Theme Week Ukraine – Lviv, Little Paris of the East

Saturday, 30 August 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  4 minutes

Opera House © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-2.5

Opera House © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-2.5

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine and the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast. Formerly capital of the historical region of Galicia, Lviv is now regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today’s Ukraine. The historical heart of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived Soviet and Nazi occupation during World War II largely unscathed. The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as Lviv University and Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the city centre in September 2006.

On 12 June 2009 the Ukrainian magazine Focus judged Lviv the best Ukrainian city to live in. Its more Western European flavor has earned it the nickname the “Little Paris of Ukraine”. The city expected a sharp increase in the number of foreign visitors as a venue for UEFA Euro 2012, and as a result a major new airport terminal has been built.

University of Lviv © Gryffindor/cc-by-sa-3.0 Palace of Potocki family © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-2.5 Lviv University of Life Safety © Romankravchuk/cc-by-sa-3.0 Lviv Main Railway Station © Romankravchuk/cc-by-sa-3.0 Town Hall © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-2.5 Opera House © Jan Mehlich/cc-by-sa-2.5
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Lviv University of Life Safety © Romankravchuk/cc-by-sa-3.0
The city is known as a center of art, literature, music and theatre. Nowadays, the indisputable evidences of the city cultural richness is a big number of theaters, concert halls, creative unions, and also high number of many artistic activities (more than 100 festivals annually, 60 museums, 10 theaters). Lviv’s historic churches, buildings and relics date from the 13th century. In recent centuries it was spared some of the invasions and wars that destroyed other Ukrainian cities. Its 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. Some cemeteries are of interest: for example the Lychakivskiy Cemetery where the Polish elite were buried for centuries. Leaving the central area the architectural style changes radically as Soviet-era high-rise blocks dominate. In the centre of the city the Soviet era is reflected mainly in a few modern-style national monuments and sculptures.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on City of Lviv, Lviv Tourism, The Lviv Opera, Lviv University, Lviv Airport, Wikitravel Lviv and Wikipedia Lviv. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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