Old city- this is at most 5% of the area of ​​the historical center of Lviv. Most of it is the Austrian Lemberg, which emerged in the same years as most Russian cities: 1780-1930s. Having seized half of the half-dead Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrians quickly began to bring European standards of the 18th century here, and first of all they demolished the fortress walls of the Old Town, hid the Poltova River flowing under them in a pipe, and in its place they organized a new city center.
The axis "Freedom Avenue - Mickiewicz Square - Shevchenko Boulevard" is the Lviv analogue of Nevsky Prospekt, Champs Elysees, Wenceslas Square. The length of this axis is small - about half a kilometer.

Let's start the walk from where we stopped in the first part. We came from the right, and to the left of the frame northern region The Old Town, which I talked about in the previous 4 posts (Town Hall doesn’t count from there). Directly ahead, the closing Svoboda Avenue is the Opera House:

The Lviv Opera (until 1939 the Bolshoi City Theater) is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful theaters in the world. In general, Austria-Hungary was especially successful in the architecture of train stations and theaters, and in Lviv both buildings are also at their best.

The theater was built in 1895-1900 according to the design of the director of the Lviv Industrial School Zygmund Gorgolevsky directly above the Poltva riverbed.

But the theater building itself is just a preparation, and the sculptural decoration, on which a dozen masters worked (Voitovich, Popel, Pech and others), made the Lviv Opera a masterpiece:

Facade of the Opera from Svobody Avenue:

Individual sculptures:

Alas, in fine arts, theater and antiquity, I’m not strong - so I don’t know anything about the meaning of most sculptures. By the way, now the theater bears the name of Solomeya Krushelnitskaya, a great opera singer (1872-1952), a native of Galicia (more precisely, even the Ternopil region).
Square in front of the theater:

As already mentioned, Svoboda Avenue was created at the end of the 18th century on the site of Nizhny Vali, and until 1855 it was called that. In 1855-71, the even and odd sides were called Upper and Lower Karl Ludwig streets; in 1871-1919 - Karl Ludwig and Hetman's, in Polish vernacular both sides were called Hetman's Walls, but Legion Street became official in Poland; in 1940 - 1st May Street; in 1941 - Operstrasse and Muzenstrasse (Opera Avenue and Muses Avenue), in 1942-44 - Hitler Square, then again Legions and Hetman Square. In 1945-59 - again May Day Street, in 1959-1990 - Lenin Avenue, and finally after 1990, Svoboda Avenue.

However, I don’t know why this is a “prospect”. Its length is only 350 meters, and it would be more correct to say “boulevard”.

There are many outstanding buildings on the avenue. For example, National Museum named after Andrey Sheptytsky - built in 1898-1900 on the site of the Low Castle as an Industrial Museum (there was a huge industrial fair in Lviv), until 1941 (not until 1939!) - City Museum, looted by the Nazis (including a unique collection of watches) . In 1950-1990 - the Lenin Museum (I find it difficult to even say what was there), and since 1990 the National Museum, created back in 1905 by the Greek Catholic Metropolitan, Ukrainian ideologist Andrei Sheptytsky, moved here. Nowadays this is perhaps the best collection of Ukrainian art.

I adequately photographed this pair of buildings (popularly the Bank Gate) only from the Town Hall Tower (from the ground, all three times I passed here, the light was poor). On the right is the Prague Bank (1911-12), on the left is the Galician Credit Office (late 19th century). Patterns of late and early secession, respectively:

The credit desk is now occupied by the Ethnographic Museum (collections of ethnographic and artistic crafts):

And on the roof there is a unique decoration - the Statue of Liberty. In general, in fact, this is not a proper name, but a type of monument (it’s just that the largest one is in New York) - they are in Paris, Budapest, Riga, there was even one in Moscow in 1918-41. But only in Lviv is the seated Statue of Liberty:

Opposite is the Jesuit Cathedral, the Latin Cathedral and the Market between them. In the foreground is an extremely interesting monument to Taras Shevchenko, erected on the site of the monument to Lenin (1988-1992). However, the Renaissance Wave nearby (1996) attracts more attention:

In general, a monument to Taras Shevchenko in Ukraine is now erected in every city, just as monuments to Lenin once were. And these new Shevchenkos look like Lenins, only with a mustache and no beard. And as in the case of the Lenins, the most original monuments to Shevchenko were erected at the dawn of the era.

