Location: Lviv Oblast
Lviv is located in Galicia, in western Ukraine. The city has a
multicultural history. The first mention of the city occurs in 1256
(Galicia-Volyn Chronicle). Lviv appeared in the middle of the 13th
century as the capital of a powerful Eastern European state - the
Galicia-Volyn principality, and already in the 14th century it fell
under Polish control.
Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Germans and other
peoples have lived in the city together for centuries. Due to its
unique geographical location at the crossroads of the main trade
routes between the West and the East, in the 15th-17th centuries
Lviv became the leading trading center of Eastern Europe. Being in
the European cultural space for a long time, Lviv is turning into a
real architectural gem, a center of book publishing, crafts and
arts.
In the XVIII-XX centuries, as part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, Lviv became known as a city of technical innovations: in
particular, kerosene and a kerosene lamp were invented here for the
first time in the world. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lviv
became the capital of the world's third largest oil-producing region
after the United States and the Russian Empire. In 2006 the city
celebrated its 750th anniversary.
The city center is a solid attraction: many houses have been preserved from the 16th century. A number of temples are even older (for example, the Armenian Church began to be built in the 13th century). European-type pointers (in white letters on a brown background) to sights come across quite often.
The Old Town occupies an area of approximately 600×500 m within the
medieval city fortifications. This is not the oldest part of the city
(the Old Market Square used to be the center): in the second half of the
14th century, Casimir II ordered the construction of new quarters in
accordance with the then tradition: a central square with a town hall
and a market, around which there were residential quarters surrounded by
a city wall. The modern look of the Old Town was formed in the first
half of the 16th century and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage
List.
From the north, the Old Town is bounded by Prince Osmomysl
Square and Ivan Gonta Street, from the east by Podvalnaya Street (laid
under the ramparts of the city fortifications), from the south by a
series of squares from Customs to Sq. Mickiewicz, from the west -
Svobody Avenue. Most of the inner streets are closed to vehicles. From a
height, the Old Town can be viewed from the town hall tower or from the
roof of the House of Legends.
The Old Town acquires a special
charm late in the evening, when shops close and tourists and locals
disappear from the streets. There are no lampposts in the Old Town, and
hanging lanterns, swinging in the wind, create a play of light and
shadow.
Temples and monasteries
Despite the small size of the
Old Town, there are 7 large temples in it - the high-rise dominants of
the center of Lviv.
1 Church of the Jesuits (Church of Saints
Peter and Paul, 1610-1630) , st. Theater, 11. One of the largest
temples, the first baroque example in Lviv. Construction in 1618-1621
was completed by the Italian architect Jacopo Briano, who designed the
facade on the model of the main church of the Jesuits - the Roman
Cathedral of Il Gesu. The pediment depicts the symbol of the Jesuit
order - the Lamb of God. The coat of arms of the Jesuit order has been
preserved on the gates of the church, and in the side altar there is a
wooden crucifix from the beginning of the 17th century. In 1775-1848,
the Diet of Galicia, an analogue of the local parliament in the Austrian
Empire, sat in the costume.
2 Transfiguration Church (1703-31), st.
Krakowska, 21. The former Catholic church of the Trinitarians, built in
1703-1731 and destroyed by Austrian artillery during the revolution of
1848. A Greek Catholic church was built on the ruins in 1878-1898, while
maintaining the original architecture of the building.
3 Latin
Cathedral (Archicathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary), pl. Cathedral, 1. One of the oldest churches in Lviv,
partially retaining the features of the original Gothic layout.
Construction was carried out from 1360 to the end of the 15th century,
and in 1760-1778 the Gothic cathedral was substantially rebuilt and took
on the baroque shape that was modern at that time. Be sure to go inside
and admire the beam columns, turning into Gothic lancet arches and rib
vault. On the south side of the cathedral there is a powerful square
bell tower with a bronze top and narrow loophole windows. After
repulsing the Turkish siege in 1672, two Turkish cannonballs were hung
on the walls of the cathedral.
4 Boim Chapel (1609-15). 11-16 except
Mon. For a long time, a Catholic cemetery was located on the square
around the Latin Cathedral - since that time, 8 chapels (chapels) of the
16th, 17th and 18th centuries, attached to the main volume of the
cathedral, and the separate chapel of the Boims, made of gray, blackened
from time to time sandstone 1609-1615, have been preserved. decorated
with stunning baroque carvings. Portraits of Georg Boim and his wife
Jadwiga have been preserved on the eastern façade; on top sits a
mournful Christ.
5 Campian Chapel (1619). The most famous of the
chapels is attached to the southern wall of the cathedral (the entrance
inside from the cathedral) and was built in 1619 as the ancestral tomb
of the Kampians (the burgomaster of Lvov came from this family at that
time). Since that time, it has remained virtually unchanged and is a
remarkable monument of the Renaissance.
6 Ensemble of the Armenian
Cathedral (Armenian Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin) ,
st. Virmenska, 7-13. The complex around the Armenian Cathedral forms the
Armenian medieval quarter. In addition to the cathedral itself (1363), a
bell tower with ellipsoidal domes over the entrance to the quarter
(1571) and several buildings of the 17th century have been preserved in
the quarter: the archbishop's palace, the Benedictine monastery, the
Armenian bank. Above the gates of the quarter is an unusual sculpture of
the Virgin: Mary stands on the globe, which is located on the back of a
lion.
The cathedral stands in the depths of the quarter and is the
oldest building in the city that has not undergone significant
alterations. Its appearance has many similarities with the cathedral in
Ani, so it is believed that craftsmen from Armenia worked on it. In the
interior, you should pay attention to the sculptural groups of the 15th
century, frescoes and mosaics on the dome, nave arches painted with
signs of the zodiac, and in the altar part - traditional Armenian stone
crosses - khachkars.
The southern wall of the cathedral overlooks the
courtyard of the quarter, decorated with a Renaissance arcade of the
15th century. Here you can sing “it’s time, time, let’s rejoice in our
lifetime,” since episodes of the Soviet film “The Three Musketeers” were
filmed in this courtyard: in it, D’Artagnan assigned duels to Athos,
Porthos and Aramis. Here was an old Armenian cemetery, from which
tombstones with epitaphs remained. Nearby are the column of St.
Christopher (1726) and the wooden carved chapel "Golgotha".
7 Dominican Cathedral
(Church of the Most Holy Eucharist) , pl. Museum, 1 (entrance to the
cells from the Armenian (Virmenskaya) street). The complex of the
cathedral and the monastery was built in 1749-65 according to the
project of Jan de Witte. The dome of the cathedral, reminiscent of the
dome of the Roman Basilica of St. Peter, is supported by sixteen double
columns. The pediment is decorated with a complex sculptural composition
and the inscription Soli Deo Honor Et Gloria - Honor and Glory to the
One God. On the wall next to the entrance is the Dominican coat of arms:
a dog with a torch in its mouth (from domini canes - dogs of the Lord).
Since 1972, the Museum of the History of Religion and the Museum of
Contemporary Art "Dzyga" have been located in the buildings of the
monastery and cells.
8 Ensemble of the Assumption Church, st.
Podvalnaya (Pidvalna), 9. The Orthodox community of Lviv, the Assumption
Brotherhood, gathered in the Assumption Church. The ensemble includes
the Assumption Church itself (end of the 16th century) - a rare example
of a Renaissance Orthodox church, the Kornyakt Tower (1571) - a
beautiful Renaissance bell tower built for the previous church building,
and the Chapel of the Three Saints in the courtyard of the quarter
(1591) with stone carvings on the portal . Note the vine motif on the
columns. The chapel was built by the architect Peter Krasovsky, the
author of the Black Stone on Rynok Square.
9 Bernardine Church and Monastery,
pl. Cathedral, 1-3. The monastery occupies a triangular area between
Halytska Square, Cathedral Square and Podvalnaya Street. In the years
1600-1630, the church of St. Andrew was built, cells and outbuildings
integrated into the system of city fortifications: powerful walls with
loopholes were surrounded by a moat and rampart. Of the defensive
structures, a wall with the Glinyanskaya Gate has been preserved. Inside
the monastery, a well has been preserved - a serious help for the
inhabitants of the monastery during sieges. A rotunda-chapel built in
1761 was built over the well. Now the church functions as a Greek
Catholic, and the monastery is occupied by the archive and is not
accessible to the public.
Civil architecture
10 House "Vremena Goda"/ Times of seasons, st.
Wirmenska, 23. Empire style building with a richly decorated facade:
storks, deities of the winds, signs of the zodiac and allegories of the
seasons are signed with quotes from Virgil. Built in the 17th century,
completely rebuilt in 1882. Inside is one of the educational buildings
of the Lviv National Academy of Arts.
11 House of the credit society
"Dnestr" (1905-06), st. Ruska, 20. The best monument of Ukrainian Art
Nouveau, noticeably different from the Austrian secession prevailing in
the city. Peaked roofs are modeled after traditional Carpathian wooden
architecture.
12 The lattice of the Jewish quarter, st.
Staroyevreyskaya, 50. Like other national quarters, the Jewish quarter
was fenced and closed at night. This is reminiscent of the lattice gates
on the wasteland, formed after the destruction of two synagogues in
World War II.
13 Fire brigade building (1900-01), st. Pidvalna, 6
(Daniil Galitsky Square). The neo-Romanesque building now occupies the
main department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but there is
also a small fire and technical exhibition. Above the pediment is a
statue of St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters, at the entrance
there is a pump from the middle of the 19th century. The building was
built in 1899-1901, architect Ignatius Brunek.
14 Powder Tower
(1554), Pidvalna, 4. The gunpowder warehouse made of unhewn stone was
located on the shaft and was part of the outer ring of the city's
defense. The tower is semicircular, with a sharp roof. The House of the
Architect is located inside, so you will not be able to estimate the
thickness of the walls (2.5 m).
Market Square was formed as the center of the Polish-German medieval
city. There would be enough sights here for a separate city: there are
more than 40 architectural monuments of federal significance here. The
first floors and foundations have been partially preserved from the
initial Gothic buildings, so they are often more massive and higher than
subsequent ones. Most of the stone houses were built in the 16th
century, after a fire in 1527. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the “law
of equal opportunities” was in force here, according to which no
merchant could build a house wider than three windows and higher than
three floors in the Market. Therefore, all the kamenitsa have a narrow
facade and are stretched tens of meters deep into the quarter, the
internal layout usually includes a two-window room and a single-window
side room.
In the center of the square is the 15 Lviv Town Hall,
which was rebuilt many times and received its modern look only in 1835.
In front of the entrance there are figures of lions with the coat of
arms of Lviv on the shields. From the 65-meter town hall tower (Mon-Fri
- 9:00-17:00, Sat-Sun - 11:00-19:00, Mon - day off) offers the best view
of the center of Lviv.
In 1793, the sculptor G. Witver built four
fountains with figures of Greek gods on the square: in the northwestern
corner - Amphitrite, in the northeastern corner - Adonis, in the
southeastern corner - Diana, in the southwestern corner - Neptune.
The most significant stone houses along the perimeter of the square:
East side
16 Kamenitsa Bandinelli, pl. Market number 2. A remarkable
example of the late Renaissance (1589). The Florentine merchant Roberto
Bandinelli established here the first post office in Galicia. The small
windows on the ground floor are framed with bas-reliefs of dolphins,
symbolizing success in trade. The Postal Museum is located on the ground
floor.
17 Chernaya Kamenitsa , pl. Market number 4. A remarkable
example of the late Renaissance (1577). The Renaissance house is
finished with limestone blackened by time. Rust, typical for the
Renaissance, which covers the entire facade, is called diamond, because
the limestone is processed like a precious stone. In most Renaissance
buildings, the size of the rustication decreased with the height of the
building, but the Black Kamenitsa is decorated with rustication of the
same size. At the end of the 16th century, the facade was decorated with
baroque sculptures, pay attention to the figure of St. Martin, who
shares his raincoat with the beggar. In front of the entrance to the
kamenitsa there is an unusually narrow bench for the watchman, so that
he would not fall asleep at his post.
18 Kamenitsa Kornyakt, №6. The
house was built in the 16th century. for the Lvov merchant Konstantin
Kornyakt. In the middle of the XVII century. it became the property of
King Jan Sobieski, and in 1686 the Eternal Peace between Russia and the
Commonwealth was signed here. The attic is decorated with sculptures of
knights, symbolizing the royal retinue. The Renaissance patio in the
Italian style with three-tier arcade galleries has been preserved. Here
is the Museum of the History of Lviv; the royal chambers with authentic
furniture and decor of the 18th century have been preserved.
19 Lyubomirski Palace, №10. The baroque palace was built in the 17th
century. for the princes Lubomirsky, at the end of the 18th century, the
residence of the Austrian governors of Galicia was located here. Now the
building houses the Museum of Furniture and Porcelain.
South side
20 Venetianskaya Kamenitsa, No. 14. 1589. The entrance is decorated
with an unusual for Lviv figure of a winged lion - the coat of arms of
the Venetian Republic, whose embassy was located in this house.
West side
21 Kamenitsa Scholz-Volfovichi, No. 23. 1570. At the level
of the third floor there is a sculptural composition "The Baptism of
Christ", below is an allegory of the Faith.
22 Kamenitsa Massari,
No. 24. 1530s. The Renaissance house was built after a fire in 1527; at
the beginning of the 20th century, a fourth floor with a bas-relief was
added. The building houses the departments of archeology and the history
of the Middle Ages of the Lviv Historical Museum.
23 Kamenitsa
Gepnerovskaya, No. 28. The oldest building on the square, built in the
15th century, is a magnificent monument of Renaissance residential
architecture. Pay attention to the sculptural portraits in the
decoration of the windows and the Latin maxims above them.
24
Kamenitsa Korytovsky, No. 29. 1768. The five-window Empire house was
built by the military commandant of Lvov on the site of two old stone
houses. In 1801, one of the first confectioneries in the city was opened
here.
25 Bachevsky Kamenitsa (Mazanchevskaya Kamenitsa), No. 31.
1714. The richest baroque decor in the square, pay attention to the
balconies.
26 Zipper Trading House, No. 32. 1912 The two stone houses
that stood on this site were rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th
century into the city's first department store in the Art Nouveau style.
North side
27 Kamenitsa “Under the deer”, No. 45. 1790 The
six-window Empire style house rises above the Gothic ground floor with a
massive buttress. During the Polish period, the popular Atlas coffee
house was located here.
Temples and monasteries
Many temples inside are very beautiful and
worthy of a visit for art history reasons.
28 Church of St. Olga
and Elizabeth (Church of St. Elizabeth), pl. Kropyvnytsky, 1. The best
example of the neo-Gothic of the city.
29 Cathedral of St. George
(1744-1770). The main Greek Catholic cathedral in Lviv.
