The Prospect Svobody Promenade (formerly the Hetman Ramparts)

Between the river and the city walls at the so-called Jesuit Gate, a defensive embankment and moat had stood since antiquity on the site of the Hetman’s Ramparts. When the walls came down, the ruins were used to fill in the resulting depression and level the ground in order to convert it into a pedestrian thoroughfare. The landfill collapsed in several locations (the area was being utilized by city residents as grazing land for cattle), causing damage to the new promenade. “There were the ramparts (a path) on the western side, lined with willows standing over the Poltva. It was the only place for an evening stroll, but with no real way down, except through a swampy gulch, a slow-paced walk lasting about ten minutes”. (Stankiewicz, 1928, 64).

Despite these problems, the “ramparts” soon became a popular spot for a stroll, and by the close of the 19th century, a second ‘city center’ – after Rynok Square – had begun to take shape in Lviv. Medieval Lviv and its Market Square (Rynok Square), which had been laid out to conform to the stipulations of the Magdeburg Charter, now shifted its center to the west, near the new promenade and the surrounding park.

The current layout of the Hetman Ramparts reflects the Biedermeier (19th c., German design) motif. Parallel streets were established along the western and eastern banks of the Poltva, and connected by bridges; the water level in the river was controlled by two locks. Impressive structures went up on either side of the stream, the Hausner building and the Skarbek Theater. Rows of poplar were planted along the new roads (the foundation of the current boulevard). This is the view of the “eastern ramparts” often captured in watercolors from the period, painted to commemorate the 1853 Archduke Karl Ludwig’s visit to the city. The popularity of the promenade continued to grow during the mid-19th century, and splendid kiosks offering lemonade, confectionery, and ice cream could be found along the walk.

The look of the Hetman Ramparts changed with the reforms and economic transition of the 1860s, resulting in new and unexpected features finding their way to the space. Besides the ‘respectable’ public which frequented the area, a black market, and opportunistic – largely Jewish – financial sector saw the ramparts as a desirable location in which to pursue their business. According to eyewitnesses, during the Viennese Financial Crash of 1873, the promenade often resembled a scene straight out of Dante’s “Inferno”.

The new era of the Hetman Ramparts is marked by the enclosure of the Poltva and its conversion into a covered, underground canal. Once a clear-running river, by the second half of the 19th century the Poltva had become an open city sewer. Between 1887 and 1889, sections of the river running between Maryanska and Golukhovska (presently, Mickiewicz and Torhova) Squares were covered with stone arches. The Hetman Ramparts were ultimately converted into a pedestrian boulevard, a configuration which it maintains to the present day (Miasto Lwów, 1896, 322-323).

Trees and flower beds were planted here between 1888 and 1890 under the direction of Lviv municipal gardens supervisor Arnold Röhring (Miasto Lwów, 1896, 318-320). The area’s architectural ensemble underwent significant change during the period, with the construction of the immense Galician Savings Bank, the Museum of Industry, and the Municipal Theater.

In 1859, the first monument – a stone statue of Hetman Stanislaw Jabłonowski – was erected on the ramparts. Strictly speaking, it is from this period that the western ramparts, promenade, and park first began to be referred to as the “Hetman” ramparts