Market Square – the historical center of Lviv
The city center is rich in buildings about a hundred and fifty years old. Some of them were built during the period of Austro-Hungarian rule, others during the period of incorporation into the Polish state.
One of the favorite places of locals and tourists is the High Castle Park, located on Castle Hill. It was artificially created to commemorate the tercentenary of the Union of Lublin, with soil brought from historical sites in Poland and Belarus. Earlier, in the 13th century, a castle stood on this site. Following the path to the highest point, you will see a panorama of the city, and in good cloudless weather you can even spot the peaks of the Carpathians in the distance.
In the center of the old part of the city is Market Square with the Lviv City Hall. You can climb its 400 steps to see the center of Lviv from a bird's-eye view. Along the way, you can examine in detail the ancient town hall clock, made by Viennese craftsmen. Market Square has preserved its old-time atmosphere, antique sculptures and ancient architectural ensemble. It was built by architects from Italy and German colonists.
The houses on Market Square are called kamianytsi, as they were mostly made of stone. The most notable of them is the Black Kamianytsia. It is decorated with sculptures, and its facade is lined with hewn stone, the paint on which has oxidized and blackened over time. Currently, the kamianytsia houses a unique museum-pharmacy, with exhibits telling about the beginnings of medical practice and pharmacy in Lviv.
Not far from Market Square is the opera house, decorated with rich and majestic decor. Mirrors were used in the interior design, and marble and stucco in the decoration. There are also many sculptural compositions and paintings.
Lviv is a city of cathedrals, churches, temples, and chapels. Most of them are located close to each other. So, walking around the center, you can fully admire some of them. The numerous tours of Lviv offered to tourists include visits to such historical landmarks as the Armenian Church, the Jesuit Church, the Bernardine Monastery, the Dominican Cathedral, the Transfiguration Church and the Church of St. Mary, as well as the Latin Cathedral.
If you want to walk through unusual places, we recommend visiting the Lychakiv Cemetery, which has the status of a historical and memorial reserve. It is the oldest in Europe and contains an incredible number of family crypts and various impressive tombstones, reliefs, thematic figures, monuments, many of which are true works of art. Many famous personalities are buried here.
Lviv is a city of diverse authentic cafes. At the "Lviv Chocolate Workshop" you can order, for example, a chocolate bar with scenes from the Kama Sutra (so if you are with children, be careful). Another unusual cafe is the "Lviv Coffee Mine", where at the entrance, for atmosphere, they give out hard hats. And the bartenders, to attract visitors' attention, put on a fire show with a blowtorch every day when ordering the "Sealed Coffee". Here you can descend into an improvised coffee mine, where coffee beans are supposedly mined.
There is also the "Kerosene Lamp" cafe, where about 200 kerosene lamps are used as decorations in the hall. According to legend, kerosene was invented in Lviv, and it was in this building that its inventor, Ignacy Łukasiewicz, once lived.
On this romantic note, we end our short excursion through the City of the Lion and wish you pleasant travels to the capital of Western Ukraine!