The City of Lev

By Walter Kish

Though Kyiv may be the political and historical heart of Ukraine, to me Lviv is the country’s cultural and spiritual centre of this troubled land. Undoubtedly, part of this perception is due to the fact that most of my family and ancestors came from Halychyna, of which Lviv has been a hub for some 800 years. However there is more to it than just that.

Lviv and Kyiv are very different cities. Lviv is smaller than Kyiv, more human and approachable, more colourful and culturally diverse, and more enchanting in every way. Kyiv inspires the visitor with its grandeur and larger-than-life buildings and monuments, whereas Lviv invites you to let your hair down and enjoy yourself.  The life of Kyiv is powered by money, business, power, ambition and politics; the life of Lviv is energized by culture, history, nationalism, and a laidback enthusiasm for enjoying life. Kyiv has too much affluence and has become corrupted by it; Lviv has too little of the country’s wealth but has learned how to make do. Kyiv has grandiose architecture that awes, whereas Lviv is a hodge-podge of historical buildings and neighbourhoods that are far more human in scale as well as interesting in their diversity and eccentricity.

I always look forward to visiting Lviv and am a willing victim of its many charms. This year, Lviv is celebrating its 750th anniversary and, finally, with a more sympathetic central government in Kyiv, some effort and investment is being made to renovate some of Lviv’s crumbling infrastructure.

The anniversary is more a matter of convenience rather than historical fact, as no one is really sure when people first settled on this spot amid the hills and the banks of the Poltva River. However, 1256 is the year of the first mention of Lviv in historical records, so it is as good an initial starting point as any. It is also interesting to note that the visitor to Lviv will be hard-pressed to find the Poltva River since it has long since disappeared under the Lviv’s downtown streets and buildings.

Legend has it that Danylo Romanovych, King of Halych, named the city after his son Lev, and it has since accordingly been dubbed the city of lions. In fact, you will find lions depicted everywhere in Lviv: in sculptures, building gargoyles, crests and shields, souvenirs and used in the names of buildings, restaurants and businesses.

Lev inherited his father’s throne just in time to face the onslaughts of the Mongols. Lviv suffered numerous assaults, not only from the Golden Horde but also its Polish neighbours. In 1340, the city fell to the Poles under Casimir “the Great,” beginning many centuries of Polish rule.

It was not until 1648 that Lviv was finally retaken by the Cossacks under Maxim Kryvonis as part of the successful Khmelnytsky rebellion. However its freedom was short-lived as Lviv returned to Polish rule less than a decade later. Over the course of its history, Lviv has endured attacks and occupations by the Mongols, Tatars, Turks, Swedes, Poles, Austrians and Russians. Each left behind their traces and influences, and although at the time their impact may have been traumatic, over the grand timescale of history they became part of the fabric and culture that makes Lviv uniquely distinctive. There were also additional contributions by various other minorities that at one time or another called Lviv their home, including Armenians, Jews, Hungarians, Germans, Greeks, Turks and Italians.

Walking through the old and largely preserved central core of Lviv you will see reminders of the full breadth of its 800-year-old history. Armenian Street (Virmenska) gives testimony to the once-thriving Armenian community and the recently restored Armenian cathedral is one of the most interesting and popular sites of old Lviv.  Around the corner from the city arsenal one finds Staroyevreiska (Old Jewish) Street, the heart of Lviv’s once extensive Jewish quarter.

It is said that in medieval times, Jews accounted for almost a quarter of Lviv’s population. These days, unfortunately, there is little to show for Lviv’s Jewish past; during the war the Germans destroyed virtually all synagogues, buildings and cemeteries that belonged to the Jews.

There is no shortage, however, of buildings and monuments reflecting Lviv’s long Polish history including the Dominican Cathedral, the Latin Cathedral and the monument to the famed Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz on Mickiewicz Square. 

Almost anywhere you walk in downtown Lviv you will encounter something interesting if not amazing. The beautiful central park along Prospect Svobody with its contemporary statue of Taras Shevchenko, the historical old Arsenal museum, the colourful old Town Square (Ploshcha Rynok), the magnificent Lviv Opera House, the relaxing and verdant trails through Striysky Park, the incredible sculptured monuments of Lychakivske cemetery — they all serve to delight the soul of visitors to this enchanting city.