Grand Hotel (1893) - interesting because it was built on the site of the house in which the notorious Sacher-Masoch lived, who behind someone dick popularized masoch change His house was demolished, probably in a very brutal, dominant and bad way.

In general, the architecture of Prospect is luxurious:

One of the side streets (I think Doroshenko):

This square was created in 1840 on two bridges across Poltva and the territory of former fortifications. Initially - Ferdinand Square (in honor of the Archduke, and not the one whom Princip killed). In 1871-1904 - Mari Square (from the Virgin Mary, and not as a sign of support for Mari separatism). Further to this day - Mickiewicz Square.

The large beige building is the Georges Hotel, known since 1812 (until the mid-19th century - the Rus Hotel). Honore de Balzac, Ethel Voynich, and the Shah of Persia stayed in its old building. But capitalism was already taking its toll - the new building was built in 1900. On the same square there are two monument columns that gave it its name in the corresponding years.

Virgin Mary (1871):

And Adam Mickiewicz. The Lviv monument is almost the best of all existing monuments to the Polish poet. They say that during the interwar period there were plans to move it to Warsaw.

There is also a Lego-style bank building on the square, built in the late 1990s under the guise of reconstruction (and the owner, they say, was one of Kuchma’s relatives). Before arriving, I was sure that this was the only new building in the center of Lviv... but even in the previous parts you can be sure that it is not.
From the square there is an excellent view of the Bernardine monastery:

In the space before it there are also the squares of Daniil Galitsky and Ivan Podkova, shown in the last part. We will go in the other direction - along Shevchenko Boulevard, at the beginning of which there is a huge functionalist building (1930s):

Shevchenko Boulevard is designed very stylishly, and the curved perspective is very impressive. It is similar to Svobody Avenue - but simpler, quieter and more dynamic.

Prosecutor's office building:

But I remembered that Sigmund Freud’s mother was from Galicia (the town of Brody):

Back view:

Another view back:

And opposite this house (here, by the way, at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a “Scottish cafe”, where meetings of various circles and classes were held - including the Lviv mathematical school) I turned and went to wander through the Austrian streets:

Lastly, the yard. I looked for a cafe on Svobody Avenue for a long time, and was surprised that there weren’t any. So I left hungry. The next day, also hungry, angry and wet on the way from Zolochev, I accidentally entered the courtyard through a luxurious gateway:

And I realized how much I had been stupid the day before!

In the following parts about the Austrian city center and surrounding areas - Podzamchye / Old Market and Lychakiv.

GALICIA-2010 .

Ukraine Type Cultural Criteria iv Link Region*** Europe and North America Inclusion 1998 (22nd session)

Coordinates: 50°04′01″ n. w. 19°57′36″ E. d. /  50.06694° N. w. 19.96000° E. d. / 50.06694; 19.96000(G) (I)

*
**
***


Ensemble of the historical center of Lviv or Old city(ukr. Ensemble of the historical center of Lviv, Stare Misto listen)) is an area in the central part of the city of Lviv (Ukraine), which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At the 22nd Committee Conference World Heritage UNESCO, which took place in Kyoto (Japan) from November 30 to December 5, Lviv was accepted into the World Heritage Site. The UNESCO Committee submitted the following reasons for listing Lviv as a World Heritage Site and meeting such UNESCO criteria:

  • Criterion II: In terms of its urban development and architecture, Lviv is an outstanding example of the synthesis of architectural and artistic traditions Eastern Europe with the same traditions of Italy and Germany;
  • Criterion V: The political and commercial role of Lviv has always attracted a certain number of ethnic groups with different cultural and religious traditions, which made up the city's diverse and yet interconnected communities, as evidenced by the city's architectural landscape.

The territory of the ensemble of the historical center consists of 120 hectares of the ancient Russian and medieval part of the city of Lviv, as well as the territory of the Cathedral of St. George on Svyatoyurskaya Mountain. The buffer zone of the Ensemble of the historical center is determined by the boundaries of the historical area and is about 3000 hectares.

