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Vul. Fedorova, 28 – ruins of a residential building

ID: 746

The townhouse number 28, called Rabynivska, was built by the Żółkiewski magnate family in the 16th century, but at the end of that century it was bought by Izrael Józefowicz, a Lviv Jew, and adapted for a yeshiva, i.e. a Talmud high school, whose rosh (rector) was scholar Yozue Falk ben Aleksander Kohen.  Now this building with a rich history, an architectural monument (protection number 356), is being dismantled to build a hotel in its place.

History

16th century – a masonry townhouse was built.
1590 – the townhouse was adapted for a Talmud school (yeshiva).
18th century – the third floor was added.
1837 – the townhouse was rebuilt after a fire, the fourth floor was added.
1864 – reconstruction works were carried out with the replacement of the stairs under a project designed by Josef Engel; a wooden shed was built in the courtyard.
1908 – a sanitation of the buildings was conducted; the courtyard was paved with concrete slabs; new toilets at the end wall and a single-storied lodge in the depth of the courtyard were constructed under a project designed by Leon Graf.
1929 – the staircase, rear façades, whips in the ground floor apartment (overlooking the courtyard), and the toilet installation were repaired.
1935 – the main façade was repaired.
1949 – the townhouse was reconstructed.
1980 – the house number 28 was listed as a monument.
1989 – a comprehensive research with measurements was conducted (architect Oles Yarema).
2000 – a project of restoration and adaptation for an administrative building was designed (architect Yuliana Pikhurko), project documentation for restoration works was prepared.
2010 – the demolition of the townhouse to build a hotel complex in its place.

The townhouse number 28, called Rabynivska, was built by the Żółkiewski magnate family on the parcel number 212 in the 16th century. It is one of the oldest masonry buildings in the Jewish quarter, whose housing was almost entirely wooden in the 16th century. A brief history of the Rabynivska townhouse is told by Majer Bałaban: "At first it belonged to the known magnate family of Żółkiewski. In the late 16th century [1590] it was bought from Mikołaj and Stanisław Żółkiewski by Izrael Józefowicz (Eideles) for 2,000 guldens and adapted for a Talmud school or yeshiva. The rosh (rector) of the school was the new owner's son-in-law, Rebbe Yozue Falk ben Alexander Kohen (d. 1614), a famous scholar of his time and the marshal of the Jewish Sejm [Council of Four Lands] in Lublin in 1607." Since then the townhouse was for a long time called  Rabynivska (Rabbi's). Famous Talmud scholars and rabbis came from the Lviv yeshiva, including scholar Abraham Rappaport, scholar and Rabbi Isak Halewi.

The old townhouse had two floors. In the 18th century the third floor was added; however, it is unclear who exactly did it as its owners changed often during that century. In the mid-18th century it belonged to the Order of Calced Carmelites; in the 1767 tax registry it was still called Rabynivska. In 1788 the townhouse was bought by Zussman Leib Bałaban, who was the qahal burgomaster in the last years of the Polish Commonwealth existence.

In 1837 the building was severely damaged by fire and was rebuilt later. When rebuilding the walls were fortified, the fourth floor was added (in the documents of the early 1860s the townhouse is mentioned as a  four-storied one). In 1864 Abraham Brand, one of the owners, conducted a reconstruction with the replacement of the stairs under a project designed by Josef Engel. A shed was built in the courtyard of the house. At that time it was owned by P. Fischer and Efraim Bombuch.

In 1908 the owner of the building, Chaim Rosenstreich, had a sanitation of the buildings conducted; the courtyard was paved with concrete slabs. Also, he had a single-storied lodge built in the depth of the courtyard; new toilets at the end wall were constructed and connected with the staircase by balcony galleries. The project for these works was designed by Leon Graf, a engineer and builder. In 1928-1929 the city's police building administration ordered the same owner to repair the stone staircase, the rear façades, whips in the ground floor apartment (overlooking the courtyard), and the toilet installation. In 1935, at the request of the Magistrate,  the co-owners of the building, Wiktoria Gottfried and Peppi Weiss, had the main façade repaired, which crumbled away and was dirty. The last reconstruction of the building was carried out after the Second World War in 1949. It was then that the layout of the apartments was changed due to arranging partitions.

