Attractions of Lviv region

The ancient building of the town storeroom (granary) is called Shpikhler in Drohobych. It was built in 1778 by order of the Austro-Hungarian authorities to store the city's grain stocks in case of a siege or natural disasters.

It is a massive structure 30 by 15 meters with very thick walls, a shingled roof and small dormer windows. The granary consisted of 4 tiers, on each of which a certain type of grain was stored: wheat, rye, oats, barley.

In Soviet times, the building was used as a military warehouse. Recently, a partial restoration has been carried out, and the creation of a museum is planned.

The museum of the Ukrainian politician and participant in the liberation struggle Yaroslava Stetsko was opened in 2009 in the premises of the school in the village of Yushkivtsi, where Hanna Muzyka, better known as Slava Stetsko, taught in her youth. The initiator of the creation of the museum was local historian Volodymyr Lahotskyi.

Hanna Muzyka ended up in Yushkivtsi in 1939, hiding from the NKVD. Here, she worked as a principal of an elementary school for two years, until she moved to Lviv to enter the university. Took an active part in the activities of the OUN. In 1945, she organized the evacuation abroad of the wounded deputy leader of the OUN Yaroslav Stetsko, whom she later married. She returned to her homeland after Ukraine gained independence, where she headed the KUN party and became a people's deputy.

The museum presents the personal belongings of Slava Stetsko and her husband Yaroslav Stetsko. The interior of her office in Kyiv was reproduced: a chair, a table, a telephone, a typewriter, flags and an icon. Among the personal belongings are an embroidered jacket and a coat. In the basement, the underground printing house that worked here since 1944 has been recreated. A model of the rebel kryivka (hideout) is also presented.

Art Museum "Human. Earth. "Universe" in Sokal was created in 1985 by the efforts of the family of Anatoliy ta Nataliya Pokotyuk, as well as Hryhoriy Kostyuchenko.

In 1990, the museum became a branch of the National Museum in Lviv, and since 1995 - a branch of the Lviv Museum of the History of Religion.

In ten museum halls, exposition exhibitions were opened: "Man and the Universe", "Holy Ukraine", "Jesus Christ - the greatest of the sons of mankind", "Under the protection of the Mother of God", "What is the truth", "In search of the truth", "Cosmic art", "Teaching of life - a call to the future", "Taras Shevchenko - an apostle of truth and a beacon of spirit", "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy".

The museum holds documents from the history of the Sokal region of the 17th-19th centuries, rare materials about the famous Ukrainian composer Viktor Matyuk (from the village of Tudorkovychi in the Sokal region), materials about the history of the churches of the Sokal region, spiritual educators and cultural figures, ceramics of the famous 19th century master Vasyl Shostopalets , samples of unique Sokal embroidery, household items of the 19th-20th centuries.

The Sokalshchyna Museum was opened in 1981 to mark the 30th anniversary of Sheptytskyi's accession to Ukraine.

About 1000 exhibits: a unique collection of works of folk art, household items, antique furniture. The specificity of the museum's exposition is that it presents the folk art of Sokalshchyna region, very original and original, which testifies to the sophistication and talent of Sokalshchyna residents.

The exposition includes "Dobryachyn" black-and-white embroidered shirts, bouquets of spring flowers on "Zavyshenski" shirts. Sokalshchyna is famous for its masters of embroidery: black embroidery is a rarity of the museum, each shirt is an exclusive product, and no ornament is repeated. Samples of wedding costumes impress with their sophistication - in one shirt the master used 6-7 different techniques.

The pride of the museum is an exhibition of unique samples of black ceramics and unique Easter eggs by Taras Horodetsky. Also interesting is the interior of Sokalshchyna okal housing in the late XIX - early XX centuries.

The Solomiya Krushelnytska Music and Memorial Museum is located in Lviv in the former house of the singer, which she bought in 1903, at the zenith of her creative career.

The museum was opened on the initiative of her niece Odarka Bandrovska in 1989 after the restoration of the house.

The singer's personal belongings, concert dresses, photos and documents are collected in the recreated interiors of the rooms. The exposition tells about Krushelnytska's childhood, the history of her artistic activity in Lviv, Vienna, Paris, Warsawa, Milan and other opera houses around the world.

Concerts are regularly held in the music salon of the museum.

