Contemporaries used to say that Lvov had “few Russians but much of Russia.” All this imbued the Renaissance in Lvov with unique local features. Local artistic traditions which had deep roots in ancient Russia were too viable to give way under the impact of new influences. They forced the architects, sculptors and painters from abroad to [...]]]>

Contemporaries used to say that Lvov had “few Russians but much of Russia.” All this imbued the Renaissance in Lvov with unique local features.
Local artistic traditions which had deep roots in ancient Russia were too viable to give way under the impact of new influences. They forced the architects, sculptors and painters from abroad to adapt themselves in part to the traditions of local architecture. That is why Lvov architecture of the Renaissance age acquired the inimitable, original coloring that accounts for the town’s characteristic appearance.
The Church of the Assumption earliest building dates back to the early 14th century when Lvov was under the rule of the Calician Princes. After it collapsed it was followed by two more churches. The third was burnt down in 1571.  Twenty years later the Stauropegia (Greek Orthodox Church) Fraternity raised the fourth Church of the Assumption which has survived to our day. It was completed in 1629 and consecrated two years later.

Church of the Assumption (Uspenskaya Tserkov) ensemble a few steps from the Arsenal, which is a masterpiece of 16th century Ukrainian architecture and one of Lvov’s earliest and best monuments of the Renaissance. In Lvov the Renaissance was extremely complex and original in character. It was influenced by Western Europe through Italy and the nearby countries [...]]]>

Church of the Assumption (Uspenskaya Tserkov) ensemble a few steps from the Arsenal, which is a masterpiece of 16th century Ukrainian architecture and one of Lvov’s earliest and best monuments of the Renaissance.
In Lvov the Renaissance was extremely complex and original in character. It was influenced by Western Europe through Italy and the nearby countries of Poland, Bohemia, Germany and Hungary. Lvov cosmopolitan make up – it was often called the “town of a hundred peoples” – lent itseif to the mingling of these outside influences.
Lvov entire history explains the profound and organic assimilation of the ideological and aesthetic foundations of the Renaissance. Having exchanged its former feudal vassalage for a relative independence Lvov became wealthier and stronger and even the powerful kings of Rzeczpospolita had to reckon with it. The bourgeoisie gained in strength; merchants, usurers and well-to-do artisans began to play an active role in the town council. Merchants, doctors, poets, scholars, painters, masters and apprentices from Lvov made frequent visits to Cracow, Prague, Moldavia, Silesia, Nuremberg, Paris, Italy and Muscovy. They returned enriched with knowledge, full of exciting impressions and new ideas that abounded in that turbulent age.

Of the same “age” as Powder Tower is the Town Arsenal (Gorodshoi Arsenal) – it was built in 1554-1556. Town Arsenal is  Situated further along the podvalnaya street. Arsenal Town is a long one-store building shaped in the form of an irregular rectangle with a beveled corner.

During the Swedish attack in 1704 the Arsenal was [...]]]>

Of the same “age” as Powder Tower is the Town Arsenal (Gorodshoi Arsenal) – it was built in 1554-1556. Town Arsenal is  Situated further along the podvalnaya street. Arsenal Town is a long one-store building shaped in the form of an irregular rectangle with a beveled corner.

During the Swedish attack in 1704 the Arsenal was ruined but two years after that it was rebuilt again. It was restored in the years 1979-1981. Currently it’s a museum of weapons – mostly cold weapons. It has one of the biggest collection of a cold weapons in Ukraine. There are hundreds of knifes and bayonets from ancient days till nowadays.

From Arsenal Street you can see a nice view of the remaining 14th-15th century walls; and from the northern side – the remnants of an “octagonal tower” which in olden times was usually defended by the guilds of rope-makers and masons. The thick stone walls and loophole windows are reminiscent of a fortress. The well-developed cornice and its horizontal partition belong to the Renaissance style of architecture. In 1799 a memorial plaque was installed on the southern wall of the Arsenal. Dating to 1655 it has the coats of arms of Lvov and two prominent Polish magnates (Sobesky and Yabl0novsky) taken from the dilapidated walls encircling the town.

Lvov grew rapidly. The outskirts merged with Lvov proper, the nearby villages were turned into suburbs. Following the partition of Poland in 1772 Eastern Galicia fell to the Austrian Empire. The medieval walls and ramparts were – destroyed in the direuct and figurative meaning of the word. Numerous ancient churches and fortifications were either torn [...]]]>

Lvov grew rapidly. The outskirts merged with Lvov proper, the nearby villages were turned into suburbs. Following the partition of Poland in 1772 Eastern Galicia fell to the Austrian Empire. The medieval walls and ramparts were – destroyed in the direuct and figurative meaning of the word. Numerous ancient churches and fortifications were either torn down or remodelled – the Austrians were not concerned about the cultural and historical relics of a tributary state. Of those vestiges that have been preserved there is the Powder Tower (porohhovaya Bashnya) that was built between 1554-56. This large, monolithic structure of roughly-hewn stone boulders in podvalnaya Street is quite impressive with its narrow loopholes that make a striking contrast with the powerful walls (three metres thick at the base). It has been restored at 1954and remodelled and it is now used as the Architects’ Club. Powder Tower is the only tower that have remainded till this days from the 17th towers that was built.

