From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
L'viv (Львів) is a city in western Ukraine with 700,000 inhabitants. It is seen as a main cultural centre of Ukraine.
The name of the city has appeared over the years with a variety of spellings. The form used here is based on a transliteration of the Ukrainian language spelling Львів of the name. The long accepted traditional English spelling "Lwow" is from the Polish language form of the name (Lwów), though L'viv (or alternately, Lviv) is becoming standard in English as well. "L'vov", as used in many 20th century publications, is a transliteration from the Russian language form of the name (Львов), and it is also used thus in Slovak. The German language form for the name has been "Lemberg". "Lvov" is Bulgarian, Czech or Slovenian. "Leopoli" is Italian. "Lemburga" and "Leopolis" are Latin. "Lemberik", "Lemburg" and "Lvuv" are Yiddish. Still other forms also exist, such as "Levensburg."
The city of L'viv was founded in the 13th century by Prince Danylo of the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) duchy of Halych-Volynia, and named in honor of his son, Lev. The name might best be translated into English as "Leo's lands" or "Leo's City" Leopolis). L'viv displaced Halych as the chief city of the area.
The first mention of L'viv in early chronicles is from 1256, although archeological excavation in 1993 revealed that the first settlements appeared in the 6th century. On the dawn of the historical times, the area became incorporated into the Empire of Great Moravia then became an area of contention between the emerging states of Poland Mieszko I, ruler of Polanes and the Rus' of Kiev. Mieszko is thought to have controlled the area from 960 to 980. According to Nestor's chronicle in 981 this area was conquered by Volodymyr the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus'.
In 1323 the Romanovich - the local branch of Rurikovich dynasty died out. The rulee of the city was the heir of the Romanovitch dynasty (on his mother's side) - Boleslaus of Masovia from the Piast dynasty (on his father's side). He took the name Yuriy and adopted the Greek religion of the Rus', but failed to gain the support of the local nobles who poisoned him.
After his death in 1340 the rights to Lviv were claimed by his cousin Kasimir the Great of neighboring Poland, who invaded the duchy and occupied Lviv by 1349. In 1356 the city was granted Magdeburg Rights and the right of self-government, which implied that all city issues were to be solved by a city council, which was elected by it's wealthy citizens. In 1386, this area was directly included into the Polish Crown by Jadwiga of Poland. The city later served as the coronation site of some of the Kings of Poland.
As an added part of Polish state (and later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) L'viv became the capital of the Ruthenian Voivodship, which included the five lands: Lviv, Chelm, Sanok, Halych and Przemysl. In the following centuries, through Polish rule, Poles began settling in L'viv in large numbers, and L'viv became a multi-ethnic and muli-religious city and important centre of culture, science and trade. Three archbishoprics were once located in the city under Polish rule: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Armenian. Lviv was also settled by numerous populations from foreign lands, including Armenians, Germans, Jews and others. In 16th century, the religious mosaic of the city included Protestant communities.
By the first half of the 17th century there where 25-30 thousand people. About 30 craft organizations were active by that time, involving well over a hundred different specialities.
In 1649 the city was besiged by the Ukrainian Cossacks under Bohdan Chmielnicki, who sseized the local castle. However, the Cossacks did not retain the city and withdrew after receiving a ransom. In 1657 Lviv was invaded by the foreign armies of the transylvanian duke George I Rįkóczy and in 1672 by the Turkish army of Mehmed IV.
In 1772, following the First Partition of Poland, Lviv became the capital of the Austrian province, the so-called Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Austrian rule left a defining impression on the architecture of the city. In 1784, the first university was opened. Lectures were held in Latin, German and Polish.
Early in the 19th century, the city became the new seat of the primate of the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Major of Kyiv-Halych
and Rus', the Metropolitan of L'viv.
In 1867 Polish dominated Galicia was granted vast autonomy and the university was Polonized. Because Galicia had been expanded to include ethnically Polish territory as well, therefore, the province of Galicia became the only part of the former Polish state with some cultural and political freedom, and L'viv then served as a major Polish political and cultural centre. Lviv also continued to be an important centre of the Ukrainian patriotic movement. Many prominent cultural and political leaders lived in L'viv, which served as a meeting place of Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish cultures.
With the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire at the end of Word War I, the local Ukrainian population proclaimed L'viv as the capital of the Western Ukrainian Republic on the 1st of November 1918. A few days later, the Polish population of Lviv took control; Ukrainian forces then besieged the city. The siege was broken three weeks later after the first regular Polish forces arrived at the city.
In the following months other territories of Galicia controlled by the government of Republic of West Ukraine were captured following the Polish offensive and Polish rule resumed until the invasion by Nazi and Soviet forces.
Polish census 1931
City of L'viv
Total 312,231
History
The city and the surrounding area were then incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic after World War II. The city became a major center of Ukrainian national resistance to Russification. Large demonstrations then presaged the advent of Ukrainian independence in the 1990s.
