/ Map & Itinerary / Lviv:
THE PAPAL VISIT TO UKRAINE    
June 23-27, 2001    
Map & Itinerary

Schedule of the Papal Visit to Ukraine
Map
Youth meeting 26 June
Kyiv
Lviv


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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Research by the - Lviv Theological Academy
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