Bełżyce

Bełżyce is a town in eastern Poland, in the Lublin Voivodeship, in Lublin County, and about to the west of the city of Lublin. Bełżyce belongs to the historical region of Lesser Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 6,290.

==History== ===Middle Ages=== thumb|left|upright|15th-century town seal of Bełżyce Presumably, in the early 13th century, a minor royal castle was in the area of the present town. The building was transferred to local magnates, who provided ability to settle a town according to Magdeburg rights in 1349. In 1416 town settlement process began and next year king Władysław Jagiełło gave an official document, allowing Bełżyce to improve. First, town was populated by farmers, craftsmen, merchants and alcohol producers. A wooden church was built and a Catholic parish of St. Paul's conversion was created. Since 1432, while two new privileges were acquired, major growth has been noticeable – representatives of four religions lived here together. Catholics and Eastern Christians as farmers, Protestant craftsmen, and Jewish merchants. Bełżyce was a private town located in the Lublin Voivodeship, later also in the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland.