Kaplica Trojcy Swietej

The Holy Trinity Chapel sits inside Lublin Castle and is the finest thing on the castle hill. From floor to vault it is covered in Ruthenian-Byzantine frescoes, an Eastern style of painting set under a Western Gothic ceiling. The paintings were finished in 1418, a date recorded in Cyrillic on a panel in the chapel, and they were made by a workshop of Orthodox painters under a master named Andrey.

There is little else like it. Eastern Orthodox wall painting inside a Roman Catholic Gothic chapel is rare anywhere, and this is one of the most complete surviving examples. The combination was a direct choice by the founder, King Wladyslaw Jagiello, who came from Lithuania and favoured Ruthenian painters. The result is a single small room where two artistic worlds meet on the same walls.

The frescoes cover the walls, the columns and the vault. They show scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin, ranks of angels and prophets, and two portraits of the king who paid for them. The painting programme follows the Eastern manner, while the ribbed vault and pointed arches around it are Gothic. Take time to look up, as the ceiling carries some of the strongest figures.

The chapel served as a royal chapel and was rebuilt in Gothic form in the early 15th century. The frescoes were completed in 1418. Over later centuries the paintings were plastered over and largely forgotten, then brought to light again in the 19th century. A long conservation programme uncovered and stabilised them, with the main work completed in the 1990s. The chapel is now shown as part of the castle museum.

Twenty to thirty minutes is enough to take in the chapel, longer if you like religious art. Many visitors combine it with the rest of the castle and the climb up the round tower, which together make a half-day.

The chapel is inside Lublin Castle on the hill above the Old Town, reached on foot from the market square. Entry is through the castle museum, so a museum ticket usually covers it. Check the museum's channels for hours, as the chapel can close for conservation. For the wider area, see the Lublin guide.

The chapel sits within a cluster of the city's main sights:

• Lublin Castle, whose museum surrounds the chapel.
• The Old Town, just below the castle hill.
• The Grodzka Gate, on the slope between the castle and the Old Town.

They were completed in 1418, a date recorded in Cyrillic inside the chapel. They were commissioned by King Wladyslaw Jagiello and painted by an Orthodox workshop.

The king favoured Ruthenian-Byzantine painters, so the walls follow the Eastern Orthodox tradition even though the chapel itself is a Western Gothic building. That mix is what makes the chapel unusual.