Attractions of Lviv region

Stare Selo Castle is one of the largest strongholds of Galicia.

A powerful stone fortification in the middle of a swampy area was built in 1584-1589 by the princes of Ostrozky to protect the south-eastern approaches to Lviv.

Architect Amvrosiy Prykhylny used the style of the Eastern European late renaissance. The castle with an area of about 2 hectares was surrounded by 8-meter walls in the shape of an irregular triangle, at the corners of which there were six defense towers 14-16 meters high with baroque carvings (3 of them have been preserved).

In 1648, the castle was taken by the troops of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, in 1672 it withstood the Turkish siege.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Stare Selo Castle belonged to Adam Mykolay Senyavskyi, who moved his arsenal here from Lviv. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was owned by the Chartoriysky and Potocki. The last owner, Alfred Potocki, turned the castle into a brewery, after which it began to decline.

In 2010, the architectural monument was given a long-term concession to a private investor under the conditions of restoration and creation of a recreational complex, but the ruins of the castle still remain in a neglected state. In 2023, the court terminated the concession agreement with the private company and returned the Stare Selo Castle to state ownership.

Access is free.

The State Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv is considered one of the oldest natural history museums in Europe.

Founded in 1870 by the naturalist-collector, count of Ukrainian origin Volodymyr Didushytsky in a reconstructed building in the early neoclassicism style of the early 19th century. In 1880 Didushytsky donated the museum to the Lviv community, and since 1940 it has been under the jurisdiction of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Since 2013, the State Natural History Museum has been creating a new main exhibition "Symphony of Life", the paleontological part of which was opened in 2019 under the name "Ice Age". Among the most interesting exhibits: skeletons of a mammoth and woolly rhinoceros from the ozocerite deposit in Starun, bones of other fossil animals, a Cro-Magnon figure of the late Stone Age, reconstruction of a primitive man's dwelling. The exhibition is complemented by interactive multimedia kiosks.

A kind of museum exhibit is the oldest operating mechanical elevator in Ukraine, equipped back in 1870 by Count Didushytsky, who was partially paralyzed in old age and moved in a wheelchair. For the smallest visitors, there is an interactive children's area.

The hunting house of the Polish king Stefan Batory in Sambir was built in the 16th century on the territory of the royal Sambir castle, which was located south of the city center.

Later, a complex of buildings of the current district hospital was built on the castle ramparts. The house of Stefan Batory was adapted for the hospital church of Saint Panteleymon.

The manor-museum of Stepan Bandera in the village of Volia-Zaderevatska was opened in the house where Andriy Bandera, the father of the OUN leader, lived in 1933-1936.

During these years, Andriy Bandera served as a priest in the church of Saint Archangel Michael in Volia-Zaderevatska, engaged in legal and underground activities. Stepan Bandera used to come to him on vacation.

Later there was a school in this building.

The museum was founded in the first years of Ukraine's independence by Bandera's sister's friend Anna Ivaniv. In the first room - the pedigree of the Bander family. In the second, there is a chapel where Stepan's father baptized children. In the third room there are documents, photographs, leaflets of the OUN-UPA.

A park named after Stepan Bandera has been laid near the house. The reconstructed hiding place is a disguised refuge of the rebels.

The Stepan Bandera Museum in Dublyany is located in one of the premises of the Lviv National Agrarian University, on the second floor of the main building. It was founded in 1999 on the initiative of the university’s rector Volodymyr Snitynsky.

In 1928-1933, when it was a branch of the Lviv Polytechnic, the future leader of the OUN, Stepan Bandera, studied here at the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. He was arrested there for political activity.

The museum exposition highlights the theme of the national liberation struggles of the Ukrainian people in the 20th century, the period of Stepan Bandera’s studies, his participation in the Ukrainian national life of the region and his high political activity. Photographs, literary works, and several pages from the personal file of the ideologist of Ukrainian nationalism are presented.

