Market Square in Lviv

Market Square (Ukr., Rynok Square) is located at the exact center of historic Lviv. In some ways, the square is quite typical, an elemental part of the arrangement of any European historical town of its type. Yet each town square bears its own singular architectural markers which prove crucial in lending a city its particular identity. Among "walled cities", Market Square was the largest of these urban areas in which the civil, political, and social functions of city residents were concentrated – home to an endless array of activities and events. At the Square’s center sits the city’s most recognizable structure – and home of the City Council – the Town Hall (Ukr., ratusha). The square encompassed the most highly valued properties within the city, residences constructed for Lviv’s wealthiest families by noted architects of the day. Although the city no longer has a single ‘center’, Market Square continues to enjoy a preeminent position in the life of the city.

The remarkable architecture and crucial role of Market Square in the life of Lviv are chief among the reasons for interest among researchers. The aim of this study as a part of the Interactive Lviv project is to manifest the singularity of Lviv’s Market Square by drawing attention to formative moments in its history and principal tendencies in its development. We turn our attention not only to those elements which have resulted in the Square that we see today, but also those definitive moments at other stages of its storied existence. The study combines materials from various Center for Urban History projects: a gallery of historical images of Market Square which make it possible to track changes in the Square’s appearance from the 19th through the 20h centuries; historical maps which establish the layout of the city during particular historical periods (the time when the city fortifications still stood in the late-18th century, and the city at the advent of its so-called fin de siècle); a short documentary on Nationally Registered architecture and Lviv Historical Museum exhibits among the buildings on Market Square.

Publications:

1. Charewiczowa Ł. Czarna kamienica i jej mieszkańcy. Lwów: 1935. S.28.

2. Czołowski A. “Lwów za ruskich czasów.” Kwartalnik historyczny. Lwów, 1891. Zeszyt IV. S.779-812.

3. Czołowski A. Historja Lwowa od założenia do roku 1600. Lwów: Nakładem Koła TSL, 1925.

4. Jaworski F. Z przechadzek po Rynku lwowskim. Kurjer lwowski, 1907. II. Dodatek świateczny. S.15.

5. Jaworski F. Ratusz lwowski. 1906.

6. Architecture of Lviv: Times and Styles, 13th-21st centuries. Lviv: Center of Europe Publishing, 2008. 720pp.

7. Bevz, M. Urban Transformations of the Center of Lviv in 19th-20th centuries.(Architecture of 19th & 20th-century Galicia. Lviv: DULP, 1994. pp51-68.

8. Bevz, M. & Linda S., Martyniuk-Medvetska, A. Architectural Research of the Stone Manor at #12

9. Market Square. Lviv: UkrZakhidProektRestavratsia Institute, 2002. pp157-163.

10. Dyba, Y., & V. Petryk. Planuvalna Struktura dolokatsiynoho Lvova. Lviv: Knyazhi Chasy Seminar, 2002. pp40-59

11. Vuitsyk, V and Lypka, R. A Meeting with Lviv: Lviv: Kamenyar, 1987. pp47-48.

12. Vuitsyk, V. The State Historical Landmark Preserve in Lviv. Lviv: Kamenyar, 1991. 31pp.

13. Zubrytskyi, D. Lviv Chronicle. Vol. 2. Lviv: Center of Europe, 2006. 604pp.

14. Martyniuk-Medvetska, A. Renaissance Burgher Homes of Lviv and Zhovkva in the context of Housing

15. Construction in European Cities. “Architecture”, Lviv Polytechnic National University Herald, 2000, #410. Lviv: LPNU Publishing. pp107-113.

16. Martyniuk-Medvetska, A. Preservation of the Structural Design Elements of the Stone Manor at #45

17. Market Square, Lviv. “Architecture”, Lviv Polytechnic National University Herald, 2002, #439. Lviv: LPNU Publishing. pp155-162.

18. Mohytych, Ivan, ed. Volodymyr Vuitsyk: Selected Works. Lviv: UkrZakhidProektRestavratsia Institute Herald, #14, 2004.

19. Mohytych, R. The Planning of the Lviv City Center and Problems of Dating. ZNTSh, Vol. CCXXVII.

20. Lviv: NTSh Publishing, 1994. pp279-288.

21. Mohytych, R. Questions on the Origins of the Lviv City Center in light of Documentation and Historiography. Urban Architectural Studies of Questions in the cities of Galicia. Lviv: Lviv Polytechnic State University, 1996. pp91-93.

22. Rybchynskyi, O. The Architectural Development of Market Squares in the Cities and Towns of late-18th through early-20th century Galicia. “Architecture”, Lviv Polytechnic National University Herald, Lviv: 2001, #429. pp174-177.

23. Rybchynskyi, O. “Market Squares as Core Public Space in the Cities of Galicia.” Urban Planning and Territorial Zoning: Research-Technical Compendium. Kyiv: Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, 2009. Issue 33. pp364-367

24. Trehubova, Tetyana & Roman Mykh. Lviv: Historic-Architectural Outline. (Kyiv: Budivelnyk, 1989), 270 pp.

25. Yaworski, F. On Ordinary Lviv. Lviv: Center of Europe Publishing, 2012.