30 Church of
St. Nicholas (1293), B. Khmelnitsky, 28. The first authentically
preserved monument of Galician architecture. The church was repeatedly
burned and rebuilt; from the temple of the XIII century, the foundation
and limestone walls have been preserved. edit
31 Church of St. John
the Baptist, pl. Old Market, 3. 10:00-17:00. 3 UAH According to one
version, this is the first stone church in the city, built in 1250 or
1270 by Prince Lev Danilovich, but it is not mentioned anywhere before
the middle of the 14th century. The modern Neo-Romanesque appearance of
the church was received in 1887. Now it houses the Museum of the most
ancient monuments of Lviv with an extremely meager exposition.
32
Church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, B. Khmelnytsky 77. The defense church
was an outpost of the city outside the city walls. The modern building
was built in 1643-45, on the wall there is the coat of arms of the
Moldavian ruler, who allocated money for the construction. The dome is
decorated with turrets on the model of the Kornyatka tower. Inside, a
rich iconostasis of the 17th century has been preserved.
33 St.
George's Church (1897-1901), st. Korolenko, 3. The only temple of the
Moscow Patriarchate in Lviv and the only temple in the neo-Byzan style,
characteristic of Bukovina.
34 Church of Our Lady of Ostrobramskaya
(1932-38), st. Lychakovskaya, 175. A rare example of a temple in the
style of functionalism. The 60-meter bell tower looks like an Italian
campanile.
Civil architecture
35 High Castle Park. At the top
of the Castle Hill, fortifications existed in the days of Daniil
Galitsky. The stone castle was built by King Casimir in 1362 and was not
taken by storm until 1648. In the 18th century, the fortress lost its
strategic importance, gradually collapsed, and by the 1830s it was
finally dismantled, and a park was planted in its place.
The park
consists of two terraces. You can drive up to the lower one by car:
there is a gardener's house, a restaurant, a memorial sign in honor of
Maxim Krivonos, an artificial grotto decorated with two old stone lions.
On the north side of the terrace, near the television center, there is a
lower observation deck.
On the upper terrace there are the remains of
the fortress wall of the castle, a TV tower and a high artificial mound
in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Union of Lublin. The height of
the mound is 22 meters, the earth for it was brought from all the
memorable places in Poland. At the top of the mound is the upper
observation deck, the highest point in the city. It offers a view of all
areas of Lviv, and in good weather you can see the Carpathians.
36 Skansen "Shevchenkovsky Guy", st. Chernecha Gora, 1 (trams No. 2 and
7 to the stop Mechnikova Street, minibuses No. 24, 15, 29 to the
Shevchenkovsky Guy stop; from any of the stops you need to turn left,
uphill, and walk almost one and a half kilometers). ✉ ☎ +38 (032) 247.
🕑 in summer - 9:00-21:00, in winter 10:00-18:00, but in fact no one can
prevent you from staying on the territory longer; day off — Mon.. 15
UAH, photography — 10 UAH.
The Museum of Folk Architecture
contains wooden buildings from all over Western Ukraine. It is located
in a large forest park in Lychakiv, on the Kaiserwald hill, east of the
High Castle.
The museum has 120 buildings grouped into 10 sectors.
Skansen occupies a huge territory: it will take about 3 hours to see it
slowly. Actually, the park here is much larger than the museum: the
distances between the buildings are quite large, which allows you to
evaluate the exhibits separately and does not create the impression of
crowding.
There are very few signs on the territory (and those that
are are very uninformative). Here are the most interesting exhibits:
Hutsul church from the village. Krivki (1761) 49°50′37″N 24°3′57″E
"Long Hut" - a covered courtyard (1909) from the village. Shandrovets
49°50′39″N 24°4′28″E
Transcarpathian hut from the village. Verkhnyaya
Viznitsa (1870) - beech log house lined with clay and whitewashed
49°50′43″N 24°4′12″E
Incredibly elegant Lemko Church of Vladimir and
Olga (modern copy of the Polish church of 1831) 49°50′42″N 24°4′11″E
Bukovina Church of the hut type from the suburbs of Chernivtsi (1774)
49°50′46″N 24°3′53″E
37 House of Scientists, st. Listopadovoy
Chin, 6. A luxurious neo-baroque house was built in 1897 as a casino.
The scene for the film "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers" was filmed
in this house, where D'Artagnan went up to the cardinal.
38 Galician
Credit Bank (1891), Svobody Ave., 15. Under the dome there is a
sculptural composition "Savings": this is not a statue of Liberty, but
an allegory of frugality and symbolizes the economic prosperity of the
region. The building houses the Museum of Ethnography and Artistic
Crafts with an interesting collection of clocks.
39 House with
knights (1912-14), st. Knyaz Romana, 6. With all the abundance of Art
Nouveau in Lviv, this apartment building looks unusual thanks to
neo-Gothic lancet windows and sleeping Atlantean knights supporting the
bay window on the third floor.
40 Villa Jozefa Franz (1893), st.
Melnik, 13 (corner of Melnik and Konovalets). A luxurious neo-baroque
palace was built for the owner of a plaster factory. Although during the
Soviet era a sports dispensary was set up in the villa (which usually
does not contribute to the preservation of architectural monuments), the
bas-reliefs, stucco molding, and openwork gates have been preserved.
41 House of Yoni Sprecher (House of Books) (1912-1921), Svobody Ave., 8
(Mitskevich square). The monumental corner house in the city was
nicknamed the Lviv skyscraper, as the owner managed to get permission to
build a house two floors higher than it should be (the last floor was
presented as a service room, and a high attic was built on top).
42
Lychakiv cemetery. Wikidata element 15 UAH Lycha - linden bast, from
which bast shoes were made. The oldest and most beautiful cemetery in
Lviv, where lindens once grew. Burial place of Polish and Ukrainian
elites with Roman Catholic crypts, fine sculptures and rich history.
Grave of Ivan Franko.
Museums
1 Museum of the History of Religion, pl. Museum (pl.
Museumna), 1 (Located in the building of the Dominican Cathedral above
Rynok Square.). ✉ from 10 UAH. Former museum of atheism. You can
purchase the right to take photographs. The exposition contains both
some ancient artifacts and exhibits representing the religions of
communities that have lived in Lviv for a long time: Orthodox, Greek
Catholics, Roman Catholics, Armenian Catholics, Jews. Beautiful, albeit
damaged, rooms. There is an organ hall.
2 Museum of Sacred Baroque
Sculpture by I. Pinzel, pl. Mytna, 2. ☎ +38 (032) 275-69-66. 🕑
10:00-17:00 (ticket office until 16:00), Sundays 12:00-17:00 (ticket
office until 16:00), day off - Monday. 5 UAH The museum is located in
the former church of the Clares (1607, got its modern look in the late
1930s). The exposition consists of lime sculptures by Johann Georg
Pinzel, an outstanding European sculptor of the 18th century. The most
interesting works are "Angel", "Sacrifice of Abraham", "Samson tearing
apart the jaws of a lion". In addition to the museum exposition, it is
worth paying attention to the surviving frescoes of the 17th century,
especially the fresco “Saints Peter and Paul”, where one foot of the
saint turns from a fresco into a sculpture.
3 Lviv Palace of Arts,
(15-17 Copernicus Street. The museum occupies the Potocki princes'
palace (1880), made in the style of French classicism, and a neighboring
modern building. In the backyard of the palace there is a miniature park
of fortifications: eight miniature castles and fortresses. Entrance to
the park is free, for the winter the sculptures are covered with a
tarpaulin.
4 Museum "City Arsenal", st. Pidvalna, 5. ☎ +38 (032)
235-86-61. 10:00-16:00, day off - Wednesday. 10 UAH City Aresenal
(1554-1556) - part of the city fortifications, a monument of Renaissance
defensive architecture, from the north it adjoins the tower of the
turners' shop, and from the south - the tower of the shoemakers' shop.
The museum has a collection of weapons, military uniforms and orders.
The exposition is small (one hall on the first and one hall on the
second floor), but extensive: there are European, African and Indian
weapons, as well as local Hutsul pistols and knightly armor
5 Pharmacy-Museum "Under the Black Eagle", st. Drukarska, 2. Mon-Fri
9-19, Sat-Sun 10-18. 8 UAH The pharmacy in this building has been
operating continuously since 1735. On the sides of the entrance are
bas-reliefs of Asclepius, the god of healing, and Hygia, the goddess of
health. In 1966, on the basis of an old pharmacy, a museum of the
history of pharmacy was created, while the pharmacy continues to work.
The museum displays historical pharmacy utensils and equipment:
historical pots for storing potions (the oldest are from the 16th
century), many pharmacy mortars, several scales and several American
cash registers from the era of the Wild West; There is an exposition on
the history of medicines. Notice the painting on the ceiling.
Zoological, mineralogical and geological museums of LNU I. Franko, st.
Grushevsky, 4. ✉ ☎ +380 32 239 47 00. Mon-Fri 10-17. for free. In the
ancient building of the geological and biological faculties of the Ivan
Franko National University of Lviv, rich expositions of the geological,
paleontological, mineralogical and zoological museums are located on
different floors.
Archaeological Museum of the LNU I. Franko
State
Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Literary Lviv of the first half of the 20th century, museum
Lviv Art
Gallery (Lviv Art Gallery)
Lviv Historical Museum
Lviv Museum of
the History of Religion
Lviv Museum "Mermaids of the Dniester"
Museum of Archeology at the Institute of Ukrainian Studies
Museum of
Ancient Graphic Techniques
Museum of Art of the Ancient Ukrainian
Book (department of the Lviv Art Gallery)
Museum of the History of
the Troops of the PrikVO
Museum of the History of the Lviv Railway
Museum of the History of Medicine of Galicia. M. Panchishina
Museum
of Furniture and Porcelain
Museum of Metrology and Measurement
Technology
Museum of Modern Sculpture of Mikhail Dzyndra in
Bryukhovychi
Postal Museum
Museum of Roman Shukhevych
Brewery
Museum
Bread Museum
Chocolate Museum
Museum of Ethnography and
Artistic Crafts of the Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine
Municipal Museum of Modern Lviv Art
National
Museum in Lviv
Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet
(Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Solomiya
Krushelnytska) , 28 Svobody Ave. For a small fee (25 UAH), you will be
given a tour of the theater and will be told its history. The
construction of the theater began in June 1897 according to the project
of the architect Zygmund Gorgolevsky, the author of many monumental
structures in Poland and Germany. The theater was opened to the audience
on October 4, 1900. The building was built directly above the Poltva
River, which flows under Svobody Avenue. Operas are performed in the
original language with subtitles in Ukrainian. The theater hosts the S.
Krushelnitskaya International Opera Festival.
In terms of price /
quality ratio, the best places are: first row 2 balconies; 6-9 row of
stalls. If the price is not important, you should take the mezzanine (1
balcony). Tickets can be purchased on the theater website or at the box
office at the entrance to the opera house to the right or across the
street.
If possible, it is better to watch operas: “Love Drink”,
“The Barber of Seville”, any operas by composers Verdi and Puccini.
It is better not to take tickets for Mozart's operas (boring for the
average viewer) or Ukrainian operas, except for "Moses" ("Kozak beyond
the Danube", "Natalka Poltavka"). they are actually plays with folk
songs interpolated. Opera "Moses" is the "must-C" of the Lviv Opera,
because the world premiere took place in it and of the two productions
in the world is the best.
In the cloakroom you can rent
binoculars for 20 hryvnia. You can buy a program from the staff, they
are made in the form of A5 booklets, of a fairly high printing quality;
the text is duplicated in Ukrainian, English and often Polish.
Lviv Philharmonic, st. Tchaikovsky, 7.
House of Organ and Chamber
Music (Church of St. Mary Magdalene), Ukraine, Lviv, st. Stepana
Bandera, 8. ✉ ☎ (32) 255 40 55 +380 (32) 255 40 55, (32) 258 00 42 +380
(32) 258 00 42. 40 UAH per evening. Housed in the Church of St. Mary
Magdalene built in the early 17th century. Organ performances are held
every weekend at 5:00 pm. You can arrive 15 minutes before the start,
buy a ticket in the window at the Soviet-style cashier and take any
convenient seat. The place is almost unknown among tourists.
By plane
Lviv is the main airport in Western Ukraine. The most
convenient connections are offered by the Polish LOT, which flies to
Warsaw three times a day. Lufthansa (Munich), Austrian (Vienna), Turkish
Airlines (Istanbul), Belavia (Minsk) also operate flights to Lviv -
usually once a day. UIA offers infrequent connections via Kyiv and even
less frequent direct flights to cities in Western Europe. In addition,
there are quite unexpected LOT flights to Polish regional airports.
If you are traveling from Kiev, it is not very convenient to fly by
plane: a daytime train reaching Lviv in 5-5.5 hours will cost several
times cheaper, and even an CB on a night train costs less than air
travel.
Daniil Galitsky Airport (IATA:LWO, formerly Sknilov). ☎
+380 (32) 229-81-12. The modern building of terminal A (“new terminal”)
easily accommodates all passengers and, with the current passenger flow,
even looks too spacious. Inside is a bust of the same Danila Galitsky,
who is installed in front of the check-in counters and therefore does
not meet passengers, but rather sees them out. Also on the ground floor
there is a left-luggage office (next to the WizzAir ticket office, 7
UAH/h), an exchange office and a couple of cafes without hot food. In
the clean zone of international flights, there are two more cafes -
Veronica and Chao, both serve food, and the prices are not much higher
than in the city center. There is a small cafe in the clean zone of
domestic flights. There are also separate business lounges for domestic
and international flights (UAH 250 for 2 hours). There is free Wi-Fi
throughout the terminal.
How to get there: the airport is located
within the city, 6 km from the center. You can get there by trolley bus
number 9 from the square in front of the University. Ivan Franko (10
minutes walk from the Market Square) or by fixed-route taxi No. 48,
going along Svobody Avenue past the Opera House. Travel time: 20
minutes, interval of movement: 10-15 minutes. In addition, there is an
express bus to the train station once an hour. All public transport
operates only until 21:30. If you arrive later (and this happens), you
need to take a taxi. Drivers start bargaining from UAH 250, but you can
and should bargain for UAH 90-100 to the center under the pretext that
you will call a taxi by phone.
On the way to the airport, pay
attention to the old, now closed terminal, standing at the end of
Lyubinskaya Vul. - one of the most beautiful Soviet airports, built in
1955 with the participation of the chief architect of that time, Ivan
Zholtovsky. The old terminal is especially good from the side of the
airfield, where the building is decorated with luxurious antique
sculptures. On the side of the city, there are a couple of cheap cafes
where you can eat if the prices in the new terminal do not suit you.
