Sights of Lviv: photos with descriptions, where to go, what to see, video and map of Lviv attractions. Sights of Lviv: photos with descriptions, where to go, what to see, video and map of Lviv attractions Photographer
City Lviv is the pearl of Western Ukraine. It is located on the Poltva River, 70 km from the border with Poland. The history of the founding of Lvov goes back centuries: the first written mention of it dates back to 1256. According to one version, the city was founded by Prince Daniil of Galicia and named after his son Leo.
The city is rich in historical events and unique architectural monuments. In 1998, the historical center of Lviv was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
We started our acquaintance with the city from Svobody Avenue, where the only ethnography museum in Ukraine. Our attention was immediately drawn to the beautiful dome with the Statue of Liberty on the roof.
This is the only seated Statue of Liberty in the world. (Actually, this is not a statue of liberty, but a statue of frugality).
From the roof of the Museum of Ethnography there is a good view of the monument to Taras Shevchenko and Catholic Latin Cathedral. Its construction began in 1360 and ended in 1479:
City view from the roof of the City Hall. On its tower there is a paid observation deck, from which perhaps the best view of Lviv opens. Before us again is the Latin Council:
Assumption Church- a monument of Renaissance architecture (XVI–XVII centuries). In 1779 the church was damaged by fire. It was rebuilt in 1796:
Dominican church and monastery. During Soviet times, the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism was located here. This is a religious building in Lviv and one of the most significant monuments of Baroque architecture in the city:
Historical city center. In the center - Jesuit Church:
TV tower on Bald Mountain- the tallest building in the city:
Roof Church of Saints Peter and Paul of the Jesuit Order.
It is now closed for reconstruction. This is one of the most iconic buildings in Lviv: length 41 meters, width 22.5 meters, height - 26 meters. The church could accommodate up to 5 thousand believers. This is also the first building in the Baroque style in Lviv.
The church was built in 1610−1630, finishing work continued until 1660.
Now the church is used as one of the book depositories in Lviv.
The church itself has a non-standard layout: its entrance is located in the east, and the altar is in the west.
Lviv Opera House. At the end of the 19th century, Lviv was part of Austria-Hungary, officially called Lemberg and was the capital of a large Austrian province - the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. At the same time, the need arose for a separate building for the theater. The Bolshoi City Theater (as the Opera House was called until 1939) opened on October 4, 1900.
Sculptures on the roof of the Opera House:
Several views from the roof of the Opera House. Monument to the poet Adam Mickiewicz. Its height is 21 meters:
Mariyskaya Square in the evening:
View of the Opera House from the opposite side:
Bernardine Monastery (Church of St. Andrew). Once upon a time it was a Bernardine monastery, with which many interesting stories and legends are associated. A historical monument of the Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque of 1600-1630, this is a monastery from the Middle Ages.
Church of St. Elzbieta. This beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral in Lviv was named after the popular Empress Elisabeth (Zizi) of Habsburg, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary:
This concludes our short walk around Lviv. See you!
Lviv, the capital of Western Ukraine, is a large industrial and commercial center of Ukraine. Its narrow old streets and its historic center make it one of the best places in the country.
Lviv was founded as a fort in the mid-13th century by Danylo Halytsky and was named after his son Lev, which means lion. The lion is the historic symbol of the city. For centuries it has been the Western Ukraine’s main city.
Lviv’s main street is Freedom Avenue. It runs from Mitskevych Square to the Ivan Franko Opera and Ballet Theatre. Also in Freedom Avenue you can see the National Museum which used to be the Lenin Museum. In the middle of the avenue there is a statue of Ukrainian national poet, Taras Shevchenko, and there are always a lot of flowers at its feet.
The Museum of Ethnography, Arts and Crafts, with a statue of Liberty in front, demonstrates furniture and porcelain. Each room presents a different era.
Opposite Lviv University there is a monument to the Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko, from which Ivan Franko Park stretches towards the Hotel “Dniester”.
Lviv’s open-air Museum of Popular Architecture and Life is worth visiting. About 100 old wooden buildings are divided into many ethnographic groups of Western Ukraine.
