Map & Itinerary
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The City of Lviv
Lviv, an old, picturesque and colorful city in Western Ukraine, is the capital
of the Lviv Region and is Western Ukraine's cultural, traditional and spiritual
center. It has about eight hundred thousand residents. The prominent Ukrainian
prince, Danylo Halytsky, founded Lviv. The first historical mention of Lviv
comes from 1256. In 1356, Lviv received the right of self-government in accordance
with Magdeburg rule. Throughout the 14th-18th centuries, it was the largest
Ukrainian city. For a long stretch of time it was under Polish and Austro-Hungarian
rule, but it preserved its bright national identity. It was always the center
of the national-liberation movement of Ukrainians. In 1918, it became the capital
of the short-lived Sate of Western Ukraine.
During the second part of the 20th century, Lviv became a large industrial
center. Lviv is also one of the largest educational and scientific centers in
the country. There are dozens of higher educational establishments and scientific
research institutes.
Within Ukraine, it is Lviv which ranks first place in terms of historical and
cultural monuments. The center of the city is on UNESCOôs world heritage list,
due in large part to its well-preserved collection of buildings from the 14th
- 17th ceturies.
Lviv is also a religious center of national significance, mainly because it
is the administrative center for both the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic and the Roman
Catholic Church. The population of the city has a very complicated confessional
structure. About 35% of the churches in the city belong to the Greek Catholic
Church, 11.5% to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, about 9% to the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and about 6% to the Roman
Catholic Church. Besides this, in the city there are churches belonging to the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as the Armenian
Apostolic Church. There is a Greek-Catholic Theological Academy and a seminary
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate. About one million
people are expected to visit Lviv during the papal visit.
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