Svobody Avenue is the city main street combining functions of the business and cultural center. It is Lviv’s second most important historical spot after the Rynok Square. The avenue owes its status of one of the most beautiful and elegant streets in the city to its splendid architecture, which harmonically combines traits of various historical styles. Elegant ancient houses, framing it from both s

An elegant building of the former Carmelite Church is situated outside the Old Town, in which Lviv’s main architectural gems are located, but is not inferior to them in its beauty and historical value. The imposing cathedral, standing at the foot of the High Castle, draws attention with its refined towers, crowned with pointed spires, and elegant decoration, as well as with breathtaking views of t

The building of the former Royal Arsenal, which was a part of the city fortification system, is one of the few monuments of the Lviv medieval defensive architecture that have survived until now and preserved the spirit and atmosphere of those times. Unlike the City Arsenal, which was maintained at civil cost, the Royal Arsenal was built on order and on money of the Polish King Wladyslaw IV. It is

City’s trademark building Black Kamenitsa is probably the most amazing and attractive historical construction on the Lviv Rynok Square. Thanks to invincibly riveting color of its facade and elegant stucco work that decorates it, the house is recognized as a prominent model of habitable Renaissance architecture that has no analogs in Europe. The fact that this unique building is one of the few hous

Dormition Cathedral’s original ensemble is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Old Town. It is its silhouette that can be frequently seen on the postcards with city views. It consists of three splendid medieval buildings: the church, the bell tower, known as Kornyakt’s Tower, and the Chapel of Three Prelates. Each of them is a true gem of Lviv Renaissance architecture. In 1591, temple’s co

The four-century-old Zhovkva Castle is the main tourist magnet of the small town Zhovkva, situated in Lviv outskirts. The powerful construction, which used to be a part of the town fortification system and provided reliable protection to it, is now reckoned among the prominent historical and architectural monuments of the Renaissance period in Ukraine. Town’s founder, Polish military leader and c

The Bandinelli Palace is considered to be a very interesting monument of late Renaissance architecture in Lviv, on par with other notable ancient buildings that constitute an original ensemble of the Rynok Square. It was built on the place of an old gothic kamenitsa by the merchant and pharmacist Janush Vedelsky, in the late 16th century. However, it became famous thanks to another owner, Roberto

The Chapel of Boim Family, neighboring the Latin Cathedral, is one of the most impressive buildings in Lviv historical center. The unique stone décor and inimitable in their idea and implementation works of art that adorn the chapel have made it to a real architectural masterpiece and the brightest gem of the medieval architecture. The chapel was raised in the early 17th century and served as a bu

The elegant building of the Galych Fund, topped by cupola with a spire, is rightfully called one of the most beautiful architectural monuments that adorn Lviv’s downtown. It was raised on the main city avenue in the late 19th century. The Galych Credit Fund was built after a project of the famous Polish architect whose works formed Lviv architectural appearance in the late 19th – early 20th centur