Shevchenko Avenue attracts people with its beautiful buildings and various shops. There you can find a statue of Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ukraine’s most famous historian and the country’s first president in 1918. The Museum of Old Ukrainian Culture has a nice display of small, carved wooden Carpathian crosses.
Lviv Picture Gallery has one of the largest collections of European paintings in the country, with over 1000 paintings on display, and 5,000 in storage.
Lviv is also famous for its churches and monasteries, among which are the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Assumption Church, St George’s Cathedral, Church of St John the Baptist, Jesuit Church and many others. Lviv is also famous for its Museum of Historic Religions.
Inside the Town Arsenal there is the Museum of Old Arms, with a display of various arms taken from over 30 countries.
Lviv
Lviv is the capital of Western Ukraine and is a major industrial and commercial center of Ukraine. Its narrow ancient streets and historic center make it one of the best places in the country.
Lviv was founded as a fortress in the mid-13th century by Danylo Galitsky and was named after his son Lev. The lion is the historical symbol of the city. For centuries, Lviv was the main city of Western Ukraine.
The main street of Lviv is Svobody Avenue. It stretches from Mickiewicz Square to the Ivan Franko Opera and Ballet Theater. In addition, on Svobody Avenue you can see the National Museum, formerly the Lenin Museum. In the middle of the avenue there is a monument to the Ukrainian national poet Shevchenko, at the foot of which there are always many flowers.
The Museum of Ethnography, Arts and Crafts, with the Statue of Liberty in front of it, displays furniture and porcelain. Each room represents a different era.
Opposite Lviv University there is a monument to the Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko, from which the park named after Ivan Franko stretches all the way to the Dniester Hotel.
It is also worth visiting the Lviv Open Air Museum of Folk Architecture. About 100 old wooden buildings are divided into ethnographic groups of Western Ukraine.
Shevchenko Avenue attracts people with its beautiful houses and shops. There you can find a monument to Mykhailo Grushevsky, Ukraine's most famous historian and the country's first president. The Museum of Ancient Ukrainian Culture has a good collection of small carved Carpathian crosses.
The Lviv Art Gallery has one of the largest collections of European paintings in the country, with more than 1,000 paintings on display, and 5,000 in storage.
Lviv is also famous for its churches and monasteries, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Assumption Church, St. George's Cathedral, the Church of John the Baptist, the Jesuit Church and many others. Lviv is also famous for its Museum of the History of Religions.
Inside the city Arsenal there is a museum of ancient weapons representing more than 30 countries.
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
“The heart of the city” and the starting point for most excursion programs. The quadrangular square, measuring 140 by 130 meters, contained such architectural monuments as the Town Hall, Black Kamenitsa, Kornyakt's House 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 evangelical 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. At the top of the hill there is an observation deck with the best view of the center of Lviv.
6. Armenian Cathedral
One of the oldest temples in 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 the Lviv brewery, which celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2015.
The lion is a large representative of the cat family. Mainly lives in Africa, but a small population remains in India in the Gir forest (Gujarat state). Previously, lions were distributed throughout almost the entire territory of Africa right up to India, but due to the destruction by humans of both the animals themselves and their habitats, the range of lions has noticeably decreased. By the way, fossil remains of lions are also found in southern Europe.
The lion is the only representative of cats whose life is spent in a pack. I call lion packs prides.
Lions have pronounced sexual dimorphism, that is, anatomical differences between males and females (excluding differences in the anatomy of the genital organs). This also distinguishes the lion as an exceptional representative of the cat family.
Lions are not very fast and therefore use various techniques and tricks for hunting. For the same reason, lions hunt mainly at night. Lionesses surround a herd of some herbivores and choose the weakest one.
In the history of mankind, the lion is a symbol of courage and bravery. Lions are often found on the coats of arms of noble families.
A pride of lions consists mainly of females and cubs. There are no more than three males in a pride.
The responsibilities of lions and lionesses in a pride are different. Lionesses are responsible for obtaining food and caring for the cubs. Lions defend territory.
Only at first glance can one assume that lions have no competitors. The most cunning and cruel competitors of lions in Africa are hyenas.
In a one-on-one fight, the lion will emerge victorious, but a pack of hyenas can overpower a lone lion.