By train
The Kyiv-Lvov route plays approximately the same role in
Ukraine as Moscow-Petersburg in Russia. At least 15 trains run between
cities a day, including day and night trains, traveling without
intermediate stops at all and following some kind of intricate circular
route with long stops. The minimum travel time is 5 hours, night trains
are slowed down to 7-8 hours. There are also direct trains from Lviv to
Odessa (12 hours) and to the east of Ukraine, but this is a rather long
journey: 18 hours to the Dnieper, and the train goes to Mariupol more
than a day.
Cities of Western Ukraine: it is easy to go to
Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk, where trains run many times a day, 2 hours
on the way. There are also many options to Uzhgorod, but the journey
takes 5-6 hours. 6 hours), although there is also a daily one (once a
day, 3.5 hours). A daily express runs to Rivne twice a day (2 hours 45
minutes), sometimes it is easier to go to Lutsk through Rivne, but
usually there is also a direct express (once a day, 3 hours).
In
the direction of Poland, Ukrainian trains run twice a day to the border
Przemysl (2 hours), where you can transfer to the Polish train to
Rzeszow and Krakow. The daily night train follows the same route all the
way to Wroclaw (15h). If you are traveling from Slovakia or Hungary, you
need to cross the border by commuter train to Chop station, from where
trains to Lviv run several times a day, the journey takes 6 hours.
Main railway station (Headquarters Railway Station, Palace of
Kolіyoviy), Dvirtseva Square, 1. ☎ +380 (322) 35-43-01. A huge building
built in 1904 immediately makes it clear which city you have come to.
Ticket offices are located right at the entrance, to the left there will
be a paid and relatively quiet waiting room (UAH 20), to the right - a
manual storage room (UAH 30 / day), which, as is customary in the
post-Soviet space, has several sudden breaks. At the station there are
the same type of eateries with unappetizing food. Much nicer
establishments are located along the Chernivetskaya street leading to
the station; if you go towards the city, they will be on the right hand.
These cafes work around the clock, you can’t call them very cheap, but
the atmosphere inside is good. If you want to have a bite to eat for
minimal money, pay attention to the shops and eateries located near the
bus station, i.e. from the station on the left. The station itself is
always crowded and, in general, uncomfortable, and there is nothing
special to look at - the interiors are mainly the result of post-war
reconstruction, but on the outside the building has perfectly preserved
its Austro-Hungarian appearance.
Prigorodny railway station (Primіsky
railway station) , st. Horodotska, 112 (5-7 min walk from the main
station). ☎ +380 (322) 26-10-06. Auxiliary station built in the 1990s in
the middle of one of the main city markets. Serves suburban trains of
the southern direction (Stry, Sambir, Truskavets, Khodorov), the rest
depart from the main station.
How to get there: both stations are
located 2.5 km from the center and are the terminals of many public
transport routes, including three trams (No. 1, 6 and 9). Please note,
however, that "Zaliznychny vokzal" and "Primіsky vokzal" are two
completely different stops, and if you get off at the wrong place, you
will have to take a walk.
Podzamche (Pidzamche) Wikidata
element, vul. Огіркова, 1. The nearest railway station to the center of
Lviv is located on the way to the city from the east and north. Suburban
and some long-distance trains stop. Station building with ticket office
and waiting room.
By bus
Buses to Lviv run from almost every
major Ukrainian city. Taking into account the quality of the roads and
the condition of the buses themselves, it is more comfortable and faster
to travel by train, although buses may have an advantage on certain
routes. Bus tickets are more expensive than a reserved seat, but usually
cheaper than a compartment.
Also, all buses connecting Ukraine
with Poland go through Lviv. They are so numerous that they depart with
the frequency of city minibuses, but they stop in different places and
belong to different companies, so it is better to buy a ticket in
advance. After crossing the border, some of these buses call in
Przemysl, although more often their first stop is Rzeszow, which takes
4-5 hours to reach, taking into account the wait at the border. If you
just need to cross the border and don't want to coexist with local guest
workers, the best option is the train. A cheap, but slow and much more
tiring way is by a Ukrainian minibus to the village of Shegini, across
the border on foot and there by a Polish minibus to Przemysl. See
Western Ukraine for details.
There are about ten bus stations and
bus stations in Lviv, which are almost impossible for a non-local person
to understand. As elsewhere in Ukraine, carefully read the schedules and
work out the route before the trip.
Bus station , st. Strijska,
109 (bus 3A and minibus No. 9 from the center, minibus No. 10 from the
railway station). ☎ +380 (32) 234-44-44, +380 (32) 242-45-05. around the
clock. The main Lviv bus station is located in the southern part of the
city near the ring road, serving mainly interregional and international
routes. Flights in the Lviv region often follow the same Stryiska
street, but they don’t just stop in front of the bus station. The
original building from the late Soviet era (1976-80) is shaped like a
shamrock, inside there should be a left-luggage office and a cafe.
Railway station bus station (AS-8, Palace bus station). 5:30–00:30.
Buses of the Carpathian direction - Truskavets, Drohobych, Skhidnytsia,
as well as some interregional and international ones. The bus station
itself is a cramped space with ticket offices on the first floor and a
tiny waiting room on the second. There is also a small, rather nice cafe
with drinks, paninis and sweets, but nothing prevents you from having a
bite to eat in any cafe in the neighborhood.
Western bus station (AS
"Zakhidna"), vul. Gorodotska, 359. Located on the very edge of the city,
this bus station disgusts most of the passengers who get on it. From
here there are buses of the western and south-western directions, but
more distant than from AS-3: including to Sambir and to the Polish
border (Shegini). You can get to the bus station by a special express
bus running only on weekdays from the Opera House (Rizni Square) or by
daily minibus No. 28, although many passengers in this situation rightly
prefer a taxi.
Bus station number 2 (AS-2, Pivnichniy bus station),
st. B. Khmelnitsky, 225 (bus 1A from the center, minibuses No. 9, 20,
25). ☎ +380 (32) 252-04-89. Flights of the northern (Volyn) direction -
Chervonograd, Sokal, Kovel, as well as Brody.
Bus station number 3
(AS-3), st. S. Petliuri, 11 (trolleybus number 9 on the way to the
airport). Suburban routes of the south-western direction. Sep 2018 edit
Bus station 4: st. Bazarna, 11, tel. (0322) 33-80-55. Routes to Nemirov
and Yavorov.
Bus station 5: st. Luhanska, 2 DSK (DBK), tel. (0322)
70-27-85. Routes to Bobrka, Khodorov, Przemyshlyany.
Bus station 6:
st. Lichakivska, 154, tel. (0322) 71-81-51. Routes to Zolochiv.
Bus
station 7: st. Shevchenko, 128. Routes to Krakovets, Stradch, Yavorov.
By car
Ukrainian roads are bad and many Ukrainian drivers have a
rather aggressive driving style. Several highways lead to Lviv, the main
ones are:
M-06: Kyiv-Rivne-Lviv-Chop-Uzhgorod-> Hungary, Slovakia -
good condition throughout (there are no pits, markings are erased in
some places)
М-11: Poland -> Shegyn-Lviv — excellent condition
М-10: Poland -> Krakovets-Lviv — excellent condition
М-09: Poland ->
Rava-Ruska, Zhovkva, Lvov — excellent condition
H-02: Kirovograd -
Vinnytsia-Khmelnitsky-Ternopil-Lviv - from the border of the Ternopil
region and to Lviv, the condition is poor: pits, bumps, no markings
H-09: Lviv—Rohatyn—Ivano-Frankivsk—Rakhiv—Mukacheve — from
Ivano-Frankivsk there is no point in going along it to Lviv: many small
villages, towns, poor coverage, in some places there is no marking, it
is better through the Stry — the detour is only 35 km, but you will save
your nerves, and the suspension of the car too
H-13: Uzhgorod-Lviv -
The point of driving along this "highway" is only in beautiful views,
the coverage is disgusting: the section from the border of the
Transcarpathian region to St. Sambora (situation as of December 2012).
When traveling to Lviv, make sure you have a good map, because it is
easy to get lost in this city: there are many small streets and
driveways. But the lane traffic here is not very relevant compared to
big cities (there are few wide highways).
It is best to leave the
car in guarded parking lots on the relatively outskirts of the city,
from there you can get to the historical center either by taxi or public
transport ... Otherwise, there is a risk of getting into long traffic
jams in the center, from which it is difficult to get out - the width of
Lviv streets and the absence of some drivers affect respect for traffic
rules. In addition, there are few parking spaces in the city center, and
by 10 o'clock in the morning on a weekday there may simply not be a
place, you will have to travel around the area in search of it. True,
after 18-19 hours there are enough places in the center.
Public transport is represented by narrow-gauge (1000 mm) trams,
trolleybuses, buses, minibuses. The city is very compact, and the entire
center is within walking distance, but to travel to the suburbs or to
the outlying bus station, you may need a tram or minibus. The fare on
public transport is 5 UAH (route taxis, buses - they will take you to
almost any corner of the city) and 3 UAH (tram, trolleybus). Coupons can
be bought at city kiosks or from a train driver and must be validated.
Controllers are often found at railway stations, a fine of 30 UAH.
Key tram routes for the traveler: No. 10 (Station - Doroshenko St. -
Russkaya Street - Pasichna) and No. 7 (Tatarbunarivska - Gorodotska St.
- Ivan Gonta St. - Pogulyanka).
The fare for a taxi is from 30
UAH (in the center, to the station) to 100 UAH (to the opposite side of
the city).
1 Lviv chocolate workshop (Lviv chocolate shop), st. Serbska, 3.
Formally, this is a cafe of the Fest chain, but most visitors do not
come here for food. On the ground floor there is a tiny coffee shop and
a chocolate workshop: you can see how chocolate is made by hand from
behind the glass. On the second and third floors there is a shop selling
chocolate, sweets, handmade cakes. A very wide range, you can order a
chocolate product according to your project. On Friday, Saturday and
Sunday from 14:00 to 14:15 (only 15 minutes) there is a 50% discount on
many types of chocolate.
2 Firm store of the Lviv distillery, st.
Lychakovskaya, 24. Balms, tinctures, vodka, including the Lvivska
branded series.
3 SEC "Forum Lviv", st. Pod Dubom (vul. Pid Dubom),
7b (10 minutes walk from the Opera House past the Lviv hotel, near the
railway bridge). 09:00-23:00. A mall with the usual range of services:
brand stores, a 4DX cinema, a large Silpo supermarket in the style of
Alice in Wonderland. The supermarket is open until 23:00, it is
convenient to have fresh pastries even in the evening. The cinema is
open at midnight.
Food
In terms of quantity and quality of catering, Lviv is
unconditionally the leader among all Ukrainian cities. Cafes and
restaurants are plentiful both in the Old Town and far beyond, although
the nature of the food and the price level are gradually changing from
elegantly styled places in the center to simple bistros and eateries on
the outskirts. The Austrian heritage is felt by the abundance of gourmet
coffee houses with a rich assortment of cakes and pastries. No less
interesting are thematic cafes and restaurants, stylized as a partisan
dugout, a Jewish pub, or even the heritage of Sacher-Masoch: each of
these places becomes a small Lviv landmark, which is just right for
leading special excursions.
Cheap
Kartoplyana Khata is a chain
restaurant with an exotic, but very organic combination of Ukrainian and
Mexican cuisine: potatoes are taken from the first, meat from the
second. The chain originated in Lviv, so there are several restaurants
here:
Lychakivska st. (vul. Lichakivska), 4. Free Wi-Fi from 8 to 19.
st. Petra Doroshenko (st. Petra Doroshenko), 27
st. Kyivska (St.
Kiyivska), 20
sq. Kropyvnytsky (pl. Kropyvnytsky), 12
1 Puzata
hut, st. Sich Riflemen (St. Sichovikh Striltsiv), 12. 8-23. Hot dishes:
20-50 UAH (2016). A chain self-service restaurant with a predominance of
Ukrainian cuisine is like two drops of water similar to similar
restaurants throughout Ukraine. The menu is full of soups and hot dishes
- including pancakes and dumplings - as well as desserts, soft drinks
and beer. Spacious room, fast service.
2 Puzata Khata, Shevchenko
Ave. (Shevchenko Ave.), 10. 8-23. Hot dishes: 20-50 UAH (2016).
Self-service chain restaurant; on the first floor is an extremely
beautiful hall of mirrors. This establishment does not sell beer. Coffee
can be taken both on the ground floor (only espresso / americano), and
on -1 (late, etc.).
McDonalds - international fast food unusually
huddled in tiny rooms. Noisy and cramped.
Svobody Ave. (Svoboda
Ave.), 35. Near the Opera House. Free WiFi.
Chornovola Ave. (Ave.
Chornovola), 12. On the ring at the entrance to the center from AS-2.
Shevchenko Ave. (Shevchenko Ave.), 7. McCafe in the same room. 24 hour
window outside.
st. Pod Doubom (Pid Dubom st.), 7b, third floor of
Forum Lviv mall, food zone near the cinema.
3 Hot Dog on Gorodotska,
st. Horodotska, 163 (in front of the suburban station). Very decent fast
food: there are not only hot dogs and hamburgers, but also soups,
salads, dumplings. Fast, cheap and do not spare the ingredients.
Average cost
4 Great plate, st. Valova, 13 (D. Galitsky Square). ☎
+38 (032) 235-63-17. around the clock. One of the few establishments in
the Old Town that works at night. In addition to the standard set of
pizza-pasta, the menu offers dishes of Ukrainian cuisine, including
several types of dumplings. It is worth trying a three-layer “chef’s
potato dish” the size of a plate and costing only 30 hryvnias. They have
their own food delivery service. Cons: Weak Wi-Fi signal.
5 Time to
go, st. Staroyevreyska, 12. 10:00-22:00. Self-service bistro in the
heart of the Old Town. service, quality of dishes and prices correspond
to the average dining room (hot dishes - 15 UAH). The establishment
positions itself as a fast food outlet, so it is forbidden to use
computers there.
6 Mons Pius, st. Lesi Ukrainky, 14 (entrance from
Virmenskaya). ✉ ☎ +38 (032) 235-60-60. The restaurant is located in the
house of an Armenian bank of the 17th century: during the restoration,
authentic beams and interior wall decoration were preserved in some
places; at the entrance is the tombstone of a banker who owned the house
in the 19th century. The institution is distinguished by excellent beer
of its own production (served in glasses of a strange volume of 0.4
liters; however, you can order a liter right away) and a good selection
of meat dishes. Fast service, free Wi-Fi.
7 Pid Klepsidroyu (Dzyga),
st. Virmenska, 35, second floor. ☎ +38 (032) 297-56-12. 10:00-24:00. You
should definitely try the soup with flachki and baked meat with
bratruri. It is worth visiting during the day: from half past seven or
eight in the evening, free places end and mediocre live music begins to
play.