The protection of monuments in the Historical Center of Lviv is carried out by two ministries - the Ministry of Regional Construction and the Ministry of Culture. Despite having a special status, cultural monuments are often subject to restructuring by the citizens, enterprises, and church organizations that own them, which leads to a change in the original appearance or interiors. New buildings are also appearing on the territory of the reserve, introducing dissonance into the historical surroundings. Violation of agreements with UNESCO leads to fears that historical Center Lviv may be excluded from the World Heritage Site.

According to the new master plan of Lviv, transport access to the historical part of the city, primarily to Sródmiescie, should be limited.

Write a review about the article "Historical center of Lviv"

Notes

This is a draft article about the city of Lviv. You can help the project by adding to it.

An excerpt characterizing the Historical Center of Lviv

- Fathers, lights! Young Count! – he cried out, recognizing the young master. - What is this? My darling! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably to make an announcement, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and fell on the young master’s shoulder.
-Are you healthy? - Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- God bless! All glory to God! We just ate it now! Let me look at you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, took off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into the dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young master, and before he had time to reach the living room, something quickly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, same creature jumped out of another, third door; more hugs, more kisses, more screams, tears of joy. He couldn’t make out where and who dad was, who was Natasha, who was Petya. Everyone was screaming, talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- I didn’t know... Nikolushka... my friend!
- Here he is... ours... My friend, Kolya... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Yes, kiss me!
- Darling... and then me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, hugged him; and people and maids, filling the rooms, muttered and gasped.
Petya hung on his legs. - And then me! - he shouted. Natasha, after she had bent him to her and kissed his entire face, jumped away from him and holding onto the hem of his Hungarian jacket, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed shrilly.
On all sides there were eyes shining with tears of joy, loving eyes, on all sides there were lips seeking a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held his hand and was all beaming in the blissful gaze fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him without taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waited and looked for someone. The old countess had not come out yet. And then steps were heard at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't be his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, still unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest, sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed it to the cold strings of his Hungarian. Denisov, unnoticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, a friend of your son,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who was looking at him questioningly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- Darling, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, not remembering herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's action. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha’s hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.

Lviv appeared on the world map in the middle of the 13th century. and was named after Leo, the heir of Prince Danila of Galitsky. Today, the central part of the city is a mixture of Polish, German, Hungarian and Ukrainian architecture. Lviv is a real museum city, the center of which is included in the UNESCO list.

Tourist map of the central part of Lviv. Click to enlarge photo.

Panoramic map of Lviv attractions.

Designations on the map:

Video: “Sim miracles of Lvov!” — an overview of the 7 best attractions of the city. More videos at the end of the article.

1. Market Square

"Heart of the City" and where most started excursion programs. The quadrangular area, measuring 140 by 130 meters, accommodated such architectural monuments, such as the Town Hall, Black Kamenica, “House of Kornyakt” and several palaces of aristocratic families.

2. Restaurants and coffee shops in Lviv

Lviv can rightfully be considered the gastronomic capital of Ukraine. The variety of restaurants and cafes is not limited to the nationalistic “Kryivka” or the fragrant “Lviv Coffee Mine”. Hundreds of themed establishments will easily satisfy the whims of any category of tourists.

3. Kamenitsa of the Scholz-Wolfovich families

The beautiful mansion was built in 1570 and is a fine example of German Renaissance architecture. The top of the kamenitsa is decorated with the Gospel sculptural composition"Baptism".

4. Boim Chapel

The chapel-chapel was consecrated in 1617 and has survived to this day in its original form. The facade of the building is decorated with complex carved elements. Almost all representatives of the local merchant family Boim are buried in the basements of the building.

5. Mountain “High Castle”

Right in the center of Lviv there is the “High Castle” hill (413 m), which stands out noticeably against the background of the rest of the city’s buildings. Once upon a time, the first city fortifications were located here. Equipped at the top of the hill Observation deck With best view to the center of Lviv.

6. Armenian Cathedral

One of oldest temples The city consists of three interconnected courtyards. In the eastern part of the complex there is a Corinthian column from 1726.

7. Assumption Church

Throughout the history of its existence, the temple was the main center of Russian culture in Lviv. The architectural dominant of the complex is the 66-meter belfry tower.

8. St. George's Cathedral

The beautiful temple combines elements of Rococo and folk Ukrainian architecture. For a long time, the cathedral served as the residence of the Greek Catholic metropolitans of Ukraine. In 2001, Pope John Paul II celebrated the liturgy here.

9. Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater

The theater is named after the opera singer Solomiya Krushelnitskaya. The building, built in 1900, seats 1,100 people. There is a beautiful fountain in front of the theater façade.

10. City Hall

The four-story Town Hall with a courtyard acquired its modern appearance in the 30s. XIX century Today, its lower tiers are occupied by the city administration, and on the upper there is an observation deck.

11. Powder Tower and Arsenal

The buildings are part of the powerful fortifications that surrounded Lviv in the 16th-17th centuries.

12. Temple of St. Elizabeth

The church, located on Krapivnitsky Square, is considered one of the best examples of French neo-Gothic architecture.

13. Lychakiv cemetery

The cemetery-museum was opened in 1786. Here, almost every tombstone is a sculptural miracle.

14. Brewing Museum

The first museum of this kind in Ukraine. Located in the basement of Lviv brewery, celebrating its 300th anniversary in 2015.

One of the most atmospheric quarters of the old city. We move along it to the east. Pay attention to the ancient Armenian Cathedral, you can look inside. Before reaching the museum square, pay attention to Drukarskaya Street, which turns right. There is a wonderful one on it.

Dominican Cathedral

We are located on Museum Square, in front of the impressive Dominican Cathedral. It’s easy to notice that the Old Town houses completely different buildings, from different eras and cultures. This cathedral seems to have come here straight from Rome.

Assumption Church

Not far from the cathedral you can easily find the Assumption Church - a little bit of Russian Lviv along with Ruska Street. Be sure to take a look inside to experience the majestic tranquility of this place.

Arsenal

Our path lies further, to Podvalnaya Street. Here is located one of the most ancient buildings in the city - the Arsenal, where the museum of ancient weapons is located. For those interested in antiquity or weapons, this museum will be very interesting, but we recommend visiting it later.

Bernardine Monastery

Let's move towards cathedral square, where there is a beautiful building and again from another era - this time it is the Bernardine monastery. The impressive and slightly gloomy appearance of the cathedral fits surprisingly into its surroundings.

Monument to Shevchenko

Turning into a small street near the monument we find ourselves on Cathedral Square. Here is one of the most beautiful buildings Lviv - Latin Cathedral. The milky walls, sharp edges of the roofs and the soaring tower amaze the imagination. If you are already hungry, you can stop by “Cafe 1” on Kafedralnaya, 5.

Market Square

Here we are in the heart of the Old Town, on Rynok Square, where you can talk endlessly about every house. We took an hour to walk around the square, but you can and should spend more time here during further walks. At the end of the walk, climb the tower to see Lviv from above. Finally, you can have lunch at one of the restaurants on the square, for example “Kriivka” or « Naydorozhcharestoratsiya Galicia”, located at the same address: pl. Rynok, 14. If the pomp of these restaurants does not attract you, we recommend checking out the Centaur restaurant, pl. Market, 34 or a cozy summer cafe.

Lviv, founded in the late Middle Ages, was for several centuries a prosperous administrative, religious and shopping center. The medieval layout of the city has survived to this day practically unchanged (in particular, evidence of various ethnic communities living here has been preserved); many beautiful Baroque and later buildings have also survived.
Criteria: ii, v (cultural heritage site)

Year of inscription on the World Heritage List: 1998

Criteria: ii, v

At the 22nd conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which was held in Kyoto (Japan) from November 30 to December 5, Lviv was accepted into the World Heritage Site. The UNESCO Committee submitted the following reasons for listing Lviv as a World Heritage Site and meeting such UNESCO criteria:

  • Criterion II: In terms of its urban development and architecture, Lviv is an outstanding example of the synthesis of the architectural and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe with the same traditions of Italy and Germany;
  • Criterion V: The political and commercial role of Lviv has always attracted a certain number of ethnic groups with different cultural and religious traditions, which made up the city's diverse and yet interconnected communities, as evidenced by the city's architectural landscape.

The territory of the ensemble of the historical center consists of 120 hectares of the ancient Russian and medieval part of the city of Lviv, as well as the territory of the Cathedral of St. George on Svyatoyurskaya Mountain. The buffer zone of the Ensemble of the historical center is determined by the boundaries of the historical area and is about 3000 hectares.

