Chełm

Chełm is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland, about 25 kilometers from the border with Ukraine and southeast of Lublin, with a population of 60,231 as of December 2021. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia during the third quarter of the 13th century before later becoming part of the Kingdom of Poland. The city has a mostly industrial character alongside a historic Old Town, with landmarks including Castle Hill, the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, and roughly 15 kilometers of underground chalk tunnels. Historically home to Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish communities, Chełm's Jewish community became widely known in folklore and literature as the setting for humorous tales of the Wise Men of Chełm.