Attractions of Lviv

The Church of Saint Anthony of Padua in Lviv is an excellent example of church architecture in the Baroque style.

The Franciscan Church of Saint. Anthony was founded in 1618-1630 outside the then city walls, and was originally wooden.

The current stone temple was built at the expense of Prince Kostyantyn-Kryshtof Korybut Vyshnevetsky, consecrated in 1739. Some sources date the founding of the wooden church in 1718, and the construction of the stone church in 1784. It is also known about the reconstruction of the temple in 1765 by the architect Frantsysk Kulchytskyi.

In 1818, a bell tower was built according to the project of the architect Yozef Markl.

The Church of Saint Anthony remained active even in Soviet times.

The rich interior decoration of the temple has been preserved to this day. The interior is refined and beautiful: the magnificent carvings and gilding in the Rococo style are impressive. On the parapet of the stairs in front of the entrance is a stone sculpture of the Virgin Mary by Sebastyan Fesinhera(XVIII century).

Now the church again belongs to the Franciscans. In 1995, it was declared the sanctuary of Saint Anthony of Padua.

The monastery complex with the church of Saint Clement of the Pope was built in Lviv in 1893-1895 by the builder Ivan Levynskyi according to the project of Frants Shtatts for the Catholic female monastic order of the Discalced Carmelites.

In 1939, the headquarters of the NKVD was located here. In 1943, the Nazis shot Italian prisoners of war on the territory of the monastery garden and cemetery. After the Second World War, until 1952, the guard regiment of the NKVD-MIA was housed in the buildings of the monastery. Later, this unit was based on the southern outskirts of the city, and the monastery complex was taken over by the city's ATS - the temple housed an operating room for settlements with clients. In the 1960s, during renovation and construction works, the remains of the repressed were found here.

Currently, the church of Saint Clement of the Pope is an active church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Discovered in one of the brick niches, the figure of the crucified Christ without hands is now installed in the altar of the church.

Since 1708, when the Lviv Assumption Stavropygius brotherhood converted to Greek Catholicism, the Orthodox community of Lviv did not have its own church, services were held in private homes.

The construction of the Orthodox Church of Saint Great Martyr George, according to the project of the Austrian architect Gustav Zakhs, began in Lviv in 1897. The image of the church, which is atypical for Galician sacral architecture, combines features of the neo-Romanesque and neo-Byzantine styles, which are more typical for Bukovyna.

From 1992 to April 2023, the Church of Saint George was the cathedral of the Lviv Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and the only church in Lviv that belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate. Today, the church belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The current church of Saint John Chrysostom and theological seminary occupy a complex of buildings of the former Franciscan monastery, built in 1877-1889 according to the project of architect Yulian Zakharevych.

The temple was built in the Neo-Gothic style. In the apse, there are 3 stained glass windows made in Munich by Frants Mayer in 1887-1889, as well as a wooden neo-Gothic pulpit. The monastery building is three-storey, with an inner courtyard.

In Soviet times, the First Infectious Disease Hospital was located here.

Currently, the complex belongs to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Lviv Orthodox Theological Academy is located here.

The Monastery of Saint Lazarus in Lviv was built in 1621 according to the project of the architect Amvrosiy Prykhylny as a defensive complex outside the city. The Renaissance-style church was built by him in 1634-1640 with the participation of Yakub Boni and Martyn Hodny.

A shelter for sick and wounded soldiers operated at the monastery.

For some time, the Ukrainian poet and folklorist Markiyan Shashkevych lived at the monastery.

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Mary Magdalene was founded in 1600 by Dominican monks on the site of an old wooden church outside the city walls of Lviv.

A Dominican monastery and a seminary were opened near the church. The authors of the project of the monastery complex are architects Voytsekh Kelar and Martyn Hodny.

In 1648, the monastery fortifications were captured by the troops of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Subsequently, the church building underwent several changes. In 1754-1758, the church was expanded and rebuilt by the architect Martyn Urbanik, the facades were changed, and the towers were completed.

During the secularization reform of the Austrian emperor Joseph II in 1786, the church was made a parish, and a prison for women of light behavior was established in the monastery (closed in 1922).

