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Royal city in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
6 min read
Source updated May 28, 2026
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In the history of Poland, a royal city or royal town (Polish: miasto królewskie) was an urban settlement within the crown lands (Polish: królewszczyzna).

The most influential royal cities enjoyed voting rights during the free election period in Poland (1572-1791). These cities were Gdańsk, Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Lwów, Wilno, Toruń, Lublin, Kamieniec and Elbląg. Other important royal cities included Gniezno (ecclesiastical capital of Poland and former capital of early medieval Poland), Płock (former capital of medieval Poland), Piotrków (second most important political center of Poland in the early and mid-16th century as the main location of the Sejm, and then the main Crown Tribunal location alongside Lublin, thus one of the two judiciary capitals of Poland), Grodno (de facto capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 1580s and then the general sejm location alongside Warsaw), Bydgoszcz and Kalisz (temporary locations of the Crown Tribunal), and Sandomierz, Przemyśl, Kazimierz.

01Law on the Cities

On April 18, 1791, the Great Sejm adopted the Free Royal Cities Act (full title: "Miasta nasze królewskie wolne w państwach Rzeczypospolitej" - "Our Free Royal Cities in the States of the Commonwealth"), included as Article III into the Constitution of May 3, 1791.

The law granted a number of privileges for the residents of royal cities. Many of these privileges and rights have already been enjoyed by major royal cities, and the law effectively equalized all royal cities in this respect. It also includes some rights earlier enjoyed only by szlachta.

02Royal cities by region

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland

Greater Poland Province

Lesser Poland Province

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

03Royal castles and residences

Examples of Polish royal castles and residences found in former royal cities of Poland:

04Old towns

The historic old towns of Kraków, Warsaw, Toruń, Vilnius and Lviv are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Additionally the old towns of Gdańsk, Kazimierz Dolny, Lublin, Przemyśl, Sandomierz and Tykocin are designated Historic Monuments of Poland. and those Kaunas and Trakai, as Monuments of Culture of Lithuania.

Gallery of Commonwealth royal cities historic centers include:

Watch videos about Royal city in Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Royal city in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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