Vul. Drukarska, 6a – residential building ID: 2344

This four-story masonry building, formerly the rear wing of the Chodzenkowicz Tenement, dates back to the seventeenth–nineteenth centuries. It acquired its current appearance following the demolition of the adjacent tenement on the west side and the subsequent creation of a section of vul. Drukarska in its place. The building is a Monument of architecture and urban planning of national significance (ID No. 1291), according to Decree No. 442 of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR dated August 24, 1979. Today, it serves as a residential building, with its semi-basement premises leased by the "Massandra" café and tasting room.

Story

The tenement, known as the Chodzenkowicz, is mentioned in the tax records of 1631 and 1662, and later in the 1767 cubit tax records. It occupied the entire plot between Virmenska and what is now Lesi Ukrainky streets. To the west, it was adjacent to the Jakubowicz Tenement, which was demolished at the end of the eighteenth century. Following this, vul. Drukarska (then known as "Za jeleniem") was extended, and the old Chodzenkowicz Townhouse gained a new street façade. At that time, the building facing vul. Lesi Ukrainky was the rear wing. The first reconstruction likely took place at the turn of the century. During this period, the wing on vul. Lesi Ukrainky received its escarpment, and the vul. Virmenska façade was decorated with sculptural bass reliefs. In 1860, owners Ipolit and Paulina Olszewski conducted a major reconstruction of the entire building, adding side wings. From 1894, the owner was Hersch Reiss. At his request, architect Michał Fechter carried out another reconstruction in 1898, giving the structure its modern appearance. Two entrances, located opposite each other near the side wings, led to a new numbering system, and the building received two addresses: No. 6 and No. 6a. Between 2001 and 2002, the cellars and underground vaults were adapted into a tasting room and wine cellar for "Massandra" Crimean wines. In 2013, the façade facing vul. Drukarska was restored.

Architecture

This is the former rear building of the Chodzenkowicz Tenement (vul. Virmenska 21). At the end of the eighteenth century, after the opening of the new section of vul. Drukarska and the escarpment on ul. Skarbkowska (now vul. Lesi Ukrainky) side, the building formed a characteristic architectural accent at the intersection.

In terms of its spatial and volumetric design, it represents the northern wing of the building at vul. Virmenska 21 (mailing address: vul. Drukarska 6). However, due to the design of the northern façade (facing vul. Lesi Ukrainky), it differs radically from the elevation on vul. Virmenska and is therefore designated as a separate heritage unit.

The building is constructed of brick and has an L-shaped layout with four stories. The façade on vul. Lesi Ukrainky and the corner at the intersection are reinforced with buttresses, which lend the monument an air of antiquity and serve as primary aesthetic elements. All other external features reflect the principles of the "dry" Biedermeier style of the mid-nineteenth century. A cornise divides the façades into two levels, with the first level being almost entirely devoid of decorative elements. The windows and blind niches of the third and fourth floors feature modest trimming with shelf pediments and keystones. A narrow arcature band runs beneath the cornice at the top. Wide lesenes on the second level create a vertical rhythm. The appearance is softened by balconies on the southern wall of the vul. Drukarska façade and the late-nineteenth-century styling of the entrance doors. The staircase railing, located deep within the vul. Drukarska volume, also exhibits stylistic features of Historicism. The internal layout of the apartments is sectional, with an enfilade arrangement of rooms. A wine tasting hall is located in the cellars and semi-basement premises (the entrance to the underground level is on the axis between buildings No. 6 and 6a). A sculpture of a wine lover stands before the entrance.

People

Hersch Reiss –– property owner.
Ipolit Olszewski –– co-owner.
Michał Fechter –– Lviv architect of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Paulina Olszewska –– co-owner.
The Chodzenkowicz family –– a lineage of Armenian burghers.

Sources