Chain of themed restaurants "!FEST"
8 Kryivka, pl.
Rinok, 14. ☎ (050) 430-63-54 +38 (050) 430-63-54. 🕑 Around the clock.
Hot dishes: 30-50 UAH (2011). The first restaurant of the "!FEST"
network and without a doubt the most famous institution in the city.
Restaurant-stylization in the spirit of the Ukrainian partisan movement
- the partisans called a dugout, a shelter in the forest, a kryivka. The
address of this establishment is “Somewhere on Rynok Square”, since
partisan caches did not have an exact address; there is no signboard,
you need to look for the entrance somewhere in the entrance hallway,
which is usually easily recognized in turn from those who want to get
inside. Here guests are met by a security guard with a machine gun,
demanding the password-slogan of the UPA: "Glory to Ukraine" - "Glory to
the Heroes!". If the answer is correct, the guard will take an interest
in the presence of Muscovites, offer an aperitif (a sip of “medovukha”)
and let him into the institution itself, which, as befits a partisan
lair, is located in the basement. There is also a lot of fun inside:
funny inscriptions, strange objects on the walls, excursions into the
history of Bandera and the opportunity to be photographed in military
uniform with a weapon in hand. The menu of the restaurant is designed in
the form of a newspaper, if you wish, you can buy it as a souvenir. Be
sure to try: lard with garlic (lard from a teapot) and hot beer (hot
beer). Kryivka is very popular among tourists, so it is better to book a
table in advance or come late at night.
9 Lvivska Kavi mine, pl.
Rinok, 10. ☎ +38 (067) 670-61-06. 8:00 - 23:00. The biggest coffee shop
in Lviv. The first three halls are a coffee shop (coffee is roasted in
front of visitors, they can be roasted and ground to order) and goods
for it: coffee grinders, coffee sets, cups, thermo mugs, books,
souvenirs. Next - the coffee shop itself and the descent into the
basement, stylized as a mine, where "coffee is mined." In the mine there
are many models of mining equipment, on the floors there is an imitation
of railroad tracks; at the entrance to the "slaughter" they give out a
helmet (a precaution is not superfluous at all - the ceilings are very
low). The menu at the top and into the mine is a little different: you
should definitely go down to the mine and try the sealed coffee (UAH
22), which is prepared in front of you with a blowtorch. The menu offers
only sweets, coffee, light snacks and cocktails. The check is brought in
a small coffee maker.
10 House of Legends, st. Staroyevreyska, 48.
11:00-23:00. A strangely designed seven-story (including basement) cafe,
notable for the fact that you can climb a spiral staircase to the roof
and admire the domes of the cathedrals of the Old City. On the roof
there is a monument to a chimney sweep holding a hollow cylinder without
a top: you can try to get a coin inside the cylinder. On the facade of
the building there is a metal dragon, from the mouth of which in the
evening (about 21:00) the cafe staff starts fireworks.
11 The most
expensive restaurant in Galicia (Ukrainian "Naydorozhcha Restoraciya
Galicia"), pl. Rinok, 14. The restaurant, stylized as a Masonic lodge,
is located in the same building as Kryivka, one floor above. At the
entrance, guests are greeted by a brother-mason, who will "initiate" you
into Masons, and each male guest will be given white gloves. In the
interior there are portraits of famous Masons and all kinds of Masonic
paraphernalia: compasses, pyramids, the all-seeing eye, etc. You can go
up to the open terrace overlooking the square. Market. Prices are 10
times higher than usual (this is the “most expensive restaurant”), but
all visitors are offered a 90% discount; the real cost of lunch is about
120 UAH.
12 Gasova Lampa, st. Vіrmenska, 20. Thematic Kneipp (beer),
dedicated to the invention in Lviv in 1853 of a kerosene (gas) lamp. The
institution is identified by the monument to the inventors: the bronze
Jan Zeg is sitting at a table at the entrance to the institution itself,
and Ignatius Lukasevich is looking out of the window of the third floor.
According to legend, they tried to distill oil into alcohol, but in the
process of distillation they got kerosene.
The place has the
atmosphere of a youth bar, alternative music plays. The interior
features more than a hundred kerosene lamps, as well as other objects
related to fire, such as a moonshine still and gas canisters. Kneipp
occupies three floors of an old house and has an open roof terrace with
beautiful views of the Old Town.
13 Pid the Golden Rose, st.
Staroyevreyska, 46. ☎ +38 (032) 236-75-53. Bargain. Zhydivska knaipa is
located next to the central Lviv synagogue destroyed during the war and
took over its name. One of the conceptual traditions is the washing of
the guests' hands before the start of the meal. The menu is interspersed
with historical references, but in general the institution is still
decorated in a playful and humorous manner: ironic names of dishes, a
hat with sidelocks for photographing, and - the main "trick" - the
absence of prices. The cost of the food should be haggled, although you
can simply ask for a bill that will only show the total amount. Cuisine
features: gefilte fish, forshmak, chopped liver, hummus, dumplings with
fish, tsimes.
14 Masoch-cafe, st. Serbska, 7. ☎ +38 (050) 371-04-40,
+38 (032) 235-68-72. 11:00-02:00. Hot dishes: 50-70 UAH (2011). Although
von Sacher-Masoch was only born in Lviv and became famous in completely
different places, a themed cafe dedicated to him appeared here. The
assortment includes spikes and whips, as well as dishes with unambiguous
names. The door to the restaurant is made in the form of a keyhole,
which symbolizes voyeurism. In front of the entrance to the cafe there
is a sculpture of Masoch.
Expensive
Coffee houses
Coffee
houses are an integral part of Lviv. Many of them serve hot food, but
the main contents are coffee, cakes, desserts and a pleasant environment
conducive to leisurely communication.
15 Viennese coffee house
(Videnska kav'yarnya), 12 Svobodi Ave. (opposite the monument to T.
Shevchenko). One of the oldest in Lviv. The retro-style interior
perfectly reproduces the atmosphere of an authentic Viennese coffee
house, although the prices, fortunately, are noticeably lower, and the
assortment of cakes is almost wider than in Vienna. Free WiFi. At the
entrance there is a monument to Schweik.
16 Golden Dukat, st. Ivana
Fedorova, 20. A good coffee card and a large selection of coffee
cocktails and drinks. It is worth trying the branded coffee drink of the
same name "Golden Dukat" and branded cakes.
17 Confectionery
"Tsukernya", st. Staroyevreyska, 3. ☎ +38 (032) 235-69-49. 10:00 -
22:00. Great patisserie in the Old Town. The menu contains only sweets,
desserts and drinks, so the service is very fast. Strudels and baked
apples are especially good.
12 Svit Kavi, Cathedral Square, 6. ☎
032-2975675; 032-2757283. 8:00 - 22:00. Very tasty and varied
coffee/tea. Desserts for every taste and mood. In addition, breakfast is
served here. It is possible to choose a table both inside the cafe and
on the summer terrace.
12 Smachna Cava, Stefan Jaworski Square
(Church of the Jesuits). Delicious coffee in a cozy, small cafe. Coffee
of different varieties and types. There you can drink coffee or buy
ground coffee for cooking at home. edit
12 Double Coffee, st.
Rudanskogo (vul. Rudanskogo), 1. Chain Latvian coffee house, which,
nevertheless, is well adapted to the Lviv style, and authentic Lviv
sirniki are served here as cheesecakes. Free WiFi.
12 Viennese buns
(Viennese buns), pl. Katedralnaya, 3 (Katedralna Square, 3). ☎ (+380) 32
235-88-22. 8-22, Sat and Sun until 23. Free Wi-Fi.
18 Under the blue
flask (Following the blue flask), Russkaya st. (vul. Ruska), 4. ☎ +38
(032) 294-91-52. 10:00-22:00. A small and cozy coffee shop without
unnecessary stylizations, hidden in the yards right in front of the Kava
Dig.
Apartments for rent can be chosen for every taste, in different
areas. The abundance of ads on the Internet will satisfy a person with
any requests, a good 2-room apartment will cost less than half the cost
of a 2-bed room in a 4-star hotel.
Cheap
Hotel "Lviv"
(Lviv), Chornovola Ave., 7. Double room: from 200 UAH (2011). A huge
Soviet "box", located in the center of Lviv, a hundred meters from the
opera house. The decor matches the dull appearance of the hotel, but
inside is clean and there is hot water. Lots of cheap single rooms.
Hostel "Cats house" (Cat's House), st. Saksaganskogo, 20/4 (From the
airport:
It's best to take a taxi. About 40-50 hryvnia. The journey
takes about 15 minutes. From the bus station (Stryiska St.):
or take
a taxi to St. Saksaganskogo 20 (~ 40 UAH), or taxi (bus) 3A or
trolleybus 5 to the stop). ✉ ☎ +38 093 483 76 65. 70 UAH The hostel is
located in the city center in the rooms of an old Austrian house, a
10-minute walk from the main square of the city. Two large rooms - 10
people each, bed linen and towels, slippers, toilet, bathroom (hot water
around the clock), free wi-fi, free use of a computer with internet,
equipped kitchen, free breakfast, free tea, coffee , sugar during the
day, left-luggage office, tourist support - maps, booklets, information
about spending time in Lviv and the region, the possibility of free use
of a hairdryer and iron, mini-library and board games, hookah (optional
and periodically), travel lectures ( held periodically), free meeting at
Rynok Square or Svoboda Avenue, friendly English-speaking staff,
costumed tours and cave tours.
1 KaizeR (TsіsaR), Lviv, st.
Kotlyarskaya, 3 (Located in the city center 100 meters from the opera
house, from the railway station you can get by tram number 6 and bus
number 31 stop shopping center "Magnus"). ✉ ☎ +38(032)235-82-28. around
the clock. 240. The TsisaR Hotel is located in the very center of the
city on a quiet, calm street next to a paid parking lot where you can
leave your own. Each room has a TV, free Wi-Fi Internet, shower, toilet
room. Free services are provided, such as: laundry, ironing, use of the
kitchen (microwave, refrigerator, dishes, gas stove) and free luggage
storage.
Average cost
2 Hotel "Edem", st. Horodotska, 95a.
edem_hotel@ukr.net ✉ ☎ +38 (032) 240-31-05, Skype: hotel.edem. The hotel
deserves the highest ratings: modern renovation, room equipment
(slippers, climate system), attentive staff and a varied breakfast
buffet. Of the shortcomings, only one access point on the floor can be
noted: ask for a room closer to the stairs so that the Wi-Fi signal is
more stable.
Hotel "George", pl. Mitskevich, 1. ☎ +38 (032)
232-62-36. Double room economy / standard: 350/700 UAH (2011). One of
Lviv's sights is a hotel dating back to the end of the 18th century. The
modern building was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. in
neo-renaissance style. The interior is impressive, although the design
of the rooms does not fit well with modern ideas about comfort: however,
the retro style is impeccable.
3 Hotel "Dniester", st. Mateyko, 6,
Lviv 79007. ☎ 43 1 +38 (032) 297 43 1. $ 80 - $ 260
Hotel "Eney"
(Eney), st. Shimzeriv 2, ☎ +380 322 768 799 (eney@mail.lviv.ua),€ 69-187
Hotel "Castle of the Lion" (Gotel Zamok Leva), Glinki st. 7, ☎ +380 (32)
297-15-63 (info@lioncastle.lviv.ua), $80 – $160 (including breakfast)
Hotel "Vienna" (Viden Gotel), pl. Svobody, 12, ☎ +380 32 244 43 14
(wienhotel@mail.lviv.ua), $ 70 - $ 140 (including breakfast).
Hotel
"NTON" (Hotel NTON), st. Shevchenka, 154b (St. Shevchenko 154b) (3 km
from the city center), ☎ +380 32 233 31 23,
Hotel "Volter" (Hotel
Volter), st. Lipinskogo 60a (3 km from the city center), ☎ +380 32 294
88 88
Reikartz Dvorzhets Lviv, st. Gorodotska 107, ☎
+380-97-384-51-73
4 Hotel Pivdenny, st. Shchyretska 36. ✉ ☎ +38
(032) 295 25 28, +38 (096) 748 20 20, +38 (032) 295 52 55, +38 (032) 295
26 30. From 180 UAH/day. The hotel is in the vicinity of the airport, to
which, however, you still have to take a taxi. There are cheap rooms,
but with amenities on the floor.
Expensive
Hotel Leopolis
(Hotel Leopolis), st. Theater 16. ✉ ☎ +380 32 295 95 00, fax: +380 32
295 95 99. €190-600.
Hotel Grand Hotel (Grand Hotel), Svobody Ave.
13. ✉ ☎ +380 322 724 042. $126-$360 (including breakfast).
Hotel
Opera (Hotel Opera), Svobody Ave. 45. ✉ ☎ +380 32 225 90 00. $96-$336
(including breakfast).
Citadel Inn Hotel, st. Grabovsky 11. ✉ ☎ +380
32 235 76 30. $150-$430 (including breakfast).
Guest house
"Andreevsky" (Gostinny dіm), st. Levitsky 112.. ✉ ☎ +380 32 235 76
30. $150-$300 (including breakfast).
The international dialing code for Lviv is +380 32. The telephone
system has recently been changed. To dial 6-digit numbers, the prefix
322 is used, and for a 7-digit number, only 32 is used.
All calls to
and from mobile phones are treated as long distance calls. The calling
system has been changed: no need to dial "8" in front of the country /
mobile operator code. Major mobile operators: Kyivstar, MTC, Life:). You
can buy a SIM card or a recharge card in many stores throughout Lviv.
Some mobile prefixes: 050, 066, 095, 099 - MTS, 067, 096, 097, 098 -
Kyivstar, 063, 093, 073 - Life:).
Precautionary measures
Lviv
is traditionally considered the center of anti-Russian sentiment,
although cases of outright anti-Russian manifestations are practically
unknown and the usual polite communication will allow you to find a
common language with anyone. Almost all residents of the city speak
Ukrainian among themselves, but if you address them in Russian, then in
most cases you will receive an answer in Russian as well.
According to one of the most common versions, the city of Lviv was named by Prince Daniel of Galicia in honor of his son Leo. Throughout its history, Lviv has never been renamed. In the languages of the peoples who left a noticeable cultural mark in the city, Lvov sounds like this: in Ukrainian - Lviv, in Polish - Lwów (Lvuv), in Russian - Lvov, German - Lemberg (Lemberg), in Yiddish - לעמבערג (Lemberg), in Armenian - Լվով (Lvov), in Crimean Tatar - İlbav (Ilbav).
The official symbols of Lviv are the coat of arms, the flag of the
Lviv City Council and the logo. The charter of Lviv also defines the
names or images of architectural and historical monuments with the
symbols of the city.
