Lviv, like Krakow (Poland), is filled with old churches of different styles, time periods, and confessions |
Dominican church |
Old stone building and evening shadows |
Lviv's bumpy old cobblestone roads are great for tourists, but awful for cars. |
Here begins the old town. I asked for directions many times and was always answered very politely! |
This armory now holds a museum of ancient weapons |
At a church service. My impression is that church attendance is quite a bit higher out here than, say, in Kyiv |
Behind a church. Was this wall part of a fortress? |
Monument to King Danylo, founder of Lviv |
Yet another view of churches and old buildings through crisscrossing streetcar electricity lines
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Those darn power lines! Can't get a single shot without them |
At the central square of the old town. On busier days the square is covered with outdoor cafes |
While general Soviet ugliness engulfed the rest of the city, Lviv's historic center has survived largely unscathed. The real tourist boom is yet to come |
Amusingly, this ancient door is the entrance to the Institute of Automated Control Systems (see plaque in the upper left corner) |
View of city from tower on Market Square. The gray Soviet high-rises are too far distant to spoil the view |
View of old town |
Other than Lviv, there aren't many towns in Ukraine with this old European feel |
More old town |
Close-up of Dominican church |
Another view |
The weather's just too perfect to stop taking pictures |
Streetcar and old houses on Market Square |
These roofs are something! |
Looking out a window of the old market tower |
This historic building now houses a fancy restaurant |
Old wooden home in Lviv's outdoor culturological museum. |
Stunning church interior |
Vertical view |
Restored building with incredible red roof in a secluded corner of the old town |
A rather typical provincial Ukrainian street market |
Same place, other side of the street |
Lviv has a great artists' market in the heart of the historic center |
Used book vendors and collectors gather around this monument to Lviv's first printing press in Ukraine |
Lviv State University. The beat-up trolleybus seems out of place |
This fancy old building used to be a casino |
Driveway into the old casino |
Monument to Lviv's police in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs |
This spot must be Lviv's chess hangout. Every large Ukrainian city has one. I've always wondered how well these old men play |
Gazing skyward outside the Armenian church, perhaps the most unique of Lviv's many churches and sanctuaries |
Inside the ancient cathedral, constructed in the 1350s. The Armenians have never been very large in number, but they are one of the most ancient and the most dispersed nations |
Looking upwards at the dome |
Armenians claim to have one of the oldest strains of Christianity (4th or 5th century A.D.) |
Wall painting inside the cathedral. Innumerable varieties of crosses were used to decorate the interior |
Armenian church courtyard |
Looking down a quiet street in the historic center |
With almost no business activity in the historic center, cars are a real rarity |
Cute Ukrainian folk mural |
These old houses with colorful facades ring Lviv's Market Square |
This "Laboratory of Paranormal Phenomena" offers the whole gamut of services (listed on window) — from correcting negative karmic influences to getting rid of "wreathes of singleness" (for those who can't seem to get married) |
Beggars meet churchgoers at the church doors. This is a common sight in Ukraine (and elsewhere) |
Lviv has an awesome skyline |
Are we in Turkey? No — this is the city hospital
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Billboard announcing Lviv's 748th birthday (May 2th, 2004). Painting captures spirit and colors of Lviv well. Reflected in the glass are the tops of historic buildings |
Walking towards the old center, with Lviv's famous skyline peeking out |
Monument to Taras Shevchenko next to "Wave of national revival," both erected in the 1990s on Lviv's central avenue ("Prospekt Svobody") |
A winter shot. An ancient archway in the oldest part of town. |