Sosnovsky Palace in Lviv is the name given to the profitable houses of the architect Yuzef Sosnovsky with elements of the Neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanesque styles, which were built in 1901 according to his own project. The sculptural design of the facades is attributed to Antoniy Popel.

The building resembles a medieval knight's castle and consists of two separate houses with separate entrances and stairwells.

Arena Lviv Stadium was opened in 2011 as part of preparations for the European Football Championship Euro-2012.

This is one of the newest stadiums in Europe, which was built taking into account all UEFA requirements. The capacity of the stadium is almost 35,000 seats, including 14 VIP boxes. The construction of the arena seats is designed in such a way as to create the maximum effect of the presence of spectators on the field.

"Arena Lviv" has a natural lawn with modern systems of drainage, heating and automatic watering.

During mass events, guests are served by 19 fast food outlets located on the promenade, as well as 7 fast food outlets selling food and beverages on the outer perimeter of the stadium.

The arena has 4,500 parking spaces, of which 100 are for people with disabilities.

Excursions are held by prior appointment, during which visitors are shown the playing area, conference hall, footballers' block (dressing rooms, showers and massage rooms), flash zone, substitute benches, media tribunes, fan sectors, VIP area (restaurant and sky boxes) and the hall of the history of the stadium. Among the "highlights" of the excursion is the opportunity to sit in the seat of the famous football player Ronaldo, try on a T-shirt with the autograph of Andriy Shevchenko, look at the 3D model of the stadium or take a photo with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.

The Memorial Museum of Stanislav Lyudkevych was opened in 1995 in the composer's house in Lviv on the initiative of his wife, art critic Zenoviya Shtunder.

The two-story building was built in the second half of the 1950s. Ms. Zenoviya allocated the second floor of the house she inherited for the museum and began working at the museum as a senior research associate.

The interiors of the composer's office and his bedroom have been preserved in two exhibition rooms. In the third room, editions of the composer's musical works, family photos, and objects of fine art are exhibited.

The Stanislav Lyudkevych Memorial Museum is a department of the Solomiya Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum. An artistic memorial table with a high-relief of the composer is installed on the facade of the building.

Stare Selo Castle is one of the largest strongholds of Galicia.

A powerful stone fortification in the middle of a swampy area was built in 1584-1589 by the princes of Ostrozky to protect the south-eastern approaches to Lviv.

Architect Amvrosiy Prykhylny used the style of the Eastern European late renaissance. The castle with an area of about 2 hectares was surrounded by 8-meter walls in the shape of an irregular triangle, at the corners of which there were six defense towers 14-16 meters high with baroque carvings (3 of them have been preserved).

In 1648, the castle was taken by the troops of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, in 1672 it withstood the Turkish siege.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Stare Selo Castle belonged to Adam Mykolay Senyavskyi, who moved his arsenal here from Lviv. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was owned by the Chartoriysky and Potocki. The last owner, Alfred Potocki, turned the castle into a brewery, after which it began to decline.

In 2010, the architectural monument was given a long-term concession to a private investor under the conditions of restoration and creation of a recreational complex, but the ruins of the castle still remain in a neglected state. In 2023, the court terminated the concession agreement with the private company and returned the Stare Selo Castle to state ownership.

Access is free.

The State Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv is considered one of the oldest natural history museums in Europe.

Founded in 1870 by the naturalist-collector, count of Ukrainian origin Volodymyr Didushytsky in a reconstructed building in the early neoclassicism style of the early 19th century. In 1880 Didushytsky donated the museum to the Lviv community, and since 1940 it has been under the jurisdiction of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Since 2013, the State Natural History Museum has been creating a new main exhibition "Symphony of Life", the paleontological part of which was opened in 2019 under the name "Ice Age". Among the most interesting exhibits: skeletons of a mammoth and woolly rhinoceros from the ozocerite deposit in Starun, bones of other fossil animals, a Cro-Magnon figure of the late Stone Age, reconstruction of a primitive man's dwelling. The exhibition is complemented by interactive multimedia kiosks.

A kind of museum exhibit is the oldest operating mechanical elevator in Ukraine, equipped back in 1870 by Count Didushytsky, who was partially paralyzed in old age and moved in a wheelchair. For the smallest visitors, there is an interactive children's area.