The modern coat of arms of Lviv is based on
the coat of arms from the seal of the city from the middle of the 14th
century. - a stone gate with three towers, in the opening of the gate of
which a golden lion walks. The large coat of arms of Lviv is a shield
with the coat of arms of the city, topped with a silver city crown with
three prongs, which is held by a lion and an old Russian warrior. The
flag of Lviv is a blue square panel depicting the city coat of arms,
framed by a platband, consisting of yellow and blue isosceles triangles
at the edges. The logo of Lviv is the image of five multi-colored towers
(from left to right): the bell tower of the Armenian Cathedral, the
Kornyakt tower, the city hall, the tower of the Latin Cathedral, the
bell tower of the Bernardine monastery and the slogan "Lviv open to the
world" under them.
Location and relief
Lviv is located in the central part of the
Lviv region between Yavoriv, Zholkovsky and Pustomitovsky districts, in
the Eastern European time zone on the 24th meridian; local time differs
from standard time by 24 minutes. The area of Lviv is about 180 km².
The city is located about 540 km west of Kyiv, at a distance of
about 70 km[13] from the border with Poland at the junction of the Lvov
highland, the hilly Roztochi and the lowlands of the Bug region. A range
of hills of the Main European watershed passes through it, which
separates the rivers of the Baltic and Black Sea basins (respectively,
the Bug and Dniester rivers). The average height of Lviv above sea level
is 289 meters. The highest point of the city is Mount High Castle (409 m
above sea level). Historically, Lviv was built on the Poltva River (a
tributary of the Bug), but in the 19th century it was let through the
main city sewer in order to lay the main city promenade - Getmanskie
Shafts (now Svobody Avenue, the river also partially flows under
Shevchenko and Chornovil Avenues).
There are more than 20 parks
and green areas, 2 botanical gardens and 16 natural monuments in Lviv.
Two parks are monuments of landscape art of national importance, one is
local. Within the city limits there is a regional landscape park
"Voznesenie" - a nature protection institution with an area of more
than 300 hectares, which has an ecosystem as close as possible to
natural conditions.
Within the city, developed Upper Cretaceous,
Upper Miocene and Quaternary deposits:
The Upper Cretaceous
deposits are represented by a sequence of light brown Maastrichtian
marls, about 50 m thick. These deposits are a regional aquiclude.
Upper Miocene sediments are represented (from bottom to top): Nikolaev
sands and sandstones, lithoamniotic limestone sequences with gypsum
interlayers. These deposits unconformably overlie the Upper Cretaceous
and are predominantly developed on the main watershed. The thickness of
the Upper Miocene deposits varies greatly, and in many places these
deposits have been completely destroyed by pre-Quaternary erosion.
Quaternary deposits are represented mainly by pre-glacial loess, sands,
travertine, and post-glacial bog loams and peat bogs in the Belogorshcha
region and the Poltva valley.
Chernozems, eluvial and peat-marshy
soils are represented in Lviv.
Geological structure
In the
geological structure of Lviv and its outskirts, Cretaceous deposits,
Tertiary layers (Upper Miocene), Quaternary and recent deposits are
distinguished:
Chalk deposits are up to 50 meters thick; the main
aquifer is formed on their surface;
Tertiary formations appear as
limestone sands, sandstones, limestones and gypsums. They lie on layers
of chalk and are especially developed on the main watershed. The
thickness of the Tertiary deposits is variable, in many places they are
completely destroyed by post-Tertiary erosion;
Of the Quaternary
deposits on the outskirts of Lvov, loess, sands and travertines are the
most common;
The latest, post-glacial strata are represented by
swamps and peat bogs in the area of Belogorshcha and in the Poltva
valley.
Soils on the territory of Lviv are represented by
chernozems, eluvial and peat-bog soils.
Lviv's climate is classified as a humid continental climate with no
dry season and warm summers. (Köppen classification: Dfb)
The
average temperature is -3.4°C in January and +17.5°C in July. According
to meteorological data, the highest temperature (+37 °C) was recorded in
August 1921, the lowest (−33.6 °C) on February 10, 1929. The average
annual rainfall is 729 millimeters. At the same time, the minimum number
(426 mm) was observed in 1904, the maximum (1422 mm) - in 1893. During
the year, on average, there are 174 days with precipitation.
The
average cloud cover in the year is 6.7 points, it is the highest in
November and December, when most of the days there is cloudy weather.
The least cloudiness is in August and September (5.5-6 points). The
average wind speed is 3-4 m/s. Westerly winds predominate (23.3%;
usually accompanied by rain, cooling in summer and thaw in winter), as
well as southeasterly winds (20.9%; usually accompanied by dry weather,
warming in spring and summer and frosty weather in winter) . Relative
humidity is high throughout the year. Fog is frequent in the cold half
of the year.
Lviv is characterized by the highest amount of
precipitation and the lowest summer temperatures among all regional
centers in Ukraine. All seasons of the year are characterized by sharp
changes in atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity. Winters are
mild, frosts below -20 °C are rare. A stable snow cover is not
established every winter. Spring is cool and rainy, frosts and snowfalls
are possible until the beginning of May. Summers are warm, average daily
highs in July and August are around +23-24°C. In summer, thunderstorms
and sudden changes in temperature during the passage of atmospheric
fronts are frequent. At the same time, hurricane winds are observed from
time to time, which lead to the felling of trees, minor damage, and
breakage of power lines. In 2008, due to such a hurricane, 4 people died
in the city. Autumn is moderately warm and dry. The duration of the
growing season is 215 days. Droughts are not common.
The
microclimate of the central part of the city, located in a hollow, is
characterized by lower minimum and higher maximum temperatures. Strong
winds are characteristic of the elevated outskirts of the city. A
characteristic meteorological phenomenon is the Lviv mzhychka - a fine
rainfall with high air humidity. It can be observed at any time of the
year. Due to global warming, average temperatures have increased by
about 1°C over the past century, with the warming affecting the first
half of the year to the greatest extent, while summer and autumn
temperatures have not changed much.
Early history (since the 5th century AD)
Archaeological research
has established that settlements existed on the site of Lviv since the
5th century AD. During excavations in 1990-1991 on the territory behind
the Zankovetska theater, where the Dobrobut market is currently located,
archaeologists found evidence that an urban-type settlement had been
continuously functioning at that place since the 7th-8th centuries. In
particular, they found a handicraft area where leather workers processed
leather. In addition, the remains of jewelry production were found.
Also, as a result of excavations on the Square of the Holy Spirit near
the Jesuit Church, ancient Slavic ceramics of the 7th-8th centuries were
found. Similar finds were found near the Cathedral. Archaeologists
believe that a settlement or a number of settlements stretched along the
Poltva River. It was a proto-city that preceded the emergence of Lviv.
Later, these lands may have belonged to the Great Moravian state. In
the X century, Kievan Rus and Poland began to claim the land (during the
reign of Mieszko I). It is assumed that Mieszko owned these lands from
960 to 980. According to Nestor's chronicle, in 981 they were conquered
by Vladimir the Great.
The first mention of Lviv dates back to
1256. According to the most common version, Lviv was founded only in the
XIII century by King Daniel of Galicia and was named after his son, Leo.
According to another version, the city was founded by the son of Daniil
Galitsky himself.
As part of the Galicia-Volyn principality
(until 1349)
Lviv developed rapidly. The position of the princely
city was closely connected with the geographical location. The city was
founded on the border of the dry, treeless Podolsk coast and the
forested swampy Poltva floodplain, at the place where horizons rich in
spring water emerge at the junction of water-resistant limestone.
Old Lviv, like other cities of that time, consisted of three parts:
citadel, that is, a fortified city, a roundabout city and a suburb. The
high castle (detinets) was located on that mountain, which was called
Gorai in the 15th century, in the 17th century - Bald Mountain, later
Prince's Mountain. As can be seen on the lithograph of the 17th century,
it was a high and treeless, sheer and hard-to-reach mountain. Detinets
was well fortified with ramparts, bins and a palisade so that it could
withstand numerous enemy attacks.
Along the northwestern slope of
the mountain stretched Podzamchie (roundabout city), which was also
fortified with ramparts and palisades. Here were the princely towers
(above the church of St. Nicholas), from which the road led steeply down
to the market place - the Old Market.
The suburb occupied the
right bank of the floodplain of the Poltva River and the slopes of the
mountain and stretched in a semicircle along the western, northern and
southern sides of the Knyazheskaya Gora. It was not fortified, probably,
it was defended only by ramparts and a palisade, and in case of an armed
enemy attack, the inhabitants, together with their property, sought
protection in the roundabout city and the citadel. Separately, on a
steep mountain, stood the fortified church of St. George.
The
princely city was built along the Volyn road, on the trade route that
went from the Black Sea through Galich-Lvov-Kholm to the Baltic Sea.
This path passed through the Old Market and past numerous churches,
churches and monasteries, some of which have survived to this day: Mary
of the Snow, Ivan the Baptist, St. Paraskeva, St. Onufry and St.
Nicholas. The building was, according to the research of foundations,
Byzantine-Romanesque, mostly wooden, and therefore none of the ancient
monuments has been preserved intact.
Princely Lvov was a crowded
city (there were colonies here: German, Jewish, Armenian, Tatar), with
numerous houses, which were surrounded by gardens and orchards. Fields
and mowing meadows were also located on the western bank of Poltva. The
territory of Lviv was 50 hectares and was connected in the east with the
village of Znesenye.
In 1340-1349 the city was ruled by voivode
Dmitry Detko, as the governor of the Lithuanian prince Lubart.
As
part of Poland and the Commonwealth (1349-1772)
In 1349, the Polish
king Casimir III the Great captured Lvov and seven years later, in 1356,
he granted Magdeburg rights to the city. This gave a strong impetus to
the development of the city, and in 1363 the large Armenian community of
the city established an Armenian metropolis and built a cathedral. The
Polish king moved the city center from Stary Rynok Square and built a
new city to the south, around Rynok Square. In the new city, the
majority of the population was made up of German colonists, but some
outlying streets (the current Armenian, Russian, Old Jewish) were
occupied by non-Catholics, who were deprived of the rights of the Lviv
bourgeoisie.
Due to its favorable location at the crossroads of
trade routes from the ports of the Black Sea, Kyiv, Eastern and Western
Europe, Byzantium and the ports of the Baltic Sea, the city developed
rapidly. Under the name Veliky Lvov is mentioned in the chronicle "List
of Russian cities near and far" (end of the 14th century).
In
1370-1387, the city was ruled by the Hungarian governors, under the
control of Vladislav Opolchik. In 1379, the city received the right to
have its own warehouses, which dramatically increased the city's
attractiveness for merchants. In 1387 Lviv and the surrounding lands
were returned under the influence of Poland.
As part of Poland
(and later the Polish-Lithuanian state), Lviv became the capital of the
Russian Voivodeship, which included five elderships with centers in the
cities of Lvov, Kholm, Sanok, Galich and Przemysl. The city had the
right to have its own warehouses, which made it possible to receive
significant profits from goods transported between the Black and Baltic
Seas. Over the following centuries, the population of the city grew
rapidly, and soon Lviv became a cosmopolitan city with many religious
denominations and an important center of culture, science and trade. The
city defenses were fortified and Lvov became one of the most important
fortresses protecting the Commonwealth from the southeast.
In the
city there were simultaneously an Orthodox bishop, three archbishops:
Roman Catholic, Armenian and Greek Catholic (since 1700), as well as
three Jewish communities at the same time: urban, local and Karaite. The
city was filled with many settlers from different countries: Germans,
Jews, Italians, English, Scots and many other nationalities. Since the
16th century, Protestants have appeared in the city.
Lviv was the
only city in Kievan Rus where there was a separate "Saraceni" (Muslim)
community, which enjoyed guaranteed rights of internal self-government.
The first mention of the Saracen community dates back to 1346. Since
1654, the settlement of the Saracens in Lviv was prohibited due to
blasphemy and human trafficking.
The year 1527 was marked by a
great fire in which almost the entire city burned down. In the first
half of the 17th century, the city had approximately 25-30 thousand
inhabitants. There were more than 30 workshops in which there were 133
craft professions. In 1618, the city was mentioned in the work of the
German historians G. Braun, G. Hogemberger, S. Novellan "Outstanding
Cities of the World".
The strengthening of Lviv as a fortress did
not stop under all the rulers. Its external fortifications began to be
erected in the second half of the 14th century under Casimir the Great,
when the first ring of defensive walls was formed. In 1410, a decision
was made to create a second line of defensive fortifications, which
covers the first ring from the north, east and south. And in the middle
of the 16th century, a third belt of fortifications appeared, this time
in the form of earthen ramparts with a stone base, and subsequently
bastions also appeared.
In the 17th century, Lvov successfully
withstood sieges many times. The constant struggle against the invaders
gave the city the motto Semper fidelis, which means "Always faithful!"
In the autumn of 1648, the city was besieged by the Zaporizhzhya
Cossacks, led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky. They captured and destroyed the
castle, but left the city after receiving a ransom. In 1655, the Swedish
armies invaded Poland, captured most of it and laid siege to Lvov.
However, they were forced to retreat without taking the city. The siege
of Lvov by the Russian-Cossack detachments of Buturlin and Khmelnytsky
was also lifted due to the Crimean Khan's invasion of Ukraine. The
following year, Lviv was surrounded by the army of the Transylvanian
prince Gyorgy Rakoczy I, but the city was not taken. In 1672, the army
of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Mehmed IV again laid siege to
Lvov, but the war was over before the capture of the city. In 1675, the
city was attacked by Turks and Crimean Tatars, but King Jan III Sobieski
defeated them on August 24 in a battle that was named Lvovskaya.
In 1704, during the Great Northern War, the city was captured and
plundered for the first time in its history by the army of the Swedish
king Charles XII. In 1707, Tsar Peter I came to Lviv. According to
legend, the carriage in which he rode got stuck in the mud on the
unpaved Rynok Square. After that, the entire area was paved with wooden
paving stones.
From the 15th century, monks of various orders
began to arrive in the city. They built many temples in the city. By the
18th century, there were already up to 40 of them. Therefore, they also
talked about Lviv as civitas monachorum - the city of monks. The monks
of the Jesuit order arrived in the city without a penny, but thanks to
skillful management, a hundred years later, the city treasury fell into
debt dependence on them. And in 1608, the Jesuits founded the Jesuit
Collegium, which in 1661 was transformed into Lviv University. One of
the most famous pupils of the Jesuits was Bogdan Khmelnitsky.
Under the rule of the Habsburgs (1772-1914)
In 1772, after the First
Partition of Poland, Lvov became the capital of an Austrian province,
the formally independent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1772-1918
the city was officially called Lemberg. The language of the
administration after Lviv became part of Austria became German, and most
of the positions of city government were occupied by Germans and Czechs.
