Pl. Mytna, 2 – former st. Clarisse convent church

ID: 181

The former Clarisse Order Convent (presently the Museum of J. H. Pinsel, a branch of the Lviv Art Gallery). The Clarisse Order Convent is the most noticeable feature of the lower part of Lychakivska Street. It was constructed in 1607 (by the architect P. Rymlianyn), and its interior was fixed up in the 1760’s. Over the course of 1938-1939, restoration with partial reconstruction (by the architect Y. Lobos) was conducted. As a result, the church’s architecture demonstrates a combination of Renaissance, Baroque and Art Deco forms.

Architecture

The church has three naves; it is a basilica built from stone. It has an elongated altar section and a high tower over the presbytery with a small dome erected over it. The façades are decorated with pilasters and wide Doric entablature. On the northern façade are windows with semicircular tops.

The vaulted ceiling murals (the work of the artist S. Strojinski dating to the 1760’s) and the paintings of the altar section (by T. Popiel, 1898) have been preserved in the interior. The exterior appearance of the building has experienced serious changes caused by the reconstruction of the late 1930’s.

On the south a former monastery building (dating back to the eighteenth century) has been built onto the church.