The main building also houses the Museum of the History of the Lviv National Agrarian University. Its exposition tells about the most important stages of the educational institution's activity in Dublyany, namely: Agricultural School (1856–1878); Higher Agricultural School (1878–1901); Agricultural Academy (1901–1919); as part of Lviv Polytechnic (1919–1947); Lviv Agricultural Institute (1947–1996); The University today.

The ancient Stilsko Settlement (Hillfort) with an area of 250 hectares is located on a high plateau between the villages of Stilsko, Iliv and Dubrova. In the 8th-10th centuries, the capital of the chronicled captives of the White Croats, who are considered the ancestors of today's Galicians, was located here.

White Croatia is mentioned for the first time in the book "On the management of the empire" by the Byzantine emperor Constantine the Red-headed. In 981-992, the principality of the Croats was annexed to Kyivan Rus by Grand Duke Volodymyr Svyatoslavych. Stilsko was destroyed and the level of the city did not rise again. In Byzantine sources of the 16th century, Stilsko is mentioned as the center of the Galician metropolis.

Since 2015, the archaeological sites of Stilsko and its surroundings have been part of the Historical and Cultural Reserve "Stilsko Settlement".

The center of the hillfort with a cubit surrounded by defensive ramparts is located on a hill rising above the church of Saint Paraskeva in the eastern part of the village. The names of the tracts "Golden Gate" and "Prince Well" remind us of the ancient buildings of the settlement.

In the nearby village of Dubrova, there are centers of pagan cults of the Stilsko settlement: the Temple of the Sun (or Sacrificial Stone, Dyriavets) and the cave cult complex of the White Croats. The latter is a rock with hollowed-out caves, in which, probably, the ministers of the pagan cult lived first, and then the Christian monks. Nowadays, local residents have turned the cells into cellars, installed doors, hung locks and store food in them.

Another ancient sanctuary is located in the village of Iliv.

The Great Synagogue in Stryi was built in 1817. The bars of the gate are made in the shape of a menorah.

In Soviet times, it was a food warehouse. Currently, the synagogue building is in a dilapidated state, and restoration is not planned yet.

The building of the former Stryi gymnasium was built at the beginning of the 19th century, although the gymnasium itself was opened only in 1872 as the Stryi Imperial Higher Real School.

In 1919-1927, the future leader of the OUN, Stepan Bandera, and other notable persons studied here.

Today it is the Stryi Lyceum No. 7. A monument to Stepan Bandera is installed in front of the building.

Stryiskyi Park is one of the oldest and most beautiful parks in Lviv, a monument of garden and park art of national importance.

Before World War II, it was considered one of the most beautiful parks in Poland.

Founded in 1879 by Arnold Rehring on the site of the cemetery. Now it occupies an area of 56 hectares. It consists of three parts: the zone of the lower parterres (at the bottom of the beam), the forest park zone (on the slopes of the beam), the upper terrace.

The Lviv Children's Railway, a monument to Yan Kilinsky (participant of the Polish uprising under the command of Tadeush Kostyushko) and a monument to Ukrainian football (in honor of the victory of the Lviv club "Sokil" over the Krakow team) are located in Stryiskyi Park.

Stryiskyi Park also boasts a decorative pond and beautiful alleys.

Free entrance.

The Museum of the History of Sudova Vyshnia is located in the historical building of the People's House (XIX century).

In 1897, the writer Ivan Franko spoke here, as evidenced by the memorial plaque.

The museum exhibition includes 350 original exhibits that highlight the history of the city from ancient times to the present day.

In the archaeological collection: fragments of a mammoth tusk, flint axes, sickles, fragments of pottery, clay female figurines, etc.

A separate exposition is dedicated to the writer-polemicist Ivan Vyshenskyi, a native of Sudova Vyshnia.

The Svirzh Castle in the Lviv region is a picturesque medieval building in the Renaissance style, a unique monument of defensive architecture of the XV-XVII centuries. The monument is part of the "Golden Horseshoe of Lviv region" tourist route.

It was originally built as a fortress, but after the reconstruction of the 17th century, it acquired the noble features of a magnate's residence. The first defensive structures on Mount Belz, surrounded by lakes and marshes, date back to 1484 (the ruins of the tower and grotto to the right of the entrance).

