The text describes Lyubovljubowla, the former capital of the Spiš region, which "belonged to Poland for many centuries"; issues related to Sigismund the Old and Władysław Jagiełło are recalled, and the Spiš region and the town itself are described in detail (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1880, Series 3, T:10, p. 242, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

LUBOWLA

Lubowla, the capital of the Spiš region, for many centuries belonging to Poland, was the seat of an alderman, very memorable in history; moreover, the location of the castle, a quarter of a mile from the town of that name, is one of the most beautiful, most magnificent in the Carpathians. In order to encourage our tourists to visit this interesting locality diligently, and to encourage any historian to write a comprehensive monograph on it, we give here, next to the drawings of the locality and the local inhabitants, a description giving a general idea of the place and the way to get there.

For those who visit Kryn ica as a health resort, this is a one-day excursion if you only want to see the village, and a couple of days at least if you want to study the history of Ľubovňa. From Krynica it is best to take a trolley through the town of Muszyn, where the railway station is, to the village of Lipník and Plavnice to Ľubovňa.

The road is partly bad, especially from Muszyna to Lipnik; further on the road is good; however, if you want to make the journey in one day, you should leave very early in the morning to spend a few hours resting in Lubowla, otherwise even if you call a horse-drawn carriage the road will still feel like the next day, as it is about five mountain miles from Krynica to Lubowla. It is about five mountain miles from Krynica to Ľubovňa. It is a beautiful road between the mountains, over the Poprad river, mostly through spruce and lime tree forests, but, as it is a mountain road, it is rocky and therefore tedious.

The weariness, or even the bruising of the sides and the massive wetness we experienced when entering the Poprad valley of Lyubovljana, is amply rewarded by the beauty of the view, which opens up as you descend from the hill above the village of Plawnice into the valley. The little town, perched on a hill above a small river flowing into the Poprad River, may have a few thousand inhabitants; a rather large brick church with a narrow tower stands in the middle of a cobbled square surrounded by brick houses, from which streets running in various directions converge and are mostly filled with wooden houses. The castle lies on the other side of the river, on which there is a characteristic Galician covered bridge. It is possible to drive up the sloping, conical castle hill by carriage.

Beneath it, there is a farmstead and a new brick house of the present owners of the Lyubov estate, who do not live in the castle, although there are a few habitable rooms; the lack of water and inconvenient access to the sloping hill are probably the reasons for this. There are two heirs alive today: Mr Reiz's father, a member of the Hungarian parliament, and his son, who since his marriage has moved from the chateau to a lower palace. The Reiz family hides by the castle chapel, where indulgences are held several times a year. A large iron gate, which was opened for us by the local forester, a very polite young man, leads into a small courtyard, defended by a bastion.

Opposite the gate, on the first wall, is the first reminder of times gone by, a stone plaque with the Srzeniawa coat of arms and the year, it seems, 1605, as it is difficult to read because of the overgrowth of traffic. In the second courtyard, which one enters from this first fortification, there is a second plaque from the times of the Lubomirski starosty, with an inscription mentioning that this part of the fortress was built by Lubomirski. On the same wall is a third plaque in red Hungarian marble. The inscription says that Sigismund Augustus was a guest here. A distinctive eagle, wrapped in the letter "S", testifies to the era in which the plaque was made. From this courtyard, stairs go up to the upper storey of the chateau, a good one storey high.

On this floor there is a chapel and a well. The road leads to the former chateau flats, past the staircase and under the two gates, one of which probably dates back to the Jagiellonian times, you pass into this chapel courtyard, towards the main round tower, which is the core of the fortification, undoubtedly the most ancient. The part of the castle situated in the background, already in ruins, must have been the main residence of the lord, as it is built on a steep native rock which cannot be climbed from the outside. The main tower, like all the ancient so-called watchtowers or keepers, had no niches at the bottom; the crew could enter it by ropes. There used to be a wooden staircase adjacent to the outside of the two towers in Lyubovelskaya, now damaged, so that it is dangerous to climb it, which makes it impossible to examine the tower.

From the second gate there is an ascent up the stairs to the residential rooms. This is also where the chateau archive and library of valuable ancient works are located. There are portraits of the Lubomirskis and Austrian emperors, very interesting as they are old and authentic; a scaled armour of one of the Lubomirskis and some parts of the Hungarian garments of the present heirs. The collection of ancient deeds, dating back to the 14th century, legacies and diplomatic documents in carefully transcribed copies, is interesting material for a researcher who would like to spend a couple of days browsing through them, to learn about the history of the castle, the biggest and oldest watchtower of Poland lying on the southern side of the road through which all communication with Hungary and the south was routed via the Sadecczyzna region, the Dunajec and Poprad valleys. Morawski in his S±decczyzna also hinges on Spiš and says the following about Lyubovla:

"The core of the zaniness, the round mighty watchtower, stands on the highest point; the wooden castle spurs burnt down in 1553. Konar rebuilt it in two years, and Lubomirski Stanislav surrounded the fortress in a hundred years. This annex can still be seen today".

This is the entrance extension as far as the courtyard, from which steps lead to the upper part of the castle, and the ogival gate in the third courtyard, which must have been undoubtedly the first during Jagiełło's convention with Sigismund the Emperor. This congress was one of the most important historical facts, as it was the basis for the treaty which gave Austria the right to claim possession of Kusya, Chervencha and Podolia 300 years later. This happened on 15 March 1412.

In the year 1412, immediately after the wedding of the king's niece Oymbarka, who married Ernest Iron Habsburg and became the mother of the House of Habsburg of Rakov, Jagiełło set off for Sącz, where he stood at the head of the entire retinue on Shrove Sunday, 14 February, and from there began the convention. The Emperor Sigismund and his sons arrived; there was also the Hungarian King Sigismund, the brother of Queen Sophia, and finally the Prince of the Hungarian Shield, Ladislaus of Varna. After thirty days, the convention came to an end, with a final agreement and with the granting of liberties and immunities to the Spiš guesthouse. This is a memorable congress, which has been much talked about in history and will be talked about for a long time to come.

This is a brief outline of Ľubovňa, a precious monument of old times, uniquely combining natural beauty and historical significance.