Yura Vo
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Sep 02, 2021
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A little bit of history.
The city was founded by the Orthodox, Rusyn prince Danila Galitsky as a defensive fortress on the borders of the Galicia-Volyn principality, with the main purpose to fight the Mongols, and named after the prince's son, Leo.
The first written mention of the city is found in the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle under 1256. From that moment on, the city has been running its chronology - so Lviv is more than 750 years old.
In 1272, Prince Leo transferred the capital of the Rusyn kingdom (as the Galicia-Volyn state was called at that time) to Lviv.
At the end of the XIV century, Galicia-Volyn's principality is declining. The dynasty of Galician princes ends. Taking advantage of the situation, Lviv is captured by the Polish king Casimir III the Great. From that moment Lviv became a part of the Polish state and became a Polish city for many centuries. Leopolis - this is how the city began to be called in the Latin manner. Medieval Lviv, built according to the Western European principle of urban planning with a powerful fortification system, and living according to the Magdeburg Law, is becoming the largest and richest economic and commercial center in that part of Europe.At the end of the XVIII century. as a result of the 3 divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, Poland as a state ceased to exist. Lviv, with a significant part of the modern territory of Western Ukraine, goes to Austria. Over time, this territory gained autonomy and became part of the Austro-Hungarian state under the beautiful name 'Kingdom of Galicia and Vladimir'. Lviv, at the time named Lemberg, became the capital of this Kingdom. It was the Austrians who turned gloomy, run-down, medieval Lviv into a bright, modern, European capital.
About the walk.
The ancient center of the city and its soul is the Market Square and the Town Hall. On the side of the square , framed by the chapels of the Campians and Boims, rises the central Catholic church - the Latin Cathedral. In the Armenian quarter - a cozy Armenian Church, near - the Greek Catholic Church of the Assumption. While being in the Jewish quarter, it is worth visiting the Arsenal. And finally, visit the Bernardine and Dominican cathedrals.
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Old Market Square / Rynok Square
Rynok Square is the history of 7 centuries and the secrets of 45 buildings.
The modern Market Square in Lviv is a unique part of the city, where comfort changes with fun and noise. Here history lurks and modernity is happening here at the same time. Just imagine - on a small area 142 by 129 meters you can see fifty architectural masterpieces at once.
The first written mention of the Market Square is in the old book of Ukraine - the book of minutes of court sessions of the Lviv city council of 1382-1389. It was in the center that court sentences were once carried out. Here stood the pillar of Kara, and later the 'pranker' was erected - a stone symbol of Justice.
The square was built on the model of medieval Western European cities. Therefore, it resembles a circle of 44 houses, to which 8 streets 'converge'. All buildings are architectural monuments that are worth seeing and hearing about their 'biography'.
There are 4 Fountains on Market Square: Neptune, Diana, Amphitrite, Adonis. But in fact, fountains are not fountains at all, but wells. They were built in the first half of the 19th century at every corner of the Square. The water was needed to refresh the products that were sold in the market.
Armenian Cathedral of Lviv
Built in the 14th century, this Catholic cathedral is now part of the Armenian Apostolic Church. -Google.
Built in 1363-1370 AD, the Cathedral served as a storage during Soviet times and was passed to the Armenian Apostolic Church only in 2000, shortly before the visit of Pope John Paul II..
The construction of the cathedral began in 1363 AD by an architect Doring and was financed by two Armenian merchants Jacob from Caffa and Panos from Gaitsarats.. It is said that the Cathedral has much in common with the cathedral of the ancient Armenian capital of Ani..
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An exquisite and mystical temple that hides a magnificent legend within its walls.
There is a legend that the souls of Armenians will go to heaven after the last memory of a person in this world is erased.
Therefore, in the courtyard of the Armenian Church, next to the bell tower, tombstones are laid out with mosaics, which gradually erase the names of the dead, bringing them closer to God.
Museum-Arsenal
The Museum is a department of the Lviv Historical Museum, opened on May 18, 1981 in the premises of the former City Arsenal, an architectural monument of the 16th century. German merchant Martin Gruneweg, according to tours of Lviv, which described Lviv in the early 17th century, noted in 1606 that Lviv residents from the east had a large beautiful Zeichhaus (armory) filled with good weapons and armor, and all this was kept clean and order ”.
