Lviv Favorites

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Favorite thing: Despite as I told before it has a lot of features of Western - Central Europe, some things let me feel I am back to Soviet Union:

Small shops with the most essential products
Old Russian cars or marsrutkas (LADA, emergency car, mini-buses with unknown names)
Public transportation system with tickets rolled into toilet paper style rolls

Anyway, more or less everything changes, so I already haven't found a kvass machine or sculptures from Soviet times (ideological ones).

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Favorite thing: Lviv is always named as a confluence of East and West and actually it is true. The history shows that it was Orthodox and Catholic both. Also it was possession of a few countries as Halych Volyn Principality, Lithuanian Grand Duchy, Poland, Austria. Every of them formed something unique in understanding, religion, architecture. Nowadays, I should tell, the most visible is Polish and Austrian influence (let say older baroque churches, similar to Polish ones, and a few floor houses looking like in Austria).

When I walked the town it looked a bit like Vienna, Krakow, Prague, just is smaller scale. Probably if I wont have possibility to see Ukrainian writings, I could tell it is another country.

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Favorite thing: A lot of excursions around Lviv and Lviv region are organized by Ravlyk arts gallery located in the entrance hall of the ethnographic museum at 15 Liberty Avenue.
I used their services and was glad.
+38 032 243 35 99
+38 067 303 60 44 Lessia
E-mail: salon@ravlyk-art.com.ua
laxsandra@mail.ru

Fondest memory: The excursion to the cellars of former Jesuits Cathedral;
our visit to the High Castle.

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Fondest memory: Visiting the area of the TV tower in Lviv that is 200 meters high.
It was erected in 1957. It stands on High Castle hill.
We passed the TV tower on the way to the observation platform located on High Castle Hill.
Here are some wonderful views from the High Castle.
We walked along the winding road up the hill in spite of the rainy weather and those magnificent views were our reward!

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Favorite thing: This center is located to the right of the main entrance to the City Hall.
It open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Saturdays – till 6 p.m. and on Sundays – till 5 p.m.
They have a complete set of things about Lviv and Lviv region.
You can see a huge city standard on the left wall.
The address is:
1 Market Square
+38032 254 60 79
Tourist Information Center

E-mail: tic@city-adm.lviv.ua

Fondest memory: visiting its main sights and our tea and snacks at Kryivka restaurant.

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Favorite thing: Lviv is home to many churches of various denominations. On our two trips we have probably seen the most popular ones. I have listed them under "Things to do" tips.

Apart from these, we still came across quite a few other interesting churches. Among them were:

The Baroque bell tower of the Church of the Holy Spirit was erected at the Kopernika Street 40 in 1729. At present it houses a museum about Rusalka Dnistrova, which was the first collection of Ukrainian literature.

The Church of the order of poor Clares is nowadays home to a museum about sacral sculptures. The history of the building dates back to the 17th century. It is located at the beginning of Lychakivska Street.

The Roman-Catholic St. Anthony Church got its present appearance in the early 18th century. It can be found at Lychakivska street 49a, just east of the city centre.

Another Roman-Catholic church is situated just west of the city centre at Bandery Street 8. It is the Church of St. Mary Magdalene which was completed in the early 17th century.

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Favorite thing: Svobody Prospekt (Freedom Avenue) is Lviv's main boulevard in the city centre. It leads from the Opera House in the north to the Mickiewicz Square in the south.

The avenue consists of a wide tree lined pedestrianised area in the middle and one way streets on each side. Near the southern end of the avenue, the Virgin Mary Fountain can be found. Virgin Mary is said to be Lviv's city patroness.

The monument to the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and the so called Wave of National revival are situated in the middle of the avenue. They were erected in the 1990s and are a popular meeting point.

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Fondest memory: Our farewell dinner was great!
Our group gathered two times at the Ukrainian restaurant - At Ms.Stepanie's - that was very close to "George" hotel where almost everybody was staying.
This is where we could merely sit and exchange our impressions...