According to the Lviv Region Executive Committee's resolution number 130 dated 26 February 1980, the building was included in the local register of monuments (protection number 356).

In 1989 the Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsiya insitute conducted a comprehensive research of the townhouse (architect Oles Yarema). In 2000, the Lviv City Executive Committee's Capital Construction Administration commissioned architect Yuliana Pikhurko to design a project of restoration, based on previous studies, and adaptation for an administrative building and to prepare project documentation for restoration works.  The residents were moved from the townhouse. However, no work was carried out for 10 years. The abandoned house was gradually turned into ruin. In the summer of 2010 the monument started to be dismantled to build a hotel complex in its place.

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Architecture

The Rabynivska townhouse stood in the row housing of Fedorova (earlier Blacharska, Żydowska) street on a narrow (11.2 m) building parcel number 212, which is stretched from west to east and retains planning dimensions specified by the parameters of the location block parcellation. The building was modified in different periods, beginning from the mid-16th century, when it was built, and till the mid-19th century. The four-storied townhouse was constructed of stone (cellars) and brick, plastered and covered with a gable tin roof. Its spatial design had a structure, typical of medieval Lviv: three parts and three tracts (1 – the main building and gate; 2 – the staircase; 3 – the rear building). The townhouse's architectural design comes from different periods. The four-axis main façade was segmented vertically by lesenes (rusticated on the second floor), each floor was emphasized by profiled stringcourses. The windows were rectangular, with stone cornices underneath. The ground floor was coated with hewn limestone blocks; it was notable for two windows with white stone segmental lintels. The building had three entrances: one leading to the gate, two leading into the cellars. The main entrance gate was rectangular with a semicircular barred light and a forged door. The entrances to the cellars had metal doors.

The cellars were covered with semicircular vaults; the ground floor premises had cross and semicircular vaults; the intermediate floors were flat on wooden beams.

The house was in a condition requiring restoration. The preserved architectural elements of historical developments allowed to carry out a scientific restoration. However, the oldest surviving townhouse on former Blacharska street has been dismantled.

Personalities

Abraham Brand – a co-owner of the building
Abraham Rappaport – a Talmud scholar
Wiktorja Gottfried – a co-owner of the building
Ephraim Bombuch – a co-owner of the building
Żółkiewski – a magnate family
Süssmann Leib Bałaban – qahal burgomaster in the last years of the Polish Commonwealth
Izrael Józefowicz Eideles – an owner of the building who commissioned its adaptation for a Talmudic school (yeshiva) 
Izaak Halewi – a scholar and rabbi
Jozue Falk ben Aleksander Kohen – a rabbi, yeshiva's rosh (rector), a renowned scholar of his time, marshal of the Jewish Sejm [Council of Four Lands] in Lublin in 1607
Leon Graf – engineer and constructor
Majer Bałaban – historian
Mikołaj Żółkiewski – a magnate
Oles Yarema – an architect and restorator
P. Fischer – a co-owner of the building
Peppi Weiss – a co-owner of the building
Stanisław Żółkiewski – a magnate.
Ulyana Pikhurko – an architect and restorator
Chaim Rosenstreich – a co-owner of the building
Józef Engel – a constructor.

Sources

1. Archive of the Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsiya Institute, item Л-234.
2. State Archive of Lviv Oblast (DALO) 2/1/458.
3. M. Bałaban, "Dzielnica żydowska: jej dzieje i zabytki", Biblioteka Lwowska, 1990, T. III, 71-72.
4. Р. Могитич, "Ліктьовий податок", Вісник ін-ту Укрзахідпроектреставрація, 2009, Ч. 19.