Despite this, the city continued to be an important center of Polish and
Russian culture. In 1773, the first newspaper Gazette de Leopoli began
to appear in Lvov.
The beginning of Austrian rule was very
liberal. In 1784 Emperor Joseph II re-opened the University. Lectures
were given in several languages: Latin, German, Polish, and (since 1786)
Ruthenian (the literary language of the Ruthenian population). Wojciech
Bogusławski opened the first public theater in 1794, in 1811 the famous
Gazeta Lwowska began to appear, and in 1817 the Ossolinski Institute was
founded. At the beginning of the 19th century, the city received a new
post of head of the Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop of Kyiv, Galicia
and Rus', Metropolitan of Lvov.
However, at the beginning of the
19th century, the Austrian authorities began to Germanize the city. In
1805 the university was closed and, although it was opened again in
1817, it was already a purely German educational institution that had a
specific impact on city life. Numerous other social and cultural
associations that were not "pro-German" were also banned.
The
harsh laws dictated by the Habsburg dynasty led to an outbreak of public
discontent in 1848. A petition was sent to the emperor to resume the
self-government of the city, teaching in Polish and "Rus" languages and
guaranteeing the official position of the Polish language.
Most
of these requests were satisfied only many years later: in 1861 the
Galician Parliament (the Regional Seim) was formed, and in 1867 Galicia
was granted broad self-government, both cultural and economic. The
University allowed lectures in Polish. Galicia became the only part of
the former Poland to gain some cultural and political freedom.
Newspapers began to appear, for example, Batkivshchyna. As a result,
Lviv became the main center of Polish culture and politics. At the same
time, the city also served as an important center of the
Galician-Russian movement.
The city was also given the right to
delegate representatives to the Parliament of Vienna, which attracted
many prominent cultural and political figures. Lviv has become a meeting
place for Polish, German, Jewish and Little Russian cultures.
Period 1914-1919
At the beginning of the First World War, as a result
of the successful offensive of the 3rd and 8th Russian armies of the
Southwestern Front during the Battle of Galicia on August 5, Art. Art.
(August 18 O.S.) - September 8 O.S. Art. (September 21, New Style),
1914, the city was taken by Russian troops (August 21, Old Style
(September 3, New Style), 1914) and until July 14, 1915, it was the
center of the Galician General Government, until the city again was
occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops.
With the collapse of the
Habsburg Empire at the end of World War I, civil strife began. On
November 1, 1918 Ukrainian and Polish soldiers were in the city. The
Ukrainian legion of Sich Riflemen (combat unit of the Austrian army) was
in Bukovina at that time. However, a small group of Ukrainian military
took control of the city for several days and announced that the city
was part of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). As the
Ukrainian and Polish units arrived in the city, hostilities unfolded, as
a result of which the Ukrainian units were forced to leave Lviv. The
Ukrainian authorities announced a general mobilization. Former soldiers
of the Austrian army were put under arms, which made it possible to
create the Ukrainian Galician Army (UGA). The army formed in France
under the command of Jozef Haller came to the aid of the Poles. UGA
fought back to the Zbruch River. The Polish-Ukrainian war continued
until July 1919.
In early summer, the command over the UGA was
taken by the former general of the Russian army Alexander Grekov, who
conducted an offensive operation, however, due to a serious disparity in
forces, the UGA again retreated beyond Zbruch, to the territory of the
Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). By decision of the inter-allied
commission in Paris, Lvov was left under the control of Poland - until
the final decision of its fate. Both Polish and Ukrainian victims of the
battles in Lviv and its environs were buried at the Lychakiv cemetery
(see Lviv Eaglets). The remains of one of the unknown soldiers who fell
in this struggle were buried in Warsaw, under the monument to the
unknown soldier.
Later, Poland concluded an agreement with Symon
Petliura, according to which, in exchange for the UNR government's
refusal of claims to Western Ukraine, it provided him with military
assistance in the fight against the Bolsheviks and the advancing Red
Army.
As part of Poland (1919-1939)
During the Soviet-Polish
war in 1920, the city was attacked by the Red Army. From mid-June 1920,
the First Cavalry Army tried to break through to the city from the
northeast. The defense of the city began. After stubborn battles that
lasted about a month, on August 16, the Red Army crossed the Western Bug
River and, additionally reinforced by eight divisions of the Red
Cossacks, began to storm the city. The fighting took place with heavy
losses on both sides, but three days later the attack was repulsed, and
the Red Army soon retreated. For the defense, the city was awarded the
highest Polish military award - the Order of Virtuti Militari V class -
"For Courage", which was depicted on the Polish coat of arms of Lviv.
After the signing of the Riga Peace Agreement, Lviv remained a
Polish city, the administrative center of the Lviv Voivodeship, which
occupied most of the modern Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland and the
Lviv region. The city quickly regained its position as one of the most
important centers of science and culture in Poland. In 1928, Jan Casimir
University professor Rudolf Weigl created a vaccine against typhus.
World War II period (1939-1944)
In 1939, the Polish campaign of
the Wehrmacht and the Red Army began. On September 1, 1939, German
troops entered Poland. The defense of the city was led by Franciszek
Jozef Sikorski. On September 19, Soviet troops approached the city and
soon occupied its eastern part, the Polish side was asked to surrender
the city. A few hours later, German troops attacked the west and south
of the city, coming into fire contact with the Soviet troops, but the
Wehrmacht withdrew the troops. In accordance with the Secret Protocol to
the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on the night of September 21, 1939, Soviet
troops replaced the German ones and began to prepare for the assault.
Nevertheless, the Polish command resumed negotiations, as a result of
which, on September 22, 1939, an agreement was signed "on the transfer
of the city of Lvov to the troops of the Soviet Union."
In
1939-1941, Soviet troops were stationed in the city, in particular, the
headquarters of the 6th Army of the Kyiv Special Military District of
the Red Army was located here. One of the meetings of Gestapo and NKVD
officers took place in Lvov.
At the beginning of the Great
Patriotic War, due to the impossibility of evacuating the bodies of the
NKVD of the USSR, mass executions of political prisoners held in the
prisons of Lvov were carried out. According to official figures from the
NKVD, 2,464 people were killed. On June 30, 1941, the city was occupied
by the Germans. On the same day, the OUN members proclaimed in Lvov the
"Ukrainian state government" headed by Yaroslav Stetsko, who, however,
was soon arrested by the Germans. After the entry of German troops into
the city on July 1, 1941, Ukrainian nationalist Bandera and local
residents participated in a Jewish pogrom, the victims of which were
several thousand people. The German authorities organized a
concentration camp on the territory of the Citadel, in which they
destroyed over 140 thousand Soviet prisoners of war, as well as the Lvov
ghetto and the concentration camp "Yanovska" to exterminate the Jewish
population, prisoners of war, and civilians. The Janowska concentration
camp became one of the first death camps where torture and executions
were carried out to music. Among the orchestra members were Professor
Shtriks of the Lviv State Conservatory, the conductor of the Mund Opera
and other famous Jewish musicians. A photograph of the orchestra
performing the "Tango of Death" was one of the testimonies at the
Nuremberg trials.
In 1942-1944, the communist underground
operated in the city as a scout. Nikolai Kuznetsov liquidated the
vice-governor-general of the Galicia district Otto Bauer and the head of
the office of the governorate Schneider.
On July 23, 1944, a
military operation of the Home Army began in Lviv in order to establish
Polish power and gain advantageous positions in subsequent post-war
negotiations on the borders of Poland and the USSR. The uprising was an
integral part of the all-Polish uprising and took place in cooperation
with the advancing Soviet troops.
In 1944, the Lvov-Sandomierz
operation of the Red Army began. From July 13, 1944, the 11th Guards
mortar regiment of rocket artillery took part in the operation. From
July 22 to July 24, the 3rd Guards Tank Army made a maneuver, bypassed
Lvov with the main forces from the north and launched an offensive
against Lvov from the west. On July 24-26, 1944, there were battles on
the outskirts of Lvov. The 4th Panzer Army, bypassing Lvov from the
south, broke into the outskirts of the city and started street fighting.
Radio operator Alexander Marchenko from the 10th Guards Ural Tank Corps
with a group of machine gunners hoisted a red banner on the town hall.
On July 27, 1944 the city was taken by the Red Army.
As part
of the Ukrainian SSR (1944-1991)
Due to the fact that the main battle
for Lviv unfolded in the southern suburbs, the bulk of historical
monuments, churches and buildings were not damaged.
After the
war, almost the entire Polish population of the city was evicted, mainly
to the western part of Poland, to the so-called Returned Lands, the city
began to be populated by Ukrainians, Russians, etc. So, if on June 20,
1945 more than 85 thousand Poles lived in Lviv, on April 11, 1950, only
29.9 thousand remained. In 1950, the population of Lviv consisted of
144,583 Ukrainians, 90,379 Russians, 29,893 Poles, 18,614 Jews, and
14,894 others. moved or destroyed. The Polish language and its regional
variant have practically fallen into disuse. Also, a significant number
of alien (non-Galician) Ukrainian, Russian and Jewish population moved
to post-war Lviv, mainly from the eastern part of the Ukrainian SSR, to
a lesser extent from the RSFSR and the BSSR. The Ukrainian and Russian
languages began to prevail in the city. In the future, the migration to
Lviv of the Western Ukrainian peasantry continued.
In 1971, for
achievements and successes in the field of economic, scientific,
technical and socio-cultural development, Lvov was awarded the highest
award of the USSR - the Order of Lenin.
New neighborhoods
During the time that has passed since the Great Patriotic War, the
population of Lviv and the area occupied by the city have increased
significantly. In 1939, about 330 thousand people lived in Lviv, the
city area was 63 km², the housing stock was about 2 million m². In 1984,
on the eve of perestroika, the population of the city was 760 thousand
people, the area of the city was 138 km², and the housing stock
increased by 5 times compared to 1939 and amounted to more than 10
million m². The influx of people to the enterprises caused the need to
build affordable housing on the outskirts. By the end of the 1980s,
large residential areas were formed:
Southern - the area of
Lubinskaya, Artyom (now - Vladimir the Great), Bozhenko (Knyagini
Olga), Nauchnaya, Kulparkovskaya streets (construction began in the
1960s, the population is more than 150 thousand people);
Lychakovsky
(Vostochny) - the area of Lenin Komsomol Avenue (now Pasichnaya),
Batalnaya Street (J. Washington), the upper part of Green Street, the
Mayorovka microdistrict (construction since 1958);
Sykhiv (being
built up since 1979, population about 120 thousand people);
Northern
- the area of the streets of the 700th anniversary of Lviv (now
Chernovol Avenue), Topolnaya (Hetman Mazepa), Varshavskaya (built up
since the 1960s, the population is about 100 thousand people);
the
settlement of Zhovtnevy (Oktyabrsky) (the current name is Levandovka, it
has been built up since 1958).
In 1944, a mechanical plant, a mechanical repair plant and a tank
repair plant began to work.
In 1945, the Lvovselmash plant was
created.
In 1946, the Lvov plant of telegraph equipment and the
plant of electrical measuring instruments were put into operation.
In 1947, the Lviv shoe factory began its work.
In 1948, the
Lvov forklift plant was put into operation and the first stage of the
Lvov sausage and canning factory was put into operation.
In 1950,
a jewelry factory was established on the basis of the metalware plant.
In October 1953, an aircraft repair plant was created on the basis
of the aircraft workshops.
In 1956, the Lviv Bus Plant began
production of buses.
In 1957, a machine-building plant began its
work (in 1963-1965 it was transformed into the Lvov Diamond Tool Plant).
In 1965, the Lviv Insulator Plant began its work, in 1966, as a
result of the reorganization of the medical equipment plant, the REMA
plant was created.
In 1978, a sugar factory was built and put
into operation.
In addition, it should be noted the plant of
reinforced concrete structures.
By the beginning of the 1980s,
there were already 137 large enterprises in Lviv that manufactured buses
(for example, LAZ), forklifts, televisions (Electron), various devices,
machine tools with program control and other products.
The science of Lvov also began to develop intensively. By the
1980s, there were three institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the
Ukrainian SSR, branches and departments of academic institutions,
dozens of research and design institutes, branches, departments, 11
universities, which employed more than 8,000 researchers.
An
important event in the scientific life of the city was the creation
in 1971 of the Western Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences
of the Ukrainian SSR.
In Soviet times, Lvov continued the
traditions of his mathematical school. In 1946-1963, the so-called
second Lvov mathematical school was formed and worked under the
guidance of Ya.
Scientists from the Institute of Geology and
Geochemistry of Combustible Fossils have made significant progress
in their studies of energy and mineral resources. Under the
leadership of Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the
Ukrainian SSR G. Dolenko, the criteria for searching for oil and gas
at depths of up to 5 km were scientifically substantiated here. The
efficient oil production technology developed by the institute made
it possible to extract twice as much oil from the reservoir as
before.
Scientific works of Lviv University chemists in the
field of crystal structures are known all over the world.
Significant scientific work is carried out by departments of the
Institutes of Biochemistry and Botany of the Academy of Sciences of
the Ukrainian SSR. Works on biochemistry by scientists of the Lvov
Veterinary Institute are widely known.
A significant
contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry is made
by scientists from the Ukrainian Scientific Research Geological
Prospecting Institute under the leadership of Corresponding Member
of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR V. Glushko.
Departments of Lviv Medical University, research institutes of
hematology and blood transfusion, epidemiology and microbiology,
pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, tuberculosis worked on the
problems of health protection.
Agricultural issues were
resolved by scientists from the Research Institute of Agriculture
and Animal Husbandry of the Western Regions of the Ukrainian SSR,
and the Research Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Farm
Animals.
Lviv scientists participated in the implementation
of the space program of the Soviet Union. It developed software for
the lunar rover, interplanetary vehicles of the Venus program, the
Buran space shuttle and others, as well as food products for
astronauts.
In Soviet times, Lviv remained an important cultural center of the
country. In the late 1970s, five theaters, a philharmonic society, about
40 cinemas, a circus, 46 Palaces of Culture, 12 large museums, and more
than 350 libraries worked here. Lviv was the most important center of
Ukrainian culture in the USSR.
Many famous writers, composers,
artists, architects, journalists worked in the city. Among them are I.
Vilde, J. Stetsyuk, V. Stus.
The period of independence of
Ukraine (since 1991)
In 1991, the USSR breaks up into a number of
independent states. Lviv becomes the "Ukrainian Piedmont" - an outpost
of nationalist changes associated with this event.
In 1998, the
historical center of the city and the Cathedral of St. George were
included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, which was actively promoted
by the mayor Vasily Kuybida.
