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Forgotten Galicia

Forgotten Galicia

Remnants of the past found in Lviv, Galicia & the former Austrian Empire

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Ghost Signs of Lviv: A Look into the City’s Faded Past

June 1, 2020

I love ghost signs. These messages from the past are one of my favorite parts of the urban landscape. I get overly excited every time I discover a new one. Ghost signs (aka fading ads or brick ads) are old hand-painted signs that have been preserved on a building for […]

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February 8, 2020

Photographs of Prewar Lviv: Hand-Painted Signs

I’ve combed through hundreds of old photographs of Lviv (Lemberg / Lwów) in search of hand-painted signs that are visible today as “ghost signs.” While I’ve only been able to find one such example – a photograph of a milkhouse, the search was not in vain: I came out with […]

February 27, 2018

Medieval Signage in Lviv

Medieval ads and signs have survived in and around Lviv’s Rynok Square. These are metal signs or stone carvings located above entrance ways. The emblems marked the locations of guilds, workshops, stores, taverns, etc. Signage during this era used symbols since the general populace was illiterate. Entrances to taverns were […]

April 25, 2016

Prague’s House Signs

Before Empress Maria Theresa introduced identifying numbers to Prague in 1770, houses were known and located by allegorical symbols. Many of them originally had alchemical significance. The Two Suns The Golden Key Castle goldsmiths lived in this house in the 17th century They paid fees to the city and thus […]

September 15, 2014

Chimney Sweep Sign in Lviv

Lviv, like most cities in the nineteenth century, needed chimney sweeps to keep chimneys clean from the soot that accumulated from burning coal. The bas-relief of a chimney sweep on Anhelovycha Street is one of the only reminders of the era of chimney sweeps. At the beginning of the twentieth […]

Forgotten Galicia

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#lviv #architecturalheritage #archidetails #oldbui #lviv #architecturalheritage #archidetails #oldbuildings #ukraine #vines
Twins #archidetails #architecturalheritage #archi Twins

#archidetails #architecturalheritage #architecturehunter #archilovers #neogothic #lviv
Autumn in Lviv 🍁 @thevillageua #autumnvibes #l Autumn in Lviv 🍁

@thevillageua #autumnvibes #lviv #architecture
Villa Lala: “Lala” (a variant of “lalka”) Villa Lala: “Lala” (a variant of “lalka”) in Polish means “doll.” In informal or slang usage, it can refer to an attractive woman—similar to “babe” in English—and is sometimes used as a term of endearment. It can also be used as a nickname or even a standalone female name in Poland, as it does in this case.

In Ukrainian, at least within the diaspora, “Lyalya” or “Lyalka” (also meaning “doll”) were—and sometimes still are—used as affectionate nicknames for girls. In some cases, the name stuck and continued to be used even after the girls had grown into women. As far as I know, “lala” in Ukrainian does not have the meaning of “babe” as it can have in Polish. 

In Galician Ukrainian (as I heard growing up in the diaspora), there’s also the phrase “kralya-lyalya” (краля-ляля). The word “kralya,” an old-fashioned term for “queen” or “beauty,” was once commonly used to describe an attractive woman. Combined as “kralya-lyalya,” however, it refers to a high-maintenance beauty—a “diva” or “prima donna,” so to speak.
Historical utility covers made by the Vienna compa Historical utility covers made by the Vienna company Gebrüder Andreae, located outside of the former National Casino (today the House of Scientists), built 1898 by the famous Austrian architectural studio Fellner & Helmer. 

#manholecovers #utilitycover #fellnerandhelmer #neobaroque #oldcasino #guardstones #lviv #lwów #ukraine
Cats + historical architecture #archidetails #ar Cats + historical architecture 

#archidetails #architecturehunter #catsofinstagram #catsoflviv #catscatscats #catlovers #catsandarchitecture #lviv #ukraine
The Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the The Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary | 1904 | Rakovets

The single-nave, six-domed wooden Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1904, as indicated by the inscription above the entrance, according to a design by the renowned architect Vasyl Nahirny. To the east of the church stands a preserved two-tier wooden belfry with three bells. In the early 1960s, the church was closed, and only on January 15, 1989, was the first Divine Liturgy held again in the reopened church.

The church’s interior decoration holds unique artistic value: the iconostasis, the wooden canopy over the altar, wooden candelabra, and icons. Several of the icons, as well as a statue of the Virgin Mary found in the church, come from the semi-ruined Church of St. Valentine, which is also located in Rakovets.

#woodenchurch #architecturalheritage #oldchurches #galiciancountryside #ukraine
Ruins of St. Valentine’s Roman Catholic Church i Ruins of St. Valentine’s Roman Catholic Church in Rakovets

The church was originally built in 1704 by the Jesuits on the grounds of an old Polish cemetery. At first, it was a wooden structure, but in 1822, the foundation for a new church was laid in its place, and construction was completed in 1856. The church was built of fieldstone and partially of brick.

In 1890, the church was partially destroyed by fire but was later restored, and an ornate rooftop cupola was added. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the wooden belfry was replaced with a stone one.

In 1946, the church was closed, and part of its interior furnishings were burned. Some rescued images, including a depiction of St. Valentine by Otto Edward Borzemski, were transferred to the local Greek Catholic church, where they remain to this day.

From 1952 until the 1980s, the church was used as a collective farm warehouse, which led to its deterioration.

Today, only the painted vaults of the sacristy have survived.

#galiciancountryside #oldchurches #abandonedchurch
#architecturalheritage #ukraine
Entering Lviv's Old Town | Early evening on a sunn Entering Lviv's Old Town | Early evening on a sunny day 🌞 in early autumn 🍁 | Photo taken yesterday on my way home from work
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