Lions eat their prey according to certain rules. The pride leaders eat the most delicious parts of the carcass first, even if they did not participate in the hunt.
The carcass is eaten in a certain order. First they eat the heart, then the liver and kidneys. Only after eating these organs do lions begin to eat meat with skin.
If the leader is very hungry, then he eats all the prey entirely. The rest of the lions go hunting again.
The lion cubs go last. Thus, the weakest members of the pride remain the hungriest.
When the time comes to reproduce, the lion begins to court the lioness, showing her various signs of attention. After mating, the lion and lioness live together until the third month of pregnancy.
Then the pregnant lioness leaves the pride and looks for a secluded place to give birth. Lion cubs are born small and cannot walk for the first 10 days or so of life. The eyes of lion cubs open on the 15th day of life.
Lviv - the city of sleeping lions Lviv stands on seven hills, like Rome Lviv is little Paris, or maybe Paris is big Lviv.
Lviv attracts with its mystery, antiquity and warmth. Lviv is not just an old city, Lviv is a beautiful historical monument, the streets of which are a great pleasure to wander around. Narrow streets paved with paving stones, mysterious Lviv courtyards... Lviv fountains, the Latin Cathedral, the Italian courtyard, the Dominican Church, the Assumption Church, the Armenian Cathedral and the Armenian courtyard, the remains of fortifications with the city and royal arsenal...
And many more interesting things...
Galitskaya Square, Lviv. The monument was erected in 2001, sculptors Vasyl Yarych and Roman Romanovich, architect Yarema Churilyk.
1600-1630, Cathedral Square, Lviv. Previously, it was the Bernardine Church at the monastery of the Bernardine Fathers, also known as the Observant Fathers, who are one of the branches of the Franciscan order. This is where False Dmitry's campaign against Moscow began.
Mytnaya Square, Bernardine Monastery, Lviv
Built in 1554-1556. The city arsenal adjoined the fortress walls of Lviv. During the Swedish attack in 1704, the arsenal was destroyed, but two years later it was rebuilt. Modern restoration was carried out in 1979-1981.
The back of the arsenal from Arsenalnaya Street, Lviv
Built in 1554-1556. It was part of the fortification system of the city of Lviv and served to defend the approaches to the city from the northern side
Powder Tower, Lviv
Installed on the street. Basement near the powder tower in Lviv. According to one version, Ivan Fedorov was from Petkovichi and was born on the border of modern Minsk and Brest regions around 1510. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Krakow.
Museum Square, Lviv. The first stone in the foundation of this majestic, dynamic and exciting structure was laid by Józef Potocki, the great crown hetman and the main donor of the construction, which lasted from 1749 to 1764.
According to legend, on the site of the cathedral stood the tower of Prince Leo, the son of Daniil of Galitsky
Stavropigyskaya Street is one of the oldest streets in Lviv, which leads from Rynok Square to the Dominican Church. For the first time (as Corpus Christi Street) it is mentioned in documents from 1405. The name at that time comes from the fact that the street led to the Dominican monastery, which has the Church of Corpus Christi. Since the 18th century, the name Dominican has stuck. Modern - since 1946 (in honor of the Stavropegian Brotherhood, whose houses were located nearby).
The pharmacy has been operating in the city of Lviv since 1735; it was opened in Lviv, near Rynok Square, by the military pharmacist Natorp.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1363. It was built by the architect Doring (Dore, Dorko) at the expense of the Armenian merchants Yakov from Kafa (Feodosia) and Panos from Gaitsarats.
Musketeers fought with guardsmen in the courtyard in the film “The Three Musketeers.” Armenian Cathedral, Lviv.
Lvov Armenian Archbishop Joseph Teodorovich ordered the young Polish artist Jan Henry Rosen to paint the cathedral. The artist followed the path of synthesis of the Armenian-Byzantine tradition with Western European trends in contemporary art.
