Roman catholic churches in Lviv

Not far from St.Nicolas Church, closer to Old Market, there are more two temples built in the period of princely Lviv. These are the most ancient Roman catholic churches - Church of Mary Snizhna and Catholic church of St.John the Baptist.

Near these churches is possible to Lviv apartments for daily rent apartments by using our site, which is seen from the windows of the great historical sites.

Main facade of Mary Snizhna Church overlooks the square of Prince Osmomysl, side facades - I.Gonty and Snizhna Streets. Some researchers consider it is rebuilt of Old Russian church. In the end of 13th century it was already catholic church and religious center of the German colony.

Traditional scheme of basilica is typical for Western European religious architecture, clarity of space solutions, squat proportions and modest decor are the features of Romanesque architecture. The church was rebuilt repeatedly and just after six centuries got modern appearance. At the end of the XIX century architect Y.Zaharevich radically updated it in Romanesque spirit; it is noticed in the decoration of the interior and exterior ornamentation of the altar.

St.John the Baptist Church also has been changed significantly. At first, it was the church of the Orthodox monastic order of the Basilian. Then Prince Lev Danylovich gave it to his wife Constance, daughter of Hungarian King Bela IV, and it was rebuilt for the Dominican missionaries.

Then the building got Romanesque features. Not big, one-nave, with one faceted apse church now does not make strong impression; here is too little antiquity. In 1886-1887 it was fully restored by Y.Zaharevich who decorated facades in Romanesque style. It was the last reconstruction which changed the appearence of the church. The greatest interest are now some old icons in the altar and two male portraits in the sacristy dated from 1637 and 1647 years.

These two churches were the the first heralds of the ideological expansion of the, and soon Lviv and Galicia-Volhynia became the part of Rzeczpospolita. In 1340 Yuri II died (Boleslav Mazowiecki) who had inherited the last prince of the ruling dynasty Romanovich.

Taking advantage of civil strife the Polish King Casimir III in the same year conquered Lviv, but not for long. The local population had a stubborn resistance to the invaders. In the years 1340-1349 the city ruled by lord Dmitry Detko who brought together all patriotic forces. After many battles, sieges and negotiations, after several years of domination of Lithuanian princes, Hungarian kings, in 1387 in Lviv Polish feudal authotiry was approved.

New period of city history began - centuries of foreign domination era, the era of struggle of brave and talented people against social and national oppression.
These events and changes had influence on appearance of the city, its architecture and monuments.