Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
woodcut parquetry floor made from 14 kinds of hardwood. It was here on 22 December
1686 that Poland and Russia signed the treaty that partitioned Ukraine.
No 2
, the Palazzo
Bandinelli, covers 19th- and 20th-century history, including two floors dedicated to the
city's very early days. The highlight is an enormous painting depicting the old walled
city of Lviv in the 18th century. Pr Svobody was a moat.
Museum of Folk
Architecture & Life
MUSEUM
(
www.skansen.lviv.ua
; vul Chernecha Hora 1; admission 10uah; 9am-dusk Tue-Sun)
This open-
air museum displays different regional styles of farmsteads, windmills, churches and
schools, which dot a huge park to the east of the city centre. Everything is pretty spread
out here and a visit involves a lot of footwork. As an exhibition, it doesn't hold a candle
to Kyiv's Pyrohovo Museum, but it's worth checking out if you're not heading to the
capital. To get to the museum, take tram 7 from vul Pidvalna up vul Lychakivska and get
off at the corner of vul Mechnykova. From the stop, walk 10 minutes' north on vul
Krupyarska, following the signs.
High Castle Hill
LANDMARK
Around 30 minutes' walk from pl Rynok, visiting the High Castle (Vysoky Zamok) on
Castle Hill (Zamkova Hora) is a quintessential Lviv experience. There's little evidence of
the 14th-century ruined stone fort that was Lviv's birthplace, but the summit mound
sporting a mammoth Ukrainian flag thwacking in the wind offers 360-degree views of
the city and the wooded hills between which it nestles. To reach Vysoky Zamok on foot,
head up vul Kryvonosa from Vul Pidvalna until you reach a cafe and toilets where you
should take a left. After a few minutes you will see a set of metal steps on the right. If
you're feeling lazy, you can take a taxi most of the way up, approaching from the east via
vul Vysoky Zamok.
Boyim Chapel
CHAPEL
(pl Katedralna; admission 10uah; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun)
Just off pl Rynok's southwest corner,
the blackened facade of the burial chapel (1615) belonging to Hungarian merchant Ge-
orgi Boyim and his family is covered in magnificent if somewhat morbid carvings. Atop
the cupola is an unusual sculpture of Christ sitting with his head in one hand, pondering
his sorrows. The interior is dizzying, featuring biblical reliefs with cameo appearances by
members of the Boyim family. There are more images of the family patriarchs on the ex-
