OblastLviv Region

HISTORY:

Immersed in history, the Lviv Region has rich pockets of eye-opening antiquity everywhere. The region and its capital city take their name from the time of Galicia-Volhynia, when Daniel of Galicia, the King of Rus’, founded Lviv; naming the city after his son, Leo. During this time, the general region around Lviv was known as Red Ruthenia (Cherven’ Rus’).

Numerous architectural and historical monuments, as well as museums and theaters are interesting for excursions and tourism in the Lviv Region. In total, there are 886 archeological monuments, 3,822 historical monuments, 3,431 monuments of architecture and town planning , 302 monuments of monumental art in Lviv Oblast.

ART & CULTURE.

The City of Lviv is one of the most important cultural centres of Ukraine. The city is known as a centre of art, literature, music and theatre. Nowadays, the indisputable evidence of the city cultural richness is the large number of theatres, concert halls, creative unions, and also the array of annual artistic activities with more than 100 festivals, 60 museums, and 10 theatres.

Lviv’s historic city centre has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1998.

ARCHITECTURE.

Lviv’s architecture reflects various European styles and periods. After the fires of 1527 and 1556 Lviv lost most of its gothic-style buildings but it retains many buildings in renaissance, baroque and the classic styles. There are works by artists of the Vienna Secession, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

The buildings have many stone sculptures and carvings, particularly on large doors, which are hundreds of years old. The remains of old churches dot the central cityscape. Some three- to five-storey buildings have hidden inner courtyards and grottoes in various states of repair.