Location and site

The city of L’viv, founded in the late Middle Ages, was a flourishing administrative, religious and commercial centre for several centuries. The medieval urban topography has been preserved virtually intact (in particular, there is evidence of the different ethnic communities who lived there), along with many fine Baroque and later buildings.

Urban Morphology

The property, “L’viv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre”, consists of two components: the primary area, encompassing the castle, its surrounding area and the city centre, and to the southwest, a smaller area on St. Yuri’s Hill for the ensemble of St. Yuri’s Cathedral.

L’viv’s historic centre includes many distinct parts representing different stages in its development. The Vysokyi Zamok (High Castle) and Pidzamche (area around the castle) are the main and oldest part of the town, dating to the 5th century. It retains its original topography with a hill, on which the castle sits, and lowlands on which a system of streets and squares developed between the 13th and 17th centuries. Evidence of occupation by separate ethnic communities is seen in the surviving buildings, including a mosque, a synagogue and a variety of religious buildings from the Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic churches.

The Seredmistia, or city centre, developed in the 14th century and features well-preserved Eastern European urban buildings, including many monasteries and residences of the Renaissance and Baroque traditions, as well as parks built on the original site of the medieval fortifications and more recent buildings dating from the last two centuries.

Located on a mountain plateau to the southwest of the medieval city is the Ensemble of St. Yuri. This complex was the heart of Halychyna Church Metropolis and features buildings primarily in Baroque-style with a high artistic value.

Registration criteria

Criterion (ii): In its urban fabric and its architecture, L’viv is an outstanding example of the fusion of the architectural and artistic traditions of Eastern Europe with those of Italy and Germany.

Criterion (v): The political and commercial role of L’viv attracted to it a number of ethnic groups with different cultural and religious traditions, who established separate yet interdependent communities within the city, evidence of which is still visible in the modern townscape.

Historical reference

The city of L’viv was founded in the late Middle Ages where a settlement had existed since the 5th and 6th centuries. It flourished as an administrative, religious and commercial centre due to its favourable geographical position for trade and political development. Today, the surviving architectural and artistic heritage reflects a synthesis of Eastern European traditions influenced by those from Italy and Germany.

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/865/