sentences:  In 1578, Lublin was chosen as the seat of the Crown Tribunal, the highest appeal court in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and for centuries, the city has been flourishing as a centre of culture and higher learning, with Kraków, Warsaw, Poznań, and Lwów.Although Lublin was not spared from severe destruction during World War II, its picturesque and historical Old Town has been preserved.The district is one of Poland's official national historic monuments ("Pomnik historii"), as designated May 16, 2007, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.