Lviv City Arsenal is the only weapons museum in Ukraine and one of the largest in Eastern Europe. Here are samples of weapons from the tenth to twentieth centuries and exhibits from more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The luxurious decoration of many exhibits makes it possible to speak of them as works of applied art.
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This unique fortification, at one time, served as a warehouse of weapons and a prison for captured Ukrainian Cossacks and Haidamaks.
It is a stone rectangular building with an octagonal tower, which today houses a weapons museum.
It is worth noting that the modern building is a restored structure, since the first Arsenal, built in 1430, was destroyed by the Swedes in 1704.
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (Lviv Latin Cathedral)
One of Lviv's most impressive churches. This is a spectacular example of ancient Lviv’s Gothic influence. Officially known as the Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it’s understandable why most just call it the Latin. Constructed in 1360, a relic was incorporated into the first foundation stone by King Kazimir the Great. Both the interior and exterior have evolved throughout the centuries, but the sanctuary and altar have remained unchanged. The cathedral was severely damaged in the fire of 1527. During its restoration in the 18th century, Baroque forms replace those of the Gothic era. The marvellous stained glass windows were incorporated at the end of the 19th century. A cemetery once existed on and around what is now Katedral’na ploscha (Cathedral Square). In 1765 all burials were relocated and further burials forbidden. The cemetery’s chapel, the Chapel of the Boim Family, remains on the site and is a protected historical monument. Pope John Paul II attended mass here on June 26th, 2001.
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Church of Transfiguration
Greek Catholic church founded in 1731 & later reconstructed, with a copper dome & ornate interior. --Google.
Such a motley set of architectural styles presented in their entirety cannot be found either in Lviv or in the whole Ukraine.
These are: a Gothic filling of the internal structure, a rocoque altar, a baroque tower, a couple of Empire sculptures, neo-gothic masverki, modern secession stained glass windows.
To acquire a modern look, the Cathedral was built and rebuilt for about two hundred years. In the main church of the Poles in Lviv, the cult figure of John Paul II was celebrating Mass.
Dominican Church
The Museum is a department of the Lviv Historical Museum, opened on May 18, 1981, in the premises of the former City Arsenal, an architectural monument of the 16th century. The exhibition presents samples of ancient weapons from more than 30 countries. The Gothic Church had to be dismantled in 1748 because of its emergency condition threatened the residents. In its place, a new church was built in 1749 - The cathedral of God's Body. The most talented architect of that time - Jan de Witte worked on the construction project. According to ancient tradition, there were left the most valuable from the dismantled buildings. Therefore, the Dominican Cathedral still preserves the memory of an old Gothic Church - several tombs of the XVIII century, which everyone can see.
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On the site of the Trinitarians' monastery, which was repeatedly exposed to fires and enemy shelling, in the central part of Lviv, the Transfiguration Church was built.
The construction took twenty years. Finishing work took place for another eight years. The temple is notable for the fact that it was the first to be returned to the Greek Catholic Church in 1989.
Palazzo Bandinelli
The Bandinelli Palace is considered to be a very interesting monument of late Renaissance architecture in Lviv, on par with other notable ancient buildings that constitute an original ensemble of the Rynok Square. It was built on the place of an old gothic kamenitsa by the merchant and pharmacist Janush Vedelsky, in the late 16th century. However, it became famous thanks to another owner, Roberto Bandinelli, and was listed in the Lviv history under his name.
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At the beginning of the 17th century, this house belonged to the wealthy Florentine merchant Roberto Bandinelli, who in 1629 opened the first post office in Lviv. It is thanks to the Bandinelli family that the building is better known among connoisseurs of the city's history as the Palazzo Bandinelli.During the 18th-19th centuries, the owners of the townhouse were local Armenians, Austrians, and Poles, who belonged to the wealthy Lviv environment. At the beginning of the 18th century, a major overhaul was carried out, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the wooden elements of the interior.The house is one of the interesting examples of residential architecture of the historic center of Lviv, and is one of the elements of the integral ensemble of Rynok Square, which was formed during the 17-18 centuries.
