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Lublin, Poland (Capital)

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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Lublin, Poland (Government)

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A town of Russian Poland, capital of the government of the same name, 109 m. by rail S.E. of Warsaw, on a small tributary of the Wieprz. Pop. (1873) 28,900; (1897) 50,152. It is the most important town of Poland after Warsaw and Lodz, being one of the chief centres of the manufacture of threadyarn, linen and hempen goods and woollen stuffs; there is also trade in grain and cattle. It has an old citadel, several palaces of Polish nobles and many interesting churches, and is the headquarters of the XIV. army corps, and the see of a Roman Catholic bishop. The cathedral dates from the 16th century. Of the former fortifications nothing remains except the four gates, one dating from 1342.

Lublin was in existence in the 10th century, and has a church which is said to have been built in 986. During the time the Jagellon dynasty ruled over Lithuania and Poland it was the most important city between the Vistula and the Dnieper, having 40,000 inhabitants (70,000 according to other authorities) and all the trade with Podolia, Volhynia and Red Russia. Indeed, the present town is surrounded with ruins, which prove that it formerly covered a much larger area. But it was frequently destroyed by the Tatars (e.g. 1240) and Cossacks (e.g. 1477). In1568-1569it was the seat of the stormy convention at which the union between Poland and Lithuania was decided. In 1702 another convention was held in Lublin, in favour of Augustus II. and against Charles XII. of Sweden, who carried the town by assault and plundered it. In 1831 Lublin was taken by the Russians. The surrounding country is rich in reminiscences of the struggle of Poland for independence.