The hunting house of the Polish king Stefan Batory in Sambir was built in the 16th century on the territory of the royal Sambir castle, which was located south of the city center.

Later, a complex of buildings of the current district hospital was built on the castle ramparts. The house of Stefan Batory was adapted for the hospital church of Saint Panteleymon.

The manor-museum of Stepan Bandera in the village of Volia-Zaderevatska was opened in the house where Andriy Bandera, the father of the OUN leader, lived in 1933-1936.

During these years, Andriy Bandera served as a priest in the church of Saint Archangel Michael in Zaderev, engaged in legal and underground activities. Stepan Bandera used to come to him on vacation.

Later there was a school in this building.

The museum was founded in the first years of Ukraine's independence by Bandera's sister's friend Anna Ivaniv. In the first room - the pedigree of the Bander family. In the second, there is a chapel where Stepan's father baptized children. In the third room there are documents, photographs, leaflets of the OUN-UPA.

A park named after Stepan Bandera has been laid near the house. The reconstructed hiding place is a disguised refuge of the rebels.

The Stepan Bandera Museum was opened in Dubliany in one of the premises of the Lviv National Agrarian University, on the second floor of the main building.

In 1928-1933, when it was a branch of the Lviv Polytechnic, the future leader of the OUN studied here. He was immediately arrested for political activity.

The exposition presents photographs, literary works, and several sheets from the personal file of the ideologue of Ukrainian nationalism.

The ancient Stilsko Settlement (Hillfort) with an area of 250 hectares is located on a high plateau between the villages of Stilsko, Iliv and Dubrova. In the 8th-10th centuries, the capital of the chronicled captives of the White Croats, who are considered the ancestors of today's Galicians, was located here.

White Croatia is mentioned for the first time in the book "On the management of the empire" by the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Red-headed. In 981-992, the principality of the Croats was annexed to Kyivan Rus by Grand Duke Volodymyr Svyatoslavych. Stilsko was destroyed and the level of the city did not rise again. In Byzantine sources of the 16th century, Stilsko is mentioned as the center of the Galician metropolis.

Since 2015, the archaeological sites of Stilsko and its surroundings have been part of the Historical and Cultural Reserve "Stilsko Settlement".

The center of the hillfort with a cubit surrounded by defensive ramparts is located on a hill rising above the church of Saint Paraskeva in the eastern part of the village. The names of the tracts "Golden Gate" and "Prince Well" remind us of the ancient buildings of the settlement.

In the nearby village of Dubrova, there are centers of pagan cults of the Stilsko settlement: the Temple of the Sun (or Sacrificial Stone, Dyriavets) and the cave cult complex of the White Croats. The latter is a rock with hollowed-out caves, in which, probably, the ministers of the pagan cult lived first, and then the Christian monks. Nowadays, local residents have turned the cells into cellars, installed doors, hung locks and store food in them.

Another ancient sanctuary is located in the village of Iliv.

Stradch cave near the village of Stradch is one of the main shrines of Ukrainian Greek Catholics.

According to legend, the cave monastery on Stradch Hill was founded in the 11th century by monks coming from Kyiv. According to one of the versions, the monastery is mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle as the Cave of Domazhiriv (the village of Domazhiriv is located nearby). The monastery consisted of an entrance gallery with a length of 40 meters, corridors with a total length of 270 meters and several cells located at a depth of 20 meters. At the top of the mountain there was a fortified settlement.

During the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements hid in the caves. Once the Tatars discovered the monastery and ordered the monks to betray the people who were hiding. When they refused, the monks were killed, big fires were lit at the cave entrances, and all the people suffocated from the smoke. They say that after hearing the pleas of the dying, the Mother of God descended from heaven, stood before the Tatars and said: "Don't touch! The wall!". Because the dark will has power only over bodies, but not over Christian souls.

In the 15th century, the Stradch Pechersk Lavra was founded, the main shrine of which was the miraculous icon of the Stradch Mother of God of the Immovable Wall (a copy has been preserved). Since the 16th century, the Stradch monastery has been known as the Basilian monastery.

In 1936, the Way of the Cross was founded on Stradch Hill, which was granted the status of Jerusalem by Pope Pius XI.

Visiting the cave temple is free, but it is advisable to have a flashlight with you.