Lviv - Leopoli

Disambiguation - For toponyms of identical name, see Lviv (disambiguation).

Lviv (in Ukrainian: Львів, transliterated: The viv; in PolishLwów; in Russian: Львов, transliterated: The vov; in GermanLemberg) is a city ofWestern Ukraine.

To know

A pretty city, increasingly popular with international tourism as demonstrated by the increase in arrivals at its airport, which jumped from 1,080,000 in 2017 to 1,598,700 the following year.

From Lviv, interesting and varied excursions are also possible in theWestern Ukraine, a region with a still rural flavor, characterized by bucolic landscapes among the sweet Carpathian hills, very different from the rest of country where monotonous plains and large centers of heavy industry dating back to Soviet times predominate.

A turbulent past is hidden behind the churches and palaces of the small historic center, which refer to atmospheres of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Lviv is a city that suffered a lot during the Second World War; it was the scene of barbarism and dramatic events which should not be forgotten.

How to orient yourself

The market square (Rynok) forms the center of Lviv.The most important avenue in the center is Prospect Svobody, so large as to seem a square, the opera house overlooks it. On its right there is a nice market of antiques and typical embroideries that is worth a visit.

The bottom of the city streets is in very bad conditions and it is dangerous to circulate by motorbike. Apart from monuments you can visit the local brewery (Lvivske) with a museum and tastings included in the entrance ticket.

How to get

By plane

• 49.812523.9561111 Lviv airport. As of 2019, flights to / from Lviv airport were operated by the following airlines:

• Ernest - (from Bergamo, Naples, Rome-Fiumicino).
• Ukraine International Airlines - (from Bologna, Kiev-Boryspil, Madrid, Rome-Fiumicino, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion).
• Ryanair (from Krakow, London--Stansted, Memmingen and Warsaw-Modlin).
• AirBaltic - (from Line).
• Belavia - (from Minsk).
• Lufthansa - (from Munich).
• Wizz Air - (from Berlin-Schönefeld, Bratislava, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Gdansk, Katowice, London-Luton, Vilnius,Wroclaw).

Buses of line 48 and trolleybuses of line 9 connect the airport with the center. In 2019, scheduled buses and minibuses finished their runs around 20:00 so if your plane arrives or leaves in the evening (it often happens) it is advisable to book a service shuttle thus avoiding paying large sums for a taxi ride.

Uber offers this type of service. In 2019, a ride to / from the airport cost around € 15. If you don't feel like registering and downloading the application, you could ask your hotel to book a taxi for you.  

On the train

• 49.83983923.994062 Railway station (Львіів-Головниий). Lviv station is an important hub of national rail transport with frequent connections to Kiev is Odessa. The station building is a magnificent example of Art Nouveau.

There is a link between Krakow and Lviv operated by international night trains. Information on the site IC Poland (enter "Kraków" for Krakow and "Lwów" for Lviv). The journey takes several hours.

A cheaper and perhaps more comfortable alternative is to take a national day train from Krakow to the border town of Przemyśl from where, around 14:30, direct trains leave for Kiev with intermediate stop in Lviv (arrival around 17:30).  

By bus

• 49.786724.01643 Long distance bus station, Stryiska street, 109 (In the Sykhiv district, eastern suburbs. It is served by bus line 18 and by private minibuses). Lviv main station is a three-storey building built between 1976 and 1980. It is equipped with covered and uncovered platforms. Part of the building is used as a hotel.  

The suburban buses can terminate in other parts of the city (at least 10) and it is not always easy to find out between timetables and terminus. Taking an international bus from Polish cities to Lviv could be an even more inconvenient solution than the train as border controls are long.

How to get around

What see

Religious architectures

• 49.84361124.0294441 Transiguration Church (Tserkva Preobrazhennia Hospoda Nashoho Isusa Khrysta), Krakivs'ka 21. The temple was built between 1703 and 1731 as a Roman Catholic church of the SS. Trinity in Baroque forms. In 1783 the monastery was closed by decree of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and the church used as a library of the University. It was destroyed by Austrian artillery fire during the spring riots of 1848.

It was rebuilt according to the original project at the expense of the Greek-Catholic community and rededicated on April 29, 1906 as the Greek-Catholic Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The interior underwent more conspicuous modifications to be adapted to the Eastern rite liturgy.

In the first half of the 20th century, the church became a center of Ukrainian independence and was the first of the Lviv churches to be restored after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.  

• 49.84333324.0308332 Armenian Cathedral (Вірменського собору), Virmenska 7-13. A small temple with an impressive interior. There are kept two icons considered prodigious, one of the Madonna and the other of St. Gregory the Illuminator, brought to Lviv in the 17th century byArmenia. Just north of the temple is a small monastery of Armenian Benedictines and, to the south, adjacent to the bell tower, the archbishop's palace from the end of the 17th century.

