Building of the Crown Tribunal in Lublin

The Crown Tribunal building, formerly the Old City Hall, is located in the centre of the Old Town Market Square. The construction of the city hall was commenced right after Lublin was granted a city charter on August 15, 1317. The building is surrounded from both sides by curvilinear streets that reflect the location of the old bulwarks that protected Lublin before 1317. The old wooden building was replaced with a Gothic brick city hall in 1389, which was rebuilt and extended a number of times. By the mid 16th century, it already was a Renaissance building (“to decorate the city and for the general purpose”). There were external stairs leading to the first floor.

The shape of the building was similar to the then city halls in Tarnow and Sandomierz. It was surrounded by a number of market stalls occupied by the Lublin merchants. Following the great fire of Lublin in May 1575, the city hall was quickly rebuilt in a Renaissance style. The first session of the Tribunal took place in Lublin in 1579. The final reconstruction works of the Crown Tribunal building were conducted between 1781-1787. The building has then become a Classicist structure. Following the extension of the whole building, the second floor was finished. The original total area of the Crown Tribunal was doubled. When the building was used as a city hall, the city councillors used the basements to sell beer. Once the Crown Tribunal was established, the basement was turned into a prison and a place of torture. In the 18th century, the ground floor included: a treasury vault, a guardhouse, a pharmacy, stores and the city scales. On the first floor, in the former City Council rooms, the following rooms were located after 1579: a spacious hall, a Tribunal Court room, perfectly decorated with the miraculous Tribunal Cross founded by Jan Zamoyski, a room in which the members of the Tribunal gathered, and a chapel. The second floor was destined for the sessions of the District Tribunal. Currently, the building is the seat of the Registrar’s Office. Today, concerts of chamber music, lectures and formal meetings take place in the former Tribunal Court room.

Address: 1 Marketplace, Rynek 

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