The protection of monuments in the Historical Center of Lviv is carried out by two ministries - the Ministry of Regional Construction and the Ministry of Culture. Despite having a special status, cultural monuments are often subject to restructuring by the citizens, enterprises, and church organizations that own them, which leads to a change in the original appearance or interiors. New buildings are also appearing on the territory of the reserve, introducing dissonance into the historical surroundings. Violation of agreements with UNESCO leads to fears that the historical center of Lviv could be excluded from the World Heritage Site. According to the new master plan of Lviv, transport access to the historical part of the city, especially in Srodmiescie, should be limited.

The city of Lviv, located in the western part of Ukraine, was founded in the mid-13th century. and for a long time was the center of the Galicia-Volyn principality. The founder of the city, Prince Daniil Galitsky, named it in honor of his son and heir Leo. The importance that the city acquired from the very beginning of its existence was determined by its extremely convenient location at the crossroads of trade routes connecting north and south and east and west of Europe.

The construction of Lviv began with the princely castle, which was built on Castle Hill and is surrounded by powerful fortress walls, ramparts and ditches. A small trading settlement arose at the foot of the mountain - Okolny City. Young Lvov developed rapidly. Its population consisted of representatives of various nationalities, which can be judged by the variety of temples that existed here: in the XIII-XIV centuries. there were two Catholic churches in the city, three Armenian churches and more than ten Orthodox.

However, the development of Lvov was not calm. Like others medieval cities, it experienced many invasions, fires and destruction. From the beginning of the 14th century. Lviv alternately found itself under the rule of the Poles, Lithuanians, and Hungarians, and from 1387 it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for almost 400 years. The fortress built by Daniil Galitsky was destroyed in the middle of the 14th century, and in 1381 the Okolny town was also destroyed by fire. From those times, only fragments of several buildings survived, rebuilt at a later time: these are the churches of St. Nicholas and St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, the churches of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary of the Snows.
Later, on the site of the old castle, King Casimir III built a new one - the High Castle, which repeatedly withstood sieges by enemy troops. But over time, it lost its defensive significance and fell into disrepair in the 18th century. turned into ruins. It is known that at the same time, the Lower Castle, a majestic ensemble of Gothic buildings, also existed under the mountain. In the middle of the 16th century. The castle burned down and was finally dismantled in 1802.

In the XIV century. another historical part of Lviv was founded - New town, or Sredmiescie. Small fragments of the fortress walls that surrounded the city and were demolished at the end of the 18th century have survived to this day, and of the defensive structures only the Powder Tower and the City Arsenal have survived. The construction of many buildings in the Gothic style dates back to the same period. Most of them were destroyed during wars and a severe fire in 1527. The only surviving building of that time is the Cathedral, or Latin Cathedral. Later, the appearance of the cathedral changed somewhat due to decorative additions and extensions. The medieval tombs deserve special mention - the Campian Chapel, striking with its interior decoration made of black, white, red and pink marble, and the Boim Chapel, which, thanks to its carved stone decoration and expressive architectural design of the interior, is recognized as an outstanding monument of pan-European significance.
Outstanding monuments of the XIV-XVII centuries. The ancient residential buildings on Rynok Square, the Benedictine and Jesuit churches, and the Armenian Cathedral, built in the traditions of Byzantine, Old Russian and Armenian architecture, are recognized. The Pyatnitskaya Church with one of the oldest iconostases in Ukraine, the Onufrievsky Monastery, in whose church fence the great enlightener, the founder of Russian and Ukrainian printing Ivan Fedorov, was buried in 1583, the Assumption Church, the ensemble of which includes a high bell tower - the Kornyakt Tower, is widely known. In terms of architectural style, most of these buildings belong to the Baroque and Renaissance.
Architectural monuments dating back to the 18th–19th centuries are the Cathedral of St. George, the Palace of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Metropolitan, the Dominican Church, the buildings of the town hall, the Opera House, as well as many residential buildings. The layout of Śródmieście, surrounded by a system of boulevards and squares, as well as the development of the outskirts, is also of historical value.
In 1975, the historical part of Lviv, where several hundred valuable ancient monuments are concentrated, was declared a State Historical and Architectural Reserve.