A first church was built in the years 1363-1370, at the expense of an Armenian merchant. It is thought to have been modeled after the example of the cathedral of Ani, the ancient Armenian capital.

In 1437 arches were added all around the temple. Only the southern portico survived.

After the fire of 1527 that raged over the city, the stone bell tower was added. The central nave was enlarged a first time in 1630 and a second time in 1723. From the 17th century until 1945, the cathedral belonged to the Armenian Catholic rite. The Cathedral owes most of its present appearance to a renovation carried out in the years 1908-1927 by Archbishop Józef (Joseph) Teodorowicz.

After the Second World War the Soviet authorities decided to suppress the archdiocese. In 1946, the last parish priest, Dionizy Kajetanowicz, was deported to a gulag in Siberia and murdered there together with three other priests in 1954. The cathedral was closed and used as a warehouse.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a handful of Armenian Catholic families attempted to rededicate it. Shortly before Pope John Paul II's visit, the local authorities assigned the cathedral to the Armenian Apostolic Church on the condition that the Armenian-Catholic rite community could also use it.

On 18 May 2003 the cathedral was rededicated in the presence of the then president of theUkraine Leonid Kravčuk and other political and show business celebrities, including singer Charles Aznavour.

Since 2009, the cathedral has undergone a refurbishment process, entirely financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture.  

• 49.84277824.0341673 Dominican church and monastery (Домініканський костел і монастир / Dominikanskyi kostel i monastyr), Muzeina Square 1 (in the historic city center, east of the market square). It was originally the Roman Catholic Church of Corpus Domini and later served as the Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Eucharist.

The Dominican order first arrived in Lviv in the 13th century and the first wooden church was to be built in 1234. Over the following centuries it was rebuilt several times, the last one dating back to 1749. The reconstruction was made possible thanks to the donations of the Polish nobleman Mikołaj Bazyli Potocki who had a chapel built inside where the remains of his mother rest.

The Dominican friars managed to survive the time of Emperor Joseph II who ordered the closure of many monasteries but after the Second World War the complex was occupied by the Soviets, used as a warehouse and in the 1970s transformed into a museum of religion and atheism . With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the temple was returned to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church with the exception of the monastery which still functions as a museum, renamed "Museum of the History of Religion in Lviv".

The church has Baroque shapes, has a Greek cross interior surmounted by a large dome.

The church housed a miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, transferred in 1946 to the church of San Nicola di Gdansk and an alabaster sculpture of San Giacinto from the 13th century also brought in 1946 to the church of San'Egidio in Krakow.  

• 49.84224.03444 Dormition Church (Успенскої церкви), Ruska, 5/7. Temple belonging to the Orthodox autocephalous church ofUkraine and dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God.

The church was erected between 1591 and 1629 in an Italian Renaissance style on the site of another destroyed in the fire in 1571, thirty years after its completion. The temple is also called the Wallachian church because the client was the lord (ospodaro) of Moldavia, Aleksandr Lopuszanin. Next to it stands the bell tower in the form of a massive 65 m high tower, called Korniakt, named after its financier, Constantine Korniaktos, a merchant and patron from Heraklion, Crete. Inside the church is the merchant's tomb and an oil on canvas depicting him in the act of worshiping the crucifix. The tower had the function of warning the population in case of the arrival of enemies and outbreak of fires.

Shortly after the tower was rebuilt, Constantine Korniaktos concluded another contract with the architect Piotr Krassowski. for the construction of a chapel dedicated to the Three Holy Hierarchs: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great is Gregory of Nazianzo. The chapel had the shape of a typical Wallachian church with small dimensions according to the canons of Byzantine architecture and with three domes. The building was destroyed in the fire of 1671 but was rebuilt and decorated with gilded stuccos, polychrome mosaics and Baroque sculptures. The chapel houses the sixteenth-century icon of the transfiguration of the lord.

All three buildings - the Church of the Dormition, the Chapel of the Three Hierarchs and the bell tower - are structured to form a single whole gathered around an internal courtyard with arcades.

Inside the temple you can see the main altar, an example of Rococo where Byzantine influences and the 17th century iconostasis are mixed. The polychrome stained glass windows were made between 1926 and 1930.

The complex was the place of worship for Greeks of the Catholic rite, originally from the Venetian colonies of Candia, Corfu, Zakynthos and dedicated to lucrative trade between the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice and the Russian and Austrian empires. The church belonged to a brotherhood called "Stavropigi of Lviv, very powerful for the donations of rich merchants. The brotherhood is responsible for the first town printing house. The history of the time is documented by the collections of the museum annexed to the church.

In 1946 the temple was taken over by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under a Soviet Union decree banning Catholic worship.  

