Royal city in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

[1] 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.

[2] 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[3] and then the general sejm location alongside Warsaw), Bydgoszcz and Kalisz (temporary locations of the Crown Tribunal), and Sandomierz, Przemyśl, Kazimierz.

[4][5] 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.

Examples of Polish royal castles and residences found in former royal cities of Poland: The historic old towns of Kraków, Warsaw, Toruń, Vilnius and Lviv are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and additionally the old towns of Gdańsk, Kazimierz Dolny, Lublin, Przemyśl, Sandomierz and Tykocin are designated Historic Monuments of Poland.