The church acquired its modern appearance in 1870. The architecture of the building combines elements of the Baroque and Renaissance styles.

The largest organ in Ukraine, manufactured in 1932 by the Czech company Rieger-Kloss, was installed in the church of Saint Mary Magdalene. Since Soviet times, the building has housed the Lviv House of Organ and Chamber Music.

Since 1998, the service has been resumed.

The Princely Church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker is the oldest monument of monumental architecture in Lviv.

Apparently, the church was built as a burial place for Halician princes, and was the main spiritual center of the Lviv Ruthenians. The first mention of the Church of Saint Nicholas dates back to 1292. Back in princely times, the church served not only as a temple, but also as a center of social and political life.

It was located at the foot of the High Castle Hill (Vysoky Zamok), next to the Old Market square (Stary rynok), which was the center of the lower town in the early Middle Ages. The thickness of the walls of the temple also indicates the defensive importance of the building.

The Basilian Monastery of Saint Onuphrius in Lviv is an architectural monument of the Middle Ages. According to some sources, it was founded during the reign of Lev Danylovych, the son of the city's founder, Danylo Halytskyi.

The stone buildings of the Saint Onuphrius Church, the Trinity Chapel-bell tower and the monastery cells were built in 1505 by Prince Kostyantyn Ostrozky.

The architecture combines the traditions of Ukrainian sacred architecture with Renaissance and Baroque forms. During the hostilities, the monastery complex played the role of a defensive structure.

Ivan Fedorov, the first printer, was buried in the monastery cemetery in 1583.

The monastery of Saint Onuphrius belongs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The Church of Saint Paraskeva Pyatnytsya in Lviv is one of the oldest churches in Lviv. The defense-type church is located at the foot of the High Castle on the Volyn road (Pidzamche district).

The temple was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. It underwent significant reconstruction in 1644 after a fire. The architecture combines Gothic and late Renaissance elements.

The greatest value of the church of Saint Paraskeva is a masterpiece of Lviv artists and carvers of the 16th-17th centuries - a five-row Renaissance iconostasis (70 icons) and a baroque royal gate, completed with a crucifix with figures on the sides.

The Church of Saint Yosafat is an active Greek Catholic church in Lviv. It was built in 1930 according to the project of the architect Yan Karol Zubzhytsky as the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Francis of Assisi of the Capuchin Fathers.

After the beatification of the bishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Mykolay Charnetskyi, his relics were transferred from the Lychakiv Cemetery to the Church of Saint Yosafat.

The Church of Saints Olha and Elizaveta is the highest church in Lviv (85 meters), competing in height with the Cathedral of Saint George. Previously - the church of Saint Elizaveta of Hungary.

The huge neo-Gothic church of Saint Elizaveta was built at the beginning of the 20th century. According to legend, it was named after the popular empress Elizaveta (Sisi), the wife of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Frants-Yosyf I. The architect Teodor-Maryan Talovsky used many elements of French and North German Gothic architecture: high pointed spiers, lancets, a vertical interior space. The portal is decorated with a sculptural composition by Petro Voytovych "Crucifixion with Adaptation", the interiors were worked on by the Lviv master Kazymyr Sikhulskyi.

During the Second World War, the temple was damaged, then closed. Since 1991, it belongs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, rededicated as the Church of Saints Olha and Elizaveta.

The eclectic palace of the Semensky-Levytsky count family in Lviv was built in 1849 on the site of an old manor of the 18th century.

The ambassador of the Galician Diet, Konstyantyn Semenskyi, ordered the project from the Prussian architect Fryderyk Bauman. In 1877, the architect Otto Wagner rebuilt the palace in the French Baroque style by order of the privy councilor Stanislav Kostka Semenskyi-Levytskyi. The facade and interiors were decorated by the sculptor Petro-Vitalis Harasymovych.

The palace has side wings and a large courtyard. To the east of the main gate is the entrance to the stables and arena, decorated with two horse heads (Stanislav Kostka Semenskyi-Levytskyi was the president of the Galician Horse Breeding Commission).

Today, the building houses a boarding school.

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.