Lviv, the Ukraine (May 2006) Photo Gallery by taboo5 at pbase.com

Lviv, the Ukraine (May 2006)

Lviv is the largest city and cultural center of western Ukraine. Having been part of some five different countries over the past 120 years, gives it a more European flavor. Lviv’s Old Town, with its and Bohemian aura, narrow medieval cobblestone streets and quiet charm, has multiple architectural styles, preserved in their original form. Lviv’s multicultural heritage is apparent by the wide variety of cathedrals in the Old Town center (including Roman, Greek and Armenian Catholic) making it more reminiscent of Krakow than of cities in the eastern Ukraine. Lviv was formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then Poland. Poland formally ceded Lviv to the USSR in 1945, from which Ukraine declared its independence in 1991. Fortunately, Lviv’s exquisite architecture did not suffer the monstrosities of the Soviet Era. Due to its history and unspoiled architectural beauty, Lviv’s city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Preservation site. Today, after the fall of the former Soviet Union and subsequent Orange Revolution, Lviv is poised to return to its cosmopolitan greatness.

Lviv, the Ukraine cover page.	Map of the Ukraine with a star indicating Lviv's location.	Overhead view of Lviv (scanned from a postcard).	The four star Grand Hotel in Lviv where I stayed.
Close-up of the Grand Hotel in Lviv.	Taras Shevchenko Monument (also known as the "Wave of National Revival").	The Wave of National Revival is across from the Grand Hotel (where I stayed).	View of the Lviv Opera & Ballet House approaching from the park.
Close-up of the Lviv Opera & Ballet House.	View of paintings for sale in front of the Transfiguration Church (1898).	Interior view and alter of the Armenian Orthodox Church.	The priest locked me and my tour guide in this courtyard because he was mad that I took the prior picture!
Statue in courtyard of the Armenian Orthodox Church.	Tower of the Armenian Orthodox Church.	A nice street in Old Town.	Dominican Cathedral (1772). A pediment sign says, "God is our Honor and Glory" (their motto).
Me in front of the Kornyak Tower and the Assumption Church (about to be run over)!	Lower view looking up at the Kornyak Tower.	View of the Kornyak Tower (1578) which rises over the Assumption Church (1572-1629).	Another view of the Kornyak Tower (in the background).
Major renovation going on in Lviv (the Kornyak Tower is in the far background).	Lviv square with more construction and renovation going on.	Flea market & Ivan Fedoriv statue. He printed the first book (Lviv's equivalent to Gutenberg).	A nice square in Lviv (note the flea market & Ivan Fedoriv statue in the background).
A nice building in Old Town.	Another nice building in Old Town.	I like this tower in Old Town.	This Old Town clock tower is nice, too.
View of the Chernovol monument in Lviv with flowers at its base.	Part of the (16th century) medieval defense wall that once encircled the whole city of Lviv.	Tower of the Bernardine Monastery (1600-1630) was built by the Latin middle class.	Shoppers at Lviv's Ploshcha Rynok (Old Market Square).
Another view of Old Market Square.	View of Old Market Square with great architecture in the background.	More of Old Market Square (I like the dog)!	Typical colorful houses found around Old Market Square.
Bernardine Monastery - in 1970s, the wall, which was hidden under a layer of soil, was uncovered.	Nice tower with a canopy in the foreground.	The Pillar of St. John from Dukla in front of a nice building.	Monument to Danylo the founder of Kiev and the King of Halytsko-Volynske Principality.
The Ratucha (Town Hall) was built a in 1835 has a clock and a 65-meter tower.	Close-up of the clock tower of the Town Hall.	Lion sculpture with shield in front of the Town Hall.	Statue of Neptune in front of the Town Hall.
Statue of Diana in at Rynok Square.	View of the Italian Courtyard where I had a coffee with my tour guide.	Another view of the Italian Courtyard.	Clock showing how much time has passed since the 1991 Ukrainian revolution.
Old Town street with domes in the background.	Me standing in front of the Boims Chapel (built for Lviv merchant George Boim (1609-1615)).	A distant view of the Boims Chapel.	A side view of the Boims Chapel.
An outdoor cafe in Lviv on a beautiful day in May.	Plaque of John Paul II in front of the Polish Church (Lviv was part of Poland before WW II).	Hotel George was once the best hotel in Lviv. That is no longer the case; only the façade is reminiscent of its former splendor.	Prominent building on Prospekt Svobody near the Hotel George.
View of Count Potockys Palace (1889-1890) which is now the Lviv Arts Gallery.	Another view of Count Potockys Palace.	A wide-angle shot of Count Potockys Palace (so I could get it all in).	Shot (with my wide-angle lense) of Ivan Franko Lviv University.
Ivan Franko (1856-1916) monument at Lviv University. He was a Ukrainian writer and nationalist.	Close-up of Ivan Franko Lviv University.	Corner view of Franko Lviv University with people strolling around in front of it.	More nice architecture in Old Town!
"George Triumphant Killing a Snake" in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.	Nice architectual details!	More typical Lviv architecture that I snapped near the end of my tour.	An impressive rooftop on a building on Prospekt Svobody near the Grand Hotel.
View of a beautiful Lviv building with cariatides.	Close-up shot of another building with cariatides.

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