On May 14-15, 1999, the 6th summit
of the presidents of the Central European countries took place in Lvov
in the railwaymen's palace. The theme of the "round table" was "The
human dimension of pan-European and regional integration and its role in
building a new Europe".
In June 2001, Pope John Paul II visited
the city. Here he celebrated the Mass according to the Latin rite and
took part in the liturgy of the Byzantine rite.
In 2005, with the
participation of the presidents of Poland and Ukraine - Alexander
Kwasniewski and Viktor Yushchenko, and the cardinals of the Roman and
Greek Catholic churches - Maryan Yavorsky and Lubomir Huzar, a military
memorial was solemnly opened for the Polish defenders of the city (Lviv
Eaglets), who died during the Polish-Ukrainian war in 1918.
In
2011, the Ukrainian-German joint venture Electrontrans was opened, one
of the largest manufacturers of trolleybuses, trams and electric buses.
In 2016, Fujikura Automotive Ukraine Lviv LLC and Bader Ukraine
factories were opened to produce auto components for leading European
automotive manufacturers such as Audi and BMW.
On July 27, 2002,
during an aviation festival at the Lviv airfield Sknilov, a Su-27
crashed into a crowd of spectators. 77 people died (including 28
children), 543 people were injured with varying degrees of severity.
As of March 8, 2022, it receives a large number of refugees and
internally displaced persons from all over Ukraine in connection with
the Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Russian-Ukrainian war
On the morning of March 18, 2022, for the
first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lviv
suffered a missile attack. According to the head of the Lviv Regional
State Administration Maxim Kozitsky, four missiles hit an aircraft
repair plant near the Lviv airfield, and two more were shot down by
Ukrainian air defense. On April 18, 2022, another rocket strike by the
Russian army killed seven and injured eleven residents of Lvov.
According to the 2001 census, the population of Lviv was more than
758 thousand people, that is, it has decreased by more than 57 thousand
people since 1989. Almost simultaneously with the census, in December
2000, a special study of the city's population was undertaken by the
Lviv City Development Institute. According to this study, in the city
51-52% are women; about 48% of Lviv residents lived in buildings of
Soviet or Ukrainian construction, about 40% in buildings of Austrian and
Polish construction, about 11% - in the private sector; 85% identified
themselves as Ukrainians, 12% as Russians; 79% communicated in
Ukrainian, 20% in Russian; born in Lviv made up the majority of Lviv
residents - 56%, born in other settlements of Galicia - another 19%,
people from other Western Ukrainian regions - 3%, people from
non-Western regions of Ukraine - 11%, people from Russia - 4%, other
republics of the USSR - 3%, Poland - 2%; 45% of respondents identified
themselves as believers of the UGCC, 31% of the UOC (KP), 5% of the
UAOC, 3% of the UOC (MP), and another 3% of other Christian religions.
Lviv is the center of the agglomeration, where the population of the
periphery of the agglomeration arrives to work, study and rest.
According to mobile communications operator Vodafone for 2018, an
average of 180,000 people arrive in Lviv from a 50-kilometer strip
around the city on an average day, and about 79,000 on weekends.
Centenarians of the city
Franciszek Zaremba (1751-1863) - soldier,
participant in the Kosciuszko uprising (Lychakivsky Visnik),
Kirill
Samvel Stepanovich (02/18/1755 - 12/8/1858) - Archbishop (Lychakiv
Visnik),
Anton Pyuretsky (1757-1863) - soldier, participant in the
Kosciuszko uprising (Lichakivsky Visnik),
Stanislav Lyudkevich
(01/24/1879 - 09/10/1979) - composer, musicologist, folklorist, teacher
(Lychakivsky Visnik).
More than 64 thousand Russians live in Lviv (8.9%; census, 2001), the largest Russian and Russian-speaking community in Western Ukraine. According to a survey conducted in December 2000 by the Lviv Development Institute, an even greater number of Lviv residents called themselves Russians - 12%, 20% of respondents used Russian in private communication (Ukrainian - 79%). The Russian community in Lvov was formed mainly in the late 1940s, although Russian emigrants lived in the city even before the annexation of Western Ukraine to the Ukrainian SSR, and the first known native of North-Eastern Russia was the Russian printing pioneer Ivan Fedorov, who published the first in Lvov in 1574 book - "Apostle", and then the first ever "ABC" in Russian. The Russian Cultural Center worked in the city in 1988-2017.
A fairly large Polish population appeared in Lviv after the conquest
of the city by Casimir the Great in 1349. Finally, Lvov became a Polish
city on the border of the 15th and 16th centuries, when they assimilated
the Lvov Germans, who until then constituted the majority of the
population. In the future, Lviv was one of the most significant Polish
cultural centers, including after the divisions of the Commonwealth. The
Polish Institute "Ossolineum", a Polish-speaking university, many
prominent figures of Polish culture worked here. After the events of
1918-1920, the city's belonging to Polish culture was supported by
patriotic propaganda, the cult of heroes such as the "Lviv Eaglets".
Most of the Poles left Lviv during the population exchange between
Poland and the Ukrainian SSR in 1944-1947. They settled primarily in the
so-called "returned lands" - the territories that went to Poland after
the war from Germany; the Ossolineum Institute was transferred to
Wroclaw. Those Poles who nevertheless remained in Lviv found themselves
in difficult social conditions, they lost the status of a state ethnic
group and turned into a small minority, which in 1959 made up only 4% of
the city's population, yielding to Ukrainians, Russians and Jews. The
city was left by the Poles - representatives of the managerial,
cultural, educational, scientific and technical intelligentsia, the
clergy, the military, highly skilled workers. As a result, the Poles,
according to post-war censuses, had the lowest level of education of all
the major ethnic groups. Among those who remained, a significant
proportion were Poles from mixed families, mostly women. As a result,
even in 1989, 45 years after the population exchange, the Polish
community had a deformed sex and age structure of the population: there
were approximately 600 Poles per 1,000 Poles. processes of assimilation
developed among the Poles; in 1989, about 40% of them called Ukrainian
their native language, 15% - Russian. During the Soviet period, two
Polish schools constantly operated in Lviv - an eight-year school No. 10
and a secondary school No. 24, and two Roman Catholic churches
functioned.
At the end of the 1980s, the process of organizing
national societies and various organizations of Poles began, in 1988 the
publication of the oldest Polish-language newspaper (“Gazety Lwowskiej”)
was restored. Among some Poles, especially the elderly, the Lvov Polish
dialect (gwara lwowska) continues to be used; at the same time, in the
Polish Lvov speech, the influences of the Ukrainian and Russian
languages are palpable - in morphology, vocabulary, grammar, and in all
complete and partial systems of the language.
Jews settled in Lviv shortly after the founding of the city around
1256 and for a long time represented a large and influential national
community, which gave the world many famous figures of science and
culture. In addition to Rabbanite Jews, Karaites lived in the city, who
moved around the same time from southeastern Europe and Byzantium. After
the conquest of Lvov by Casimir III the Great in 1349, Jews began to
enjoy privileges on an equal basis with other Jewish communities in
Poland. The resettlement of Ashkenazi Jews to Lviv, in particular from
Germany, determined the Eastern European character of the city
community. Until the 18th century, two separate Jewish communities
existed in Lviv, the urban one (in the Jewish quarter of Lviv) and the
suburban one. These communities used different synagogues, only the
cemetery was common. In the same cemetery, the Karaites were also
buried, who lived separately in a village not far from the Krakow
suburb. In 1939 there were 97 synagogues in the city.
On the eve
of the Holocaust, about a third of Lviv residents were Jews (more than
140,000), in 1941 this number increased to 240,000 due to refugees and
migrants from the German zone of occupation of Poland. The vast majority
of Jews were killed during the Nazi occupation, and no more than 200
people survived before the city was occupied by the Red Army. Until the
seventies of the XX century, more than 30,000 Jews lived in Lviv. The
modern Jewish community of Lvov has significantly decreased as a result
of emigration and, to a lesser extent, assimilation, and numbers about
2,000 people. Jewish organizations operate in the city and communities
of believing Jews function.
In 1988, the Sholom Aleichem Cultural
Center began the construction of a memorial to those who died during the
war. The memorial was opened on the site of the Lviv ghetto on August
23, 1992. Since then, the memorial has been the subject of several
anti-Semitic attacks. On March 20, 2011, the memorial was desecrated and
a swastika was painted on it with the inscription "Death to the Jews".
On March 21, 2012, the memorial was again desecrated by unknown
anti-Semites.
In 1267, Lvov became the center of the Armenian diocese, and the
Armenian cathedral in this city, consecrated in 1367, became the
diocesan one. In Lvov in 1510, the Armenians received permission from
the Polish King Sigismund I to sue in their own right - the charter of
the Lvov Armenians, but they were not allowed to work as a city
magistrate (only Catholics could participate in city self-government).
Armenian printing houses worked in Galicia and Podolia, and in 1618
Hovhannes Karmatenyants published "Algish Bitiki" ("Prayer Book") - the
only printed book in the world in the Armenian-Kipchak language, which
was the written version of the spoken language of Armenians in the
Crimea and Ukraine. After the adoption by part of the Armenians of the
union (1630) with the Catholic Church, the Armenians in the Commonwealth
gradually assimilated among the local Polish population, and some of
them emigrated to the Crimea. The chronicler Simeon Lekhatsi (Simeon of
Poland) writes at the beginning of the 17th century:
The Armenians of
Lvov do not know the Armenian language, but they speak Polish and
Kypchak, that is, the Tatar language. It was said that local Armenians
moved [here] from Ani; according to historians, they (Anians) were
divided into two groups: one came to Kafa and Akkerman, and until now
their [descendants] live in Sulumanastr and speak Armenian; the other to
Ancuria and thence to Poland.
In the first half of the 20th
century in Galicia there were 5.5 thousand Armenian Catholics by
religion, as a rule, Polish-speaking. They had 9 parish churches, 16
chapels, a monastery of Benedictine sisters in Lvov. The Armenian
Catholic Lviv archdiocese was directly subordinate to the Pope and
existed until the end of World War II, when it was destroyed by the
Soviet authorities.
In 1978, one of the scenes of the Soviet film
"D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers" (a fight between musketeers and
guardsmen in the first series of the film) was filmed in the Armenian
Cathedral of Lvov. In a number of episodes, inscriptions in Armenian are
partially visible.
After 1991, there has been a revival of the
Armenian Catholic Church in Ukraine. On November 28, 1991, the diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic Church was officially registered in Ukraine,
the community of which also operates in Lvov.
Lviv Armenian
Catholic Archdiocese of Ukraine (1630-1946)
Lviv Armenian Catholic
archbishops or metropolitans:
Nikolai Torosevich (1630-1681),
Vartan Hunanyan (1681-1715),
Jan Tobiash Augustinovich (1715-1751),
Jakub Stefan Avgustinovich (1751-1783),
Yakub Valerian Tumanovich
(1783-1798),
Jan Yakub Simonovich (1801-1816),
Kaetan Augustin
Varteresovich (1817-1831),
Samuil Kirill Stefanovich (1832-1858),
Gregor Mikhail Shimonovich (1858-1875),
Gregor Joseph Romashkan
(1876-1881),
Isaak Nikolai Teodorovich (1901-1938),
Dionysius
Kaetanovich (1939-1954) - the last administrator, on March 8-9, 1946 was
convicted by a military tribunal of the Lvov military district, died in
a camp in the village of Abez (Komi ASSR).
Together with Fr.
Dionysius Kaetanovich condemned the Armenian priests: Fr. Kazimir
Romashkan, Fr. Victor Kvapinsky, diocesan employees - Stanislav
Donigevich, Secretary of the Lviv Armenian National Religious Community,
Goarine Babayeva, Sergey Nazaryan, Vagharshak Grigoryan and others.
The huge church property of the Lvov Armenian Catholic archdiocese,
including church buildings in the cities of Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk,
Tysmennitsa, Lysets, Snyatyn, Berezhany, Gorodenka, Kuty, and others,
was nationalized. At the same time, most of the ethnic Armenian
population was evicted to Poland.
The liquidation of the Armenian
Catholic Archdiocese of Lvov was carried out by employees of the Lvov
NKGB, with the personal knowledge of the first secretary of the Central
Committee of the CP (b) of Ukraine, N. S. Khrushchev.
Identity of
Lvivians
Lviv identity is a commonality between people based on the
awareness of the existence of certain patterns of behavior and values
that are inherent in all “real Lviv citizens”, as well as the
recognition of these values as one’s own and the desire to behave like a
“real Lviv citizen”. According to sociologist V. Sereda, residents of
Lviv identify themselves primarily as Ukrainians (50%), and only then as
Lvivians (23%), while Lviv identity is more often put in the first place
by representatives of national minorities (Russians, Poles, Jews). These
two identities in the minds of the Ukrainian residents of Lviv do not
compete, but rather unite: Ukrainian identity is an integral part of
Lviv identity.
As Lviv historian Yaroslav Hrytsak points out, the
image of Lviv in the minds of Lviv residents consists of two elements:
the Europeanness of Lviv and the image of Lviv as a “Ukrainian Piedmont”
(emphasis on the national, predominantly Ukrainian, character of the
city). The image of Lviv as a European city, present in the minds of its
inhabitants, is rather a declarative, nostalgic reconstruction of the
golden age, rather than a reflection of new European values. Lviv is
often defined as the leading or unique part of Ukraine, and the
inhabitants of Lviv as the last stronghold of the national idea, and at
the same time as the heart, as the source from which this idea will be
revived or has already been revived. Outside Lviv, its residents often
have to deal with the stereotypical attribution of nationalism just
because they are from Lviv, even if they themselves belong to one of the
city's national minorities. Nevertheless, in opposition to this
definition, a new Lviv identity is emerging, which is built on the ideas
of the city's multicultural past.
In 1904, the former residents
of Lviv - Germans, Poles and Ukrainians - founded the settlement of
Lemberg (the German name for Lviv) in Canada, which in 1907 received the
status of a city.
The city is the administrative center of the Roman Catholic Church,
and until August 21, 2005, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The
city's population has a complex confessional structure: about 35% of all
religious communities in the city belong to the UGCC, 11.5% to the UAOC,
about 9% to the UOC-KP, and 6% to the RCC. In addition, the city has
religious organizations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow
Patriarchate, the Armenian Apostolic Church, Orthodox and Reform Jews,
Hasidim and many Protestant churches. The city has a Catholic University
of the UGCC and a theological seminary of the UOC-KP.
In June
2001, Pope John Paul II visited the city. Here he celebrated the Mass
according to the Latin rite and took part in the liturgy of the
Byzantine rite. In Lviv, he visited the Latin, Greek Catholic churches
and the Armenian church. 350,000 believers took part in the Latin Rite
service in Lvov, of which 35,000 came from Poland. A large number of
young people came to the meeting with the Pope, which was held in Sikhov
(a district of the city).
