Our cities’ and buildings’ physical spaces, urban and rural landscapes, hold secrets to how people used to live, hold traces of previous eras. Embodied in outdated signage, beautiful antique craftsman, and remnants of outdated infrastructures, these mementos of a bygone world serve as are our physical connections to the past.
The beautiful Lychakiv Cemetery greets visitors with its winding paths adorned by exquisite artistic statues and grave vaults, evoking a nostalgic journey through time. However, amidst its splendor, one can’t help but notice the destroyed headstones and vaults. This made me wonder why so much damage can be found in […]
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These intriguing metal fixtures are a common sight in many of Lviv’s courtyards. They are decorative hangers integrated into the ironwork of the galleries’ banisters. Historically, they served for drying, brushing, and airing out coats. Another theory suggests they may have been used for hanging plants or flowers. Similar hangers […]
From Lokalna Istoriya – text and photographs by Yuliya Korytska-Holub, original in Ukrainian The building of the Dnister Insurance Company, situated at the corner of Pidvalna and Ruska streets in Lviv, has been considered a gem of the city since its inception. Recent renovations have only heightened its elegance, though not without […]
On Bila Hora, in the village of Pidlyssia, Lviv region, stands a 25-meter-tall memorial cross dedicated to Markiyan Shashkevych, a renowned poet, writer, Greek Catholic priest, member of Ruska Triytsa (Ruthenian Triad), and co-author of the first Ukrainian-language almanac Rusalka Dnistrova. Shashkevych is often hailed as the “Builder (Budytel’) of […]
Around Kraków, near the handles of old doors you can find signs asking you to “nie zamykać” (don’t close) the door. The reason is that the door had a special door closer – a mechanical device that automatically closed the door in a controlled manner. As such door closers were […]
In several of Kraków’s pre-WWII buildings, one can find inscriptions near the entrance asking those entering to “wipe your shoes” (“Uprasza się obuwie wycierać”). Maintaining a clean building would have been more difficult in those times as fewer streets were paved, making it muddier than today. There would have also […]
Kraków was considered as the unofficial capital of the western part of Galicia and the second most important city in the region. As in other former Galician cities, today various traces of its time under the Austrian Empire can still be found in the urban landscape. In particular, Kraków has […]
In the first couple months of the full-scale war (after being displaced from Lviv and living in Poland), searching for sunflowers in the architectural detail of Kraków became a way to soothe my soul, to find solidarity with Ukraine during those highly uncertain and volatile times. Each time I would […]
Today marks one year since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. One year since I packed a backpack and left for the Polish border, not knowing when or if I would ever return to my home in Lviv. So much can be said about the last year, the […]
Shortly before the full-scale war started, I was working on an article about fire insurance companies that worked in Lviv (Lwów / Lemberg) in Austrian times. Thanks to this, I had learned about the Kraków Mutual Insurance Society and knew that their former headquarters still stood in Kraków. Thus some […]
While many old Jewish cemeteries still remain around Galicia, the same cannot be said of the Jewish burial grounds in Lviv (Lemberg / Lwów). Only found fragments of their ancient tombstones (matzevah) — which were used by the Nazis and Soviets as pavement and building material — remind us of […]