The drawings of the new wooden ceiling were made by the architect Movchinsky, who used modernized Armenian and oriental motifs. Lviv
Armenian Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Lviv
“Kamyanitsy with faces”, Lviv
In the middle of the 7th century, there was a lock at this place that regulated the water level of the Poltva River. In 1793, the best Galician restaurant “Under Three Hooks” was located here. Over time, the owners decided to open a hotel called “De Russie”. In the mid-19th century, the hotel was named after its founder - Georges Hoffmann - 'Georges'. Honore de Balzac, Ethel Lilian Voynich, Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, and the Persian Shah Muzaffar ed-Din stayed there. In 1899, this building was demolished, and in 1900 a new building of the Georges Hotel was built (the authors of the project were the architects of the Odessa Opera House G. Helmer and F. Fellner).
Mitskevich Square, Lviv
Theater Square, Lviv
According to the novel by Yaroslav Hasek, Schweik visited Lviv during the First World War. Cafe "Videnska Kava", Lviv
Cafe "Videnska Kava", Lviv
It was built in 1880. This was the apartment of Monsieur de Treville in the film “D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers”.
Behind the fence with ornamental metal gates, a view of the palace opens up, as if transported from the banks of the Seine or Loire.
The founding date is considered to be January 16, 1661, when the decree of the Polish king John Casimir awarded the Jesuit college founded in 1608 the status of an academy and the “title of university.” Formal confirmation of the rights of the academy and university followed in 1758-1759.
Ivan Franko National University, Lviv
Former noble casino, count casino, people's casino, Gerhard casino. The authors of the project were famous Viennese architects G. Helmer and F. Fellner, authors of the Odessa Opera House project. The interiors of the building were often used for filming, including for the film “D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers.”
St. George's Cathedral is the main Greek Catholic cathedral of Lviv, the main shrine of the UGCC.
The first temple was located on the mountain, later called Svyatoyurskaya, back in princely times. The Orthodox wooden church and defensive monastery were built under Prince Lev Danilovich around 1280.
Cathedral of St. George, Lviv
St. Jurassic Cathedral was built in 1744-1770. Since its construction, the temple belonged to the Uniate Basilian Order, and in 1816 the Greek Catholic Archbishop was located here.
st. Podvalna, Lviv
The first Assumption Church existed in princely times and was burned during the attack on Lviv by Polish feudal lords in 1340. Then there was a second and a third who also disappeared in fires. In 1591, construction began for the fourth time on the church that still stands today.
Remains of the fortress wall of the Polish fortress High Castle. Lviv
1830-1835, Lviv
Rynok Square, Lviv
In 1772, city residents, as a sign of protest against the occupation of Lviv by the Austrians, walled up the main entrance to the cathedral. Arches filled with bricks can still be seen today. Since then, for 240 years, the temple can only be accessed through the side entrances.
In 1910, a memorial plaque was installed on the western wall of the temple in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald, in which the Teutonic Order was defeated. During the Nazi occupation the board was destroyed. Now at this place there is a tablet to John Paul II.
They say that when you come here and hold your breath, at one moment you can hear the whispers of lovers... This courtyard for a long time hid the love of the Polish king Jan Sobieski for the French noblewoman Maria Casimira.
Another attraction of Market Square is its unique fountains. Once upon a time, during the reign of the Polish kings, city wells were drilled on Rynok Square. Over time, they disappeared as unnecessary, but in memory of them in 1793, four sculpture fountains were installed on the site of the wells: Neptune, Adonis, Diana and Amphitrite.
Massarovskaya or Venetian Kamenitsa, the name comes from the name of the first owner, Antonio Massari, who came to Lviv in the second half of the 16th century. In 1583, he accepted city citizenship, married one of the richest brides in Lvov and built this house (or rather, converted the old one).
Rynok Square, Lviv
Kamenitsa was built in 1610 and has reached us almost in its original form. In this house, the Cossack leader Ivan Podkova was awaiting death penalty. On the day of his execution, the extension to the town hall collapsed, and this was regarded as a bad sign.
Founded by German merchants and artisans at the end of the 13th century. Lviv
Built in 1609-1617 (according to some sources in 1609-1615). as the family crypt of the Boim family, commissioned by the Lviv merchant Georgy Boim. Lviv
Connected with my grandmother, leading me by the hand for a walk in Kosciuszko Park. Huge old trees, shady paths and cast-iron benches, on which, as if just recently, beautiful ladies in elegant long dresses with small dogs in their arms were sitting.