• 49.841524.02915 Jesuit Church (Костьол єзуїтів), Teatral'na str, 11.  
• 49.84055624.0305566 Latin Cathedral (Латиинський собояр), Katedralna Square 1.  
• 49.83944424.0347227 Bernardini Monastery (Бернардинський монастир), Soborna Square, (Соборна пл.) 1-3.  
• 49.84611124.0297228 Ruins of the Synagogue of the Golden Rose, ☎ 380 322 383 804.  
• 49.83802824.0044449 Tsori Gilod Synagogue.  
• Jakob Glanzer Synagogue, Svyatoho Theodora Square.  

• 49.83874424.01283110 St. George's Cathedral (Cобор св. Юра), Sviatoho Yura Square (Святого Юра пл.) 5 (SW).  

• 49.8574624.012311 Temple of the holy apostle Andrew (Xрам св. Апостола Андрія), Varshavska 38 (Bus 12 or 28, stop 'Strumok'). 
• 49.851824.030612 Parasceva Pyatnitsy Church (Церква св. Параскеви П'ятниці), Khmelnytskoho B. str, 63.  
• 49.849424.02713 Armenian church of Roman Catholic rite (Вірменський костьол), Zamarstynivska 9. 
• 49.8492624.0285114 Church and monastery of Sant'Onofrio (Церква та монастир свОнуфрія), Khmelnytskoho B. 36.  
• 49.8474424.0290315 Church of San Nicola (Церква Cв. Миколая), Khmelnytskoho B. (ulica Bogdana Chmielnickiego,) 28 (Tram 4, 5, 6 to 'Staryi Rynok' Square). 

• 49.84624.007416 Church of the Holy Family (Kостьол Св. Родини ордену реформатів), Shevchenka T. 66 (Tram 7 to 'Turyanskoho'). 
• 49.8425424.0170617 Temple of Sant'Anna (Храм св. Анни), Shevchenka T. 1. 
• 49.8364924.0257418 Church of Santa Clara (Костьол кларисок (св. Клари)), Mytna Square (Мытна пл.) 2. 
• 49.841924.040719 St. George's Cathedral (Церква св. Георгія), Korolenka V. 3. Neo-Byzantine style cathedral, of the Ukrainian Orthodox rite subject to the patriarch of Moscow. 
• 49.83624.022120 Church of the Holy Spirit (Церква Святого Духа), Kopernyka M .. (Коперника М. ул.), 40. 

Civil architectures

• 49.83805624.02694421 Potocki Palace.  
• 49.842524.032522 Bandinelli Palace.  
• 49.8422524.03323 Korniakt Palace.  
• 49.84177524.03324724 Lubomirski Palace.  
• 49.84183524.03132625 Town Hall.  
• 49.8386424.0136326 Archbishop's Palace.  
• 49.83611124.02194427 Sapieha Palace.  
• 49.8424524.032828 The black house.  

• 49.84155624.0371929 Government House.  
• 49.84833324.03888930 Ruins of the high castle.  

Museums

• 49.83701724.02530831 National Gallery of Art.  
• 49.841324.035532 Arsenale Museum.  
• 49.8468424.03123133 Lviv Museum of Ancient Monuments (Музей найдавниших пам'яток Львова), Uzhhorodska (Ужгородська ул), 1, ☎ 380 32 272-2886. Museum set up in the deconsecrated church of San Giovanni Battista. There are archaeological finds and documentation on the history of the city.  
• 49.84305624.02805634 National Museum.  
• Pharmacy Museum.  

Events and parties

What to do

Shopping

• Vinyl Lions Club, Brativ Rohatyntsiv, 24, ☎ 380 97 178 8489. Vinyl record shop. 

Shopping centers

• 49.84969424.02351 Forum Lviv.  
• 49.77305624.0105562 King Cross Leopolis.  

How to have fun

Shows

• 49.84398924.0261781 Theater of ballet and opera.  
• 49.8439524.0272442 Maria Zankovetska Theater. Dramatic art theater.  

Sports shows

• 49.77527824.0277783 ^{[link not working]}Arena Lviv.  
• 49.85277824.0137224 Army Sports Club Stadium.  
• 49.835324.06285 Skif Stadium.  
• 49.81923424.0481936 Ukraina Stadium.  

