time the castle's Holy Trinity church was built to serve as a royal chapel. In the first decades of the 15th century king Władysław II commissioned a set of wall paintings for the chapel, which were completed in 1418 and are preserved to this day. Due to their unique style, mixing Western and Eastern Orthodox influences, they are acclaimed internationally as an important historical monument.

The majority of the castle fell into disrepair and everything but the keep and chapel was completely rebuilt in the early 1800's, in an English neo-Gothic style completely different form the original, for use as a prison. It retained that use, through various governments and occupations, until 1954, when it was closed and converted to a museum, reopening in 1957.

Currently the castle is the main site of the Lublin Museum.
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