Lions are a very popular theme in Lvov

Like most medieval towns Lvov was heavily fortified. The internal wall with four corner towers was followed by an outer wall which had seventeen towers and was surrounded by a moat filled with water. Then came the ramparts and bastions along Valovaya Street, Square of Daniil Galitsky (Ploshchad Daniila Galitsga) . The town had two [...]]]>

Like most medieval towns Lvov was heavily fortified. The internal wall with four corner towers was followed by an outer wall which had seventeen towers and was surrounded by a moat filled with water. Then came the ramparts and bastions along Valovaya Street, Square of Daniil Galitsky (Ploshchad Daniila Galitsga) . The town had two Gateways – the Galitsk and Cracow Gates, and two gates – the Yezuitslwya (near the church of the Jesuits) and Basatskaya (from the Russian “bosoi” meaning barefooted), at the end of Ruthenian Street which were used for communication with the Monastery of the Barefooted Carmelites (Manastyr Easy kh Karmelitav).

There was a time when these walls, ramparts and moats enabled the town to repel many sieges. But the years took their toll, and by the 18th century they were no longer a protection against artillery fire and other new means of warfare.

In the 14th and 15th centuries the shortspelled decline gave way to a new economic revival. Once again Lvov gained fame as an important commercial centre on the great trade routes to the North, East and South from the markets of the West and became a serious rival of merchant Krakow (sometimes also written as [...]]]>

In the 14th and 15th centuries the shortspelled decline gave way to a new economic revival. Once again Lvov gained fame as an important commercial centre on the great trade routes to the North, East and South from the markets of the West and became a serious rival of merchant Krakow (sometimes also written as Cracow)  . In 1356 it was given a wide degree of autonomy by the Magdeburg Right. At that time only the Catholics enjoyed all the rights of full-fledged urban dwellers. The rights of the Ukrainians were limited in many respects, including their place of settlement and commercial activities. Only in 1745 were Ukrainians given more or less free access to the craft shops and town management bodies. It is no easy task to get a true picture of Lvov of the 14th and 15th centuries. Somewhat later Sebastian Klonowicz (Acernus), a prominent 16th century Polish poet, described the town in his poem Raxalania in Latin: “castles with gates and beautiful houses, majestic halls;” a town where “the towers reach the clouds, the buildings raise their roofs to the azure heights.”

Following Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street back to the foot of the High Castle and turning left one comes upon a broad boulevard overgrown with trees and shrubbery.  On the right is Podvalnaya Street (”Ulitsa Podualnaya”) crossed by Valovaya Street (”Ulitsa Valovaya”) at the far end.

The names Podvalnaya (”Under the rampart”) and Valovaya (”Rampart”) are reminiscent of [...]]]>

Following Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street back to the foot of the High Castle and turning left one comes upon a broad boulevard overgrown with trees and shrubbery.  On the right is Podvalnaya Street (”Ulitsa Podualnaya”) crossed by Valovaya Street (”Ulitsa Valovaya”) at the far end.

The names Podvalnaya (”Under the rampart”) and Valovaya (”Rampart”) are reminiscent of the days when medieval Lvov was surrounded with high ramparts and deep moats.

In the middle of the 14th century the town built by Daniil Calitsky and his successors fell into decay. On the orders of Casimir III (”the Great”) a new town was founded nearby in 1350. The old wooden Lviv of Prince Calitsky could not withstand the fire of 1381 and suffered considerable damage.

In the second half of the 14th century Okolny Corod acquired the status of a suburb. The new Lviv was settled mainly by the secular and ecclesiastic nobility, wealthy merchants and craftsmen. The bulk of the population kept to the suburbs:  Galitskoye, Cracowskoye, Lichakovo, Kleparovo, etc., leading an impoverished life in their wretched mud hovels. These were the people who built the new Lvov. “It was fed by the Ukrainian peasant,” wrote Yaroslav Galan, “its walls were raised by the Ukrainian workers and it made no difference whether these were the walls of a dwelling house, a belfry or a nobleman’s palace.”

Saint Paraskevi church is particularly known for its remarkable iconostasis consisting of more than seventy individual fragments. This church is a true masterpiece of Ukrainian part of the 16th-17th centuries. Painters whose names are unknown managed to achieve an intriguing combination of vivid national co louring coupled with western influence. In Lviv one often comes [...]]]>

Saint Paraskevi church is particularly known for its remarkable iconostasis consisting of more than seventy individual fragments. This church is a true masterpiece of Ukrainian part of the 16th-17th centuries. Painters whose names are unknown managed to achieve an intriguing combination of vivid national co louring coupled with western influence. In Lviv one often comes across traditional iconography and compositional methods of Ukrainian painting influenced by the North Italian Renaissance and the German-Flemish school of painting. The gold-plated wooden iconostasis will astonish you with its elaborate fretwork and tracery.

Although Saint Paraskevi church is small in size, it is an imposing structure. Thick, roughly hewn walls and small windows speaks of times when the church was not only a spiritual center but also a fortress, a place of refuge from the enemy.
A close survey of the church’s architectural and constructive features reveals elements of Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque styles and also of the late Renaissance period. Its clearly defined, unbroken composition, light-flooded majestic interior contribute much to its value as a monument of Lviv architecture of the 17th century which continued and developed the Ukrainian building traditions and those of local architecture in particular.