Capturing Ternopil in its Historical Architectural Details

Architectural detail is found everywhere, from the defining shape of a doorknob and the waves created by a balustrade to the winding form of a staircase and the rounded culmination of a handrail. It is in these details that we can see the thoughtfulness, care, time, and skill that was […]

Lviv’s Austrian-Era Municipal Cemeteries

Everyone has heard of Lviv’s Lychakiv Cemetery — not only is it well-known among locals, but it is also one of the city’s main tourist attractions. The beautiful sculptures, winding paths, and prominent figures buried here attract a constant flow of crowds. Though not nearly as popular, Yaniv Cemetery is […]

Lviv’s Prewar Electrical Substation Booths

Lviv’s first municipal electric station of direct current (DC) was built to power the electric tram, which was introduced ahead of the General Regional Exhibition of 1894 to bring visitors from the main train station to the site of the exhibition. The competition for the construction of the tram network was won […]

The Pearl on the Sian River: The Ukrainian Narodnyi Dim in Peremyshl

By Kasia Komar-Macyńska for Nasze Słowo The history about the uniqueness of the architecture and secrets held by the Narodnyi Dim (National or People’s Home) in Peremyshl (Przemyśl). In 2021, this building will be 117 years old. Exploring its past is like collecting puzzle pieces that were scattered all over the house […]

The Casino de Paris: A Separate Multicultural Galician World

Below is a translation of Daryna and Volodymyr Olshansky’s “The History of One Theater,” published Feb. 2, 2021, on Zbruc “In the center on the left side of Lesia Kurbasa Street in Lviv there is a building that you cannot pass by without noticing — the eye will first linger […]

Lviv’s Antique Decorative Floor Tiles

One of the most colorful and decorative traces of the times of Austrian Lviv (Lemberg) can be found right under our feet — in the entrances, vestibules, and stairwells of many of Lviv’s buildings, from the floors of the finest banks and institutions to ordinary residential apartments in the city’s […]

Centers of a World that No Longer Exist

By Kasia Komar-Macyńska for Nasze Słowo A bell tower was here, right here. Now we go inside… there was a white and black cement tile floor. But when the church was dismantled, they probably liked it, so they took it. But for some reason it was left at the sanctuary — […]

Przemyśl at the Turn of the Century: From the Notes of Feliks Mantel

Below is a translation from Polish of the article Przemyśl na przełomie wieków …z zapisków Feliksa Mantela Feliks Mantel (1906-1990) came from a family of Przemyśl Jews. His father, Józef Mantel (1875-1920), was a lawyer and a close associate of [lawуer and socialist politician] Herman Lieberman. Józef Piłsudski, who stayed in […]

Prewar Glass Inscriptions in Lviv

Around Lviv etched window inscriptions that date from before the war can still be found, though not many — glass is the most fragile of all remnants of the past. Most of these are old street names and building numbers, conscription numbers, and other informative messages that helped people orient […]

Supporting the Beauty of Facades: Lviv’s Blind Balustrades

The blind balustrade, like the blind window, is an element of architecture that has an aesthetic rather than utilitarian function. Instead of forming the protective edge of a balcony or of a change of level, blind balustrades are applied to the wall surface to add ornamentation to the façade or […]