Lviv

Introducing Lviv

Mysterious, edgy and architecturally lovely, Lviv boasts that it’s Ukraine’s least Soviet city. It may have a point. The city’s Unesco World Heritage–listed centre was built like a rich layer-cake of neoclassical architecture upon rococo, baroque, Renaissance and Gothic styles. There’s nary a concrete Soviet apartment block in sight (in the centre, at least), and it has a deep-rooted coffee-house culture that is oh-so-central European.

Yet Lviv does retain a whiff of Sovietness that only broadens its appeal. Weathered babushkas sell pickled vegetables and honey at the city’s Krakivsky Market. There’s still the odd gastronom (food store), Volga and dodgy neon-lit slot machine parlour scattered about. Opera tickets and tram rides are still priced for the people, at the equivalent of $2 and 10, respectively.

While Lviv has more tourist infrastructure than most former Soviet cities (including – gasp –a tourist information centre), English signage is rare and there are only a handful of high-standard restaurants and hotels. On balance, this may be a good thing as it has prevented huge Kraków-sized crowds from materialising.

You’ll want to do most of your exploring on foot, dropping into the occasional museum, plopping down at the odd café and stopping to gawk at the myriad churches with their varied cupolas. Walk up to the city’s highest point, Castle Hill (Zamkova Hora), for a bird’s-eye view of those cupolas. Lviv is nicknamed ‘the Florence of the east’ and from here it’s clear why.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009