Night clubs

• 49.8475124.026327 Malevich: concert arena & night club, Viacheslava Chornovola Ave, 2, ☎ 380 50 555 5195. Mon-Sun 21: 00-06: 00. 
• 49.8404924.033128 Music Lab, Brativ Rohatyntsiv, 27. Mon-Sun 00: 00-24: 00. The only Rock Bar in Lviv, open 24h. 
• 49.8275324.045769 ^{[link previously not working]}Picasso (Пікассо), Zelena, 88, ☎ 380 50 430 5802. 
• 49.8334724.0379510 Meter, Yevhena Petrushevycha Square, 3,, ☎ 380 67 670 4243. Mon-Sun 21: 00-06: 00. 
• 49.8410824.0291311 Fashion Club, Ivana Pidkovy Square, 1, ☎ 380 67 374 4491. Mon-Sun 00: 00-24: 00. 
• 49.8383424.0307512 Rafinad People Club, Rudanskoho, 1, ☎ 380 66 400 0888. Mon-Sun 18: 00-06: 00. 
• 49.8508224.0525313 Клуб на! FESTrepublic, Старознесенська, 24-26, ☎ 380 67 310 7386. 

Where to eat

Average prices

• 49.8413224.032121 Kryivka, Rynok Square, 14, ☎ 380 67 310 3145. Mon-Fri 00: 00-24: 00. 
• 49.841524.035282 ^{[link not working]}Ribs restaurant at the Arsenale, Pidvalna 5, ☎ 380 67 373 4151. 
• 49.8422124.029933 Baczewski, Shevska 8, ☎ 380 98 224 4444. Mon-Sun 08: 00–02: 00. 
• 49.841424.032224 The Most Expensive Galician Restaurant, Rynok Square, 14, ☎ 380 50 430 8783. 
• 49.8426324.032045 Atlas coffee, Rynok Square, 45, ☎ 380 322 358 188. Mon-Sun 08: 00-00: 00. 
• 49.8420924.030386 Pravda Beer Theater, Torhovyy Dim Tsipperiv, ☎ 380 50 374 4986. Mon-Sun 10: 00-02: 00. 
• 49.8401924.023777 Puzata Hata, Sichovykh Striltsiv, 12, ☎ 380 322 403 265. 08:00-23:00. 
• 49.837524.04188 ^{[link not working]}Chaikhana Samarkanda, Pekarska vul. 48, ☎ 380 98 458 4966. Mon-Sun 11: 00-22: 00. Uzbek restaurant. 

High prices

• 49.8380324.032299 Valentino, Ostapa Nyzhankivs'koho, 20, ☎ 380 322 356 766. Mon-Sun 07: 00-23: 00. 

Where stay

Moderate prices

• 49.8426324.029691 DREAM Hostel, Krakivska, 5, ☎ 380 322 471 047. 
• 49.8423824.032752 New Hostel, Rynok Square, 5, ☎ 380 93 938 0805. 
• Host Families Association (HOFA). From € 19. 
• 49.8403624.023813 ^{[link not working]}Mini Hostel Lviv, 12 Sichovyh Streltsov Street, Ap. 16, ☎ 380 979315628, @[email protected]. Starting from 5 Euros per night. Check in: 12:00, check-out: 11:00. The hostel offers free Wi-Fi, maps, coffee, tea, and more. 
• 49.841824.016634 Cisar hotels, Horodotska, 65, ☎ 380 94 993 4565. 
• 49.835124.034485 ^{[link previously not working]}Etude Hotel, Ivana Franka, 20A, ☎ 380 68 660 0450. 
• 49.83947724.0316396 Danylo Inn, Halytska, 20, ☎ 380 97 969 8100. 

Average prices

• 49.83866124.0305817 George Hotel, Miskevycha Square, 1, ☎ 380 322 326 236.  
• 49.8371924.034698 Ibis Styles Lviv Center hotel, Shukhevycha, 3, ☎ 380 322 546 767. 
• 49.8400324.027689 Plazma hotel, Svobody Ave, 5, ☎ 380 67 101 3777. 
• 49.8437124.0255810 Panorama Lviv Hotel, Svobody Ave, 45, ☎ 380 3222 59000. 
• 49.843624.0317711 Reikartz Medival Lviv, Drukarska, 9, ☎ 380 322 425 133. 

High prices

• 49.840624.026912 Grand Hotel, Svobody Av. 13, ☎ 380 322 328 888, 38 93 170 69 22, @[email protected].  
• 49.845824.02513 Leopolis hotels, Teatralna 16, ☎ 380 32 295 95 00.  
• 49.8436424.0239714 Astoria Hotel, Horodotska, 15, ☎ 380 322 422 701. 

Safety

How to keep in touch

Around

• Oles'ko - Famous place for its castle where he was born on 17 August 1629 Giovanni Sobieski, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 to 1696.

• Pidhirtsi - Medieval village of about 1,000 inhabitants with a castle from the first half of the 17th century considered one of the best examples of the Baroque in Ukraine.

• Zolochiv - Town of about 25,000 inhabitants with numerous attractions including a residence of the Sobieski family dating back to 1635.

• Truskavets - Located in a green valley of the Carpathians, on the border with Poland, Truskavets it is a renowned spa resort thanks to numerous sources rich in sulfur.

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Lviv
• Commons contains images or other files on Lviv

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