Vul. Kyryla i Mefodiia, 18 – residential building (former villa) ID: 2382

The building is the former private villa of Lviv architect Stanisław Krzanowski, constructed by him in 1891 in the Historicist style. By Decision No. 381 of the Lviv Regional Executive Committee dated July 5, 1985, the building was included in the list of monuments of local significance (protection No. 154).

Story

Vul. Kyryla i Mefodiia was laid out in 1907. At that time, it was named in honor of the Latin Franciscan Archbishop Jakub Strzemię (Strepa) (1340–1409). During the Soviet period, it was named after the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, and following Ukraine's independence, it was renamed vul. Kyryla i Mefodiia — in honor of Cyril and Methodius, the Slavic educators, Christian preachers, and creators of the Slavic alphabet.

The house was built in 1891 according to the design of architect Stanisław Krzanowski as his private villa. It is situated on a dead-end of the street. The architecture is executed in a romantic Historicist style, featuring elements of Neobaroque and vernacular architecture. During the Soviet period, the house was transferred from private to municipal ownership and divided into several apartments.

Architecture

The villa is located at the dead-end of a lane, on a slope masterfully reinforced with brick foundations.

The building is two stories tall with a basement level, topped by a high roof with rectangular dormer windows constructed of brick, plastered, and designed on a complex floor plan. In its stylistic solution, Baroque elements (molded window and door frames with keystones, triangular and linear pediments) are combined with elements of vernacular architecture (wooden roof overhangs and brackets). On the sculpted façades, the expressiveness of the architectural decoration is emphasized by smooth wall planes. The façades are finished with a molded cornice supported by shaped decorative brackets. The principal elevation is accented by a Neobaroque roof with a lucarne, and the corner is topped by a tall spire with a weather vane. The plinth is highlighted by stone rustication of the opus rusticus type, while the ground floor is adorned with banded rustication and emphasized by a molded cornice. Three entrances lead into the house: two main entrances accessed via exterior concrete stairs, and a service entrance via low wooden stairs.

The stories are spanned by wooden ceilings, the basements by flat ceilings, and the basement corridors by segmental vaulting. Authentic stairwells, door joinery, and a kitchen stove have been preserved in the interior.

The house stands as an example of a late nineteenth-century romantic Lviv villa built in the Historicist style with elements of vernacular architecture.

People

Stanisław Krzanowski (1855–1914) –– architect.
Jakub Strzemię (Strepa) (1340–1409) –– latin Archbishop of Halych and Lviv (from 1391/1392), a Franciscan friar, and a Beatus of the Catholic Church.

Sources