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.