Religious buildings
Armenian Church
(Armyanskaya st., 7-13)
Bernardine Church and Monastery (Sobornaya
Square, 1-3)
Dominican church and monastery (Museum Square, 1)
Chapel of the Boims (Cathedral Square, 1)
Cathedral (Latin) Cathedral
(Cathedral Square, 1)
Church of St. John the Baptist (Stary Rynok
Square, 3)
Catholic church and monastery of the Benedictines
(Vechevaya st., 2)
Church of the Barefoot Carmelites (20 Vynnychenko
St.)
Catholic church and monastery of Barefoot Carmelites (30
Vynnychenko St.)
Catholic Church of Casimir (Kryvonos street, 1)
Church of the Clares (Mytnaya sq.)
Church of Mary Magdalene (St. S.
Bandera, 8)
Church of Mary of the Snows (Snezhnaya st., 1)
Church
of Martin (Zholkivska St., 8)
Church of St. Anthony (Lychakivska St.,
49a)
Church of St. Elizabeth (Kropyvnytsky Square)
Church of St.
Lazarus and the cells of the monastery (Kopernik St., 27)
Church of
St. Nicholas (Shcherbakov St., 2)
Church of Saints Peter and Paul of
the Jesuit Order (Teatralnaya st., 11)
Church of St. Sophia (St. I.
Franko, 121a)
Church of Ursula (Green st., 11)
Synagogue "Beis
Aaron ve Yisrael" (Brothers Mikhnovsky str., 4)
Cathedral of St.
George (Sq. St. George, 5)
Assumption Church (Russkaya st., 7 -
Podvalnaya st., 9)
Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Pekarskaya St.,
59)
Church and Monastery of St. Onuphrius (Bogdan Khmelnitsky St.,
36)
Church of the Intercession, former Church of the Mother of God of
Ostrobramskaya (Lychakivska St., 175)
Church of the Transfiguration
of the Lord (Krakowska St., 26)
Church of St. George the Victorious
(Korolenko St., 3)
Church of St. Nicholas (Bogdan Khmelnitsky St.,
28)
Church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa (B. Khmelnitsky St., 77)
Church of Saints Peter and Paul (Lychakivska St., 82a)
Church of St.
Clement Pope (St. General Chuprynka, 70)
In Lvov, right-wing and nationalist political forces are most popular; support for the parties of the left spectrum and the Party of Regions is much less, but noticeably higher than in other constituencies of the Lviv region. In the parliamentary elections of 2006, votes in favor of the main political forces were distributed as follows: Our Ukraine - 34.4%, BYuT - 27.3%, Party of Regions - 6.5%, SPU - 3.0%, KPU - 1.5 %. In the early parliamentary elections of 2007, all major political parties (with the exception of the Socialist Party) received even greater support: Our Ukraine - 35.3%, BYuT - 45.1%, Party of Regions - 8.7%, SPU - 1.0% , CPU - 2.5%.
The main body of power in the city (urban community) is the Lviv City
Council, which is elected by the residents of the community. The city
council consists of 64 deputies and the mayor of Lviv. Council meetings
are chaired by the mayor. It has three deputies:
first deputy
city chairman
Deputy City Chairman for Urban Development and
Infrastructure
Deputy City Chairman for Humanitarian Affairs.
Each
district of Lviv has a district administration, headed by the respective
chairman of the district administration, appointed by the mayor of Lviv.
Mayors of Lviv in 1990-2000s:
1988-1991 - Kotik, Bogdan
Dmitrievich
1991-1994 - Spitzer, Vasily Ivanovich
June 1994 -
April 2002 - Kuybida, Vasily Stepanovich
April 2002 - September 27,
2005 - Bunyak, Lubomir Konstantinovich
September 27, 2005 - April 25,
2006 - Siryk, Zinoviy Orestovich (acting mayor)
from April 25, 2006 -
Sadovy, Andrey Ivanovich.
As a result of the 2006 local elections
in the city council, the deputy mandates were distributed as follows:
Our Ukraine - 24.57% (32 deputies, head of the faction - Vasily Trach)
Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko - 19.48% (25 deputies, head of the faction -
Yury Gudima)
Civil party "It's time" - 8.06% (11 deputies, head of
the faction - Markiyan Ivashchyshyn)
All-Ukrainian Association
"Svoboda" - 6.68% (9 deputies, head of the faction - Vasily Pavlyuk)
Ukrainian People's Party - 5.95% (8 deputies, head of the faction -
Yuriy Kuzhelyuk)
The Reforms and Order party - 3.97% (5 deputies,
head of the faction - Oleg Bas).
According to the results of the 2010
elections in the city council, out of 90 deputies, VO "Svoboda" was
represented by 55 deputies, "Front for Change" - 7, Party of Regions -
6, "Catholic Ukraine" - 4, People's Movement of Ukraine - 3, "Our
Ukraine" - 3 , SE "Time" - 3, Republican Christian Party - 3, "Blow" -
3, "Reforms and Order - 1", "For Ukraine" - 1, Agrarian Party of Ukraine
- 1 deputy.
As a result of the 2015 local elections:
Bloc
Petro Poroshenko "Solidarity" - 23.81% (20 seats)
Self-help - 16.67%
(14 places)
Freedom - 14.29% (12 seats)
Batkivshchyna - 10.71% (9
seats)
Citizenship - 9.52% (8 seats)
UKROP - 7.14% (6 seats)
Radical party of Oleg Lyashko - 5.95% (5 seats)
Civil Movement
"People's Control" - 5.95% (5 seats)
People's Movement - 5.95% (5
seats)
Lviv remains a significant industrial center of Ukraine. 95% of the
national production of lighting lamps, 100% of the production of
forklifts, 11% of the production of buses are concentrated in the city.
At the beginning of the 21st century, 240 enterprises of various forms
of ownership form the basis of the industrial complex.
During the
years of Ukraine's independence, the structure of industrial production
has changed significantly. Since the 1960s, the leading place among the
areas of industry has been occupied by mechanical engineering and
metalworking (back in 1991, 59.3% of the total volume of industrial
production), where products of the military-industrial complex, namely
instrument making, prevailed. During the years of independence, the food
industry became dominant, the share of which at the end of 2001 was
39.4%; the share of engineering and metalworking products amounted to
17.6%, light industry 6.2%, chemical and petrochemical 6.0%, energy
4.9%, building materials industry 5.5%.
The last 10 years have
been characterized by the development of tourism and the IT industry,
which makes Lviv a major tourist and IT hub in Eastern Europe.
The largest industrial enterprises:
PJSC Concern Galnaftogaz;
CJSC
"LFK Svitoch" - production of cocoa, chocolate and sweets;
OJSC "Lviv
Brewery" - beer production;
JSC "ShP Rassvet" - leather industry;
JSC "Iskra" - production of lamps;
Electron JSC - production of TV
sets;
Lviv Bus Plant - an automobile manufacturing enterprise;
Lviv Jewelry Factory - jewelry manufacturing;
Lviv Aircraft Repair
Plant - an enterprise of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine;
Lviv armored plant - repair, maintenance, re-equipment and modernization
of armored vehicles;
Lviv Conveyor Building Plant - an enterprise of
heavy and hoisting and transport engineering;
JV Elektrontrans LLC -
production of trolleybuses, trams and electric buses, opened in 2011;
Fujikura Automotive Ukraine Lviv LLC - production of automotive
components for leading European automotive manufacturers, the plant was
opened in 2016;
Bader Ukraine - production of components for German
cars Audi and BMW, opened in 2016;
ATZT "Lviv Zhirkombinat" -
production of oil and fat products;
OJSC "Lviv Locomotive Repair
Plant" - repair of electric locomotives;
JSC "Lviv Khladokombinat" -
a manufacturer of ice cream and frozen semi-finished products;
CJSC
"Enzym" - yeast production;
CJSC "Lviv Distillery" - production of
vodka, liqueurs;
OJSC "Lviv City Dairy Plant" - production of dairy
products;
SUSHAO "Vesna" - clothing production;
Garment factory
"Blue Moon Clothing", opened in 2015[80];
Concern Hlebprom OJSC, Lvov
Bakery Plant OJSC, Lvov Bakery No. 1 OJSC, Bakery No. 5 — production of
bakery products.
There are 219 large industrial enterprises,
almost 9 thousand small enterprises, more than 40 commercial banks, 4
stock exchanges, 13 investment companies, 80 insurance companies, 77
audit firms, 24 leasing companies in Lviv.
According to the Main
Department of Statistics in the Lviv region as of 01.01.2013, the level
of registered unemployment in Lviv was 1.0%. The unemployment rate in
the Lviv region in 2012 was higher than in Lviv, and amounted to 7.5% of
the population aged 15-70 years. The average monthly salary in Lviv in
February 2013 was 2,765 hryvnia ($345.9).
The city is the leader
in Ukraine in terms of the growth in the number of tourists. Thus, in
2008-09 their number increased by 40%. More than 1 million people visit
Lviv every year. Tourism revenue in 2011 was $462 million (16% of the
city's GDP).
Over the past few years, Lviv has become one of the
leading information technology centers in Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
25% of all programmers in Ukraine work in Lviv (although less than 2% of
the total population of Ukraine lives in the city). Back in 2009, KPMG
recognized Lviv as one of the most promising cities for the development
of outsourcing in the IT industry. There are more than 30 IT companies
in Lviv that work in the areas of software development, outsourcing and
web development. The most famous Lviv IT company is SoftServe, which is
considered the largest IT company in Ukraine.
An innovative
economy is a priority for the development of Lviv, defined in the main
strategic documents of the city, such as the "Strategy for increasing
the competitiveness of Lviv until 2015" and "Comprehensive strategy for
the development of Lviv 2012-2025". According to the developed Strategic
Plan for Attracting Investments, the priority investment projects are: a
project for the management of solid domestic waste, the construction of
a technology park in the Ryasne region and a business park near the
airport.
Lviv Concern-Electron produced the first Ukrainian
low-floor tram Electron T5L64 in 2013. The company also manufactures
household (trucks, snowplows, etc.) and highly specialized equipment
(ambulances, fire trucks, etc.).
Industry location areas
Historically, in industrial terms, the northern region stood out for a
long time, located between the hills of Rostochya in the east, Kortumova
Gora in the west and the Poltva River. Its development was facilitated
by the proximity to the Podzamche railway station and lower land rent,
since this area was not included in the city until 1931. In the second
half of the 20th century, the region was formed as the center of light
and food industries. Here were concentrated: a leather processing plant,
a paint and varnish and gas plants, a large bakery, an oil plant, a meat
processing plant, a confectionery factory, a fish-smoking plant, a
brewery, a distillery, as well as glass enterprises, the location of
which was due to the presence of sand. A tool factory stood out among
the enterprises of the metalworking industry.
The Western
industrial region basically coincides with the boundaries of the
Zheleznodorozhny (Zaliznychny) administrative region, and was the basis
of Lviv mechanical engineering. Its transport needs were served by the
Lvov-Glavny and Kleparov stations. Until the 1990s, a plant for forklift
trucks, a steam locomotive repair plant, and a plant named after A.I.
Lenin, Lvovselmash, a motor plant, the Electron plant and food industry
enterprises: a bakery, a fat plant, a dairy plant, a confectionery
factory. In the 1980s, the Ryasne industrial hub was formed outside the
city, which became part of the western industrial region.
The
southern industrial sector gravitates towards the Persenkovka and
Sknilov railway stations. Its basis is represented by enterprises of the
electrical and energy industries (the Iskra plant, an insulator plant, a
plant of electrical household equipment), as well as the Lviv Bus Plant.
A group of brick factories and a building materials factory are also
concentrated here.
Mail
The first postal service in Lvov (it is also the first on the
territory of Ukraine) was organized in 1629 by the Florentine merchant
Roberto Bandinelli, the grandson of the famous sculptor Baccio
Bandinelli. The first permanent postal routes were organized in two
directions: to Zamostye - Lublin - Warsaw - Torun - Gdansk and to
Yaroslav - Rzeszow - Tarnow - Krakow. On request, parcels were also sent
to other destinations. Bandinelli's couriers were famous for their
speed. They delivered mail to the cities of northern Italy at an
incredible speed for that time - in just two weeks. The post office
itself was housed in house number 2 on Rynok Square (Palazzo
Bandinelli). Over time, the Lviv Post began to constantly serve the
route to Kamianets-Podilskyi, thus entering the system of the royal post
of Poland.
During the Austro-Hungarian period, there were 21 post
offices in the city, which, in addition to the central one, which
existed since the 18th century, were opened from 1862 to 1900. In 1890
on the street. Slovatsky, 1, the construction of a new building of the
Lviv Post Office was completed, where the Directorate of Posts was
located.
To date, more than 6.5 thousand people work at the Lviv
Post Office. The post office offers both classical services and modern
ones, such as electronic postal transfer.
Telephone
The first
telephones appeared in Lvov in 1885. And on December 18, 1885, Gazeta
Lwowska printed a list of the first "subscribers of the Telephone
Society", among which were: administrative authorities - 7 (courts,
prosecutor's office, police, regional department), cultural institutions
- 3, fire protection - 2, doctors - 7 , hospitals - 2, banks - 6,
offices - 2, trading houses - 6, factories - 5, railways - 3, hotels -
3, editorial offices - 3 (Dziennik Polski, Gazeta Narodowa, Gazeta
Lwowska), lawyers - 8, private persons - 16. The telephone service
worked around the clock. First address: theater house, 3rd floor, pl.
Golukhovskikh (now Torgovaya Square). Orders were accepted from 9 am to
12 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm. In 1896, Lvov was already equipped with
telephones up to the suburbs, and telephones were installed in the
provinces. A significant impetus to the development of telephone
communications was given by the opening in June 1896 of the
Krakow-Vienna line.
Until 1922, the telephone service was
subordinate to the Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs in Lvov. In 1922,
the Polish Telephone Joint Stock Company was organized in Warsaw, its
department in Lviv was called the Office of Lviv Telephones and was
located at ul. Copernicus, 34. On September 23, 1925, the society
received permission from the city authorities to build their own
building on the street. Sixtuskaya (now - Petro Doroshenko Street), 26.
In 2003, the national telecom operator of Ukraine OJSC "Ukrtelecom"
replaced most of the six-digit fixed-line numbers in Lviv with
seven-digit ones. Accordingly, the former telephone code of the city
0322 has changed to 032, in the international format: +38032. As of
2005, six-digit numbers remained that began with 52, 59, 63, 64, 69. Now
they have been replaced by 252, 259, 263, 264, 269, respectively.