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If you type “Lychakiv Cemetery” in Google, the search engine will give you hundreds or even thousands of links to photos, videos and just text with information about one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe. So I will not discover America and will not tell you some hitherto unknown facts, but will just show you a few tourist photos taken last summer during our trip to Lviv.
To be honest, I shot randomly. We randomly chose the direction of movement through the cemetery and sometimes stopped to take a picture at the most noticeable or unusual monument in our opinion. Already at home, I read a lot of interesting things about the famous Lviv necropolis and regretted that I had not prepared before the trip. Then our movements would be more meaningful and the most famous and famous "residents" of Lychakovsky would get into the frame. But what we have, we have.
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The official date of foundation of Lychakovsky is 1786. The reason for the emergence of the cemetery was the decree of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II who considered it necessary to streamline the burials and avoid the unsanitary conditions that arose as a result of the burial of the bodies of the dead in dungeons near churches. In hot summer days the cadaverous smell was felt in the churches. Thanks to the emperor, four cemeteries were built around Lviv. Three of them ceased to operate during the days of Austrian domination. A railway line was laid through Paporovka, on the site of the Gorodotsky cemetery there is the Railway Station Bazaar, and on the site of the Stryisky cemetery there is a monument Soviet army and hotel. Only one survived- Lychakivske.
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All this is known to Wikipedia and a bunch of other sources on the Internet, and all these sources are unanimous regarding the date and reasons for the emergence of the necropolis. But then small differences begin. They relate to the name of the district Lychakiv. According to one version of Lychakov- the distorted German Lutzenhof (courtyard of the Lutzes, German colonists who settled here at the end of the 16th century), according to another, Lychakov comes from the poor who wore bast shoes and settled in this area as early as the 15th century. There is also no unanimity regarding the status of the cemetery. It is believed that due to its proximity to the center of Lviv, the Lychakiv cemetery immediately became prestigious, rich residents of the "middle i stya". It is known that in the 15th century those who died as a result of epidemics, as well as suicides, were buried at Lychakovsky. So the "prestige" of the cemetery at the beginning of its existence is in question.
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Boris Akunin in his graveyard stories He very accurately described the sensations that arise in modern existing cemeteries: “From the existing Moscow cemeteries, my soul turns up. They look like bleeding pieces of meat torn out alive. In the crematory conveyor shop, a chorale prelude howls four times an hour, and a government lady in a mourning dress says in a trained voice: “We come one by one, we say goodbye.”
Thanks to the efforts of the botanist Karl Bauer in 1856, who developed the design and paths, Lychakiv is perceived rather as a huge park immersed in greenery and lined with many sculptures. Or like a museum open sky
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history of Lviv since the times of Austria-
Hungarian Empire until the collapse of the USSR.
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Polish family crypts. Some are several hundred years old. Most of them were looted with the arrival Soviet power. According to legend, a certain Polish family was buried in golden shoes. The revolutionary-minded marauders could not allow such misuse of the precious metal by the dead - the bourgeoisie, and carried out "expropriation" of the contents of the crypts at night. In the morning, the cemetery watchmen found the coffins with the remains right on the paths of the cemetery.
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Many more monuments would have survived to this day if it were not for the wheel of history in the form of a stone crusher sent by the Lviv magistrate in the 19th century to destroy the burial places that have been left without care for more than twenty-five years. Three-hundred-year-old slabs were mercilessly ground into stone chips, which then covered the alleys of the cemetery.
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Since 1991, the Lychakiv cemetery has had the status of a historical and cultural reserve. All new burials are carried out only with the permission of the mayor and in agreement with the chairman of the academic council. Subburials of direct relatives are allowed. Here are buried the inhabitants of Lviv who emigrated to America, but wished to be buried in their homeland. Modern sparkling Americanism against the backdrop of the gloomy, moss-covered stones of old Europe.
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Female figures in mourning poses - mourners. There are a lot of them on Lychakovsky, in various variations. They say that the faces of some of them in the morning really roll "tears". But there is no mysticism in this. According to the stories, some sculptors made a system of inconspicuous grooves in the stone, in which the morning dew accumulated and flowed out of the holes in the eye area.
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19. family crests.. 
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And of course, what an old cemetery without legends. The famous Lychakovsky "sleeping beauty". Regina Markovskaya