Svirzh Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1530, when it belonged to the Svirzhsky nobles. In the middle of the 17th century, it was rebuilt and significantly strengthened by Count Oleksandr Zetner, according to one version, inviting the famous fortification engineer Pavlo Hrodzytskyi from Lviv.

The castle with a defensive moat and a bridge is divided into two courtyards of different levels, surrounded by Renaissance towers and houses. Having become a comfortable residence, Svirzh Castle was able to withstand several Turkish sieges, but before that it was captured by the Cossack troops of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

He suffered greatly during the First and Second World Wars.

During Soviet times, the Svirzh Castle became the property of the Union of Architects as the House of Creativity, but the restoration was never completed. It is planned to transfer the castle to a private investor under concession conditions.

The city museum "Svitlytsya-Museum of Taras Horodetsky" was created in Sheptytskyi in 2014 for the 50th anniversary of the master's birthday on the initiative of the artist's follower, master-pysankar Yuliya Burko and with the support of the Independent Women's Society "Prozerok".

The Svitlytsya is located in the very center of Sheptytskyi, in the premises of the People's House of the city.

The museum's exposition is dedicated to the outstanding pysankar Taras Horodetsky, who was born in Sheptytskyi in 1964, and his creative achievements. Taras Horodetsky became interested in pysankar in the late 1980s and within 10 years became one of the most authoritative master-pysankars in the world. Today, his works are kept in private collections in many countries. When creating his miniature artistic masterpieces, Taras Horodetsky harmoniously combined ancient folk symbols, Trypillya symbolism, Sokal and Kosmach motifs.

The museum houses a rich collection of expertly painted eggs, reflecting the diversity of local craftsmen's skills. Every year, the museum hosts the All-Ukrainian Festival of Easter Egg Painting named after Taras Horodetsky.

The monument to the outstanding Ukrainian poet and public figure Taras Shevchenko was opened in the center of Lviv only in 1992.

The construction issue was resolved for 5 years, the winner was not determined at two design contests, and as a result of a compromise, it was decided to use the "relatively better" project of sculptors Volodymyr and Andriy Sukhorsky and architects Yuriy Dyba and Yuriy Khromey.

The monument was made in Argentina. The ceremonial opening took place on the anniversary of the adoption of the declaration of independence of Ukraine. After 4 years, the second element of the monument was opened - the 12-meter bronze "Wave of National Renaissance".

The Taras Shevchenko People's Museum opened in Lviv in 2004 in the Lviv Arts Palace to mark the Kobzar's birthday.

The museum room contains thousands of exhibits donated by Lviv residents and guests of the city over the past twenty years. The collection is based on over 100 unique paintings by 26 artists who traveled along Shevchenko's path to Ukraine, Vilnius, St. Petersburg and Kazakhstan.

In total, today the collection includes about 7,000 volumes of books, over 5,000 paintings on the theme of Shevchenko, sculptures, a collection of numerous editions of "Kobzar", embroidered towels, folk clothing, a bandura by the famous Kobzar from Kaniv, Oleksa Chupryna, as well as a unique philatelic collection - Shevchenko in stamps and envelopes, including those issued by the underground post of Ukraine in 1961.

The museum of the outstanding Ukrainian sculptor Theodosia Bryzh opened in 2000 in the workshop where she worked since 1954, after graduating from the Lviv Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts.

Honored artist of Ukraine Teodosia Bryzh created more than two hundred sculptures during her lifetime, including monuments and monuments, tombstones and park sculptures.

The museum exposition presents the entire range of her creative pursuits: from historical portraits to images of contemporaries, images of literary heroes, symbolic and metaphorical compositions, in total - more than a hundred works. A series of images from Lesya Ukrayinka's extravaganza drama "Forest Song" deserves special attention.

The museum retains the creative atmosphere of a workshop with a wooden table and bookshelves, sketches and photographs.

The Museum of Theodosia Bryzh is a branch of the Lviv National Art Gallery.