Postcard - Lublin, Krakowskie Przedmieście

Krakowskie Przedmieście is Lublin's most representative street. It owes its name to its location outside the old city walls, on the side of the road leading from Krakow. In the 17th century it was sometimes called the Great Street. Its section from Plac Łokietka to Plac Litewski took shape in the first half of the 19th century. Along both sides of the street a compact development of tenement houses was built, which housed residential houses and commercial premises – shops, service establishments, cafés and restaurants. Separate buildings housed hotels (including the European Hotel, the largest in the city at the time, and the now non-existent Victoria Hotel), courts of justice and a post office.

At the level of Litewski Square, the axis of the street breaks. Further on there are mostly 20th century buildings. The street ends at the level of the City Garden, at the intersection with Lipowa Street. Formerly a line of embankments protecting the city from the west ran here.

The perspective of Krakowskie Przedmieście is closed on one side by a picturesque view of the Krakowska Gate and the Trinity Tower, separating the downtown area from the older part of the city. In the early 20th century this view was often depicted on souvenir postcards. Today, what emerges from them is an image of a bustling city with crowds of passers-by and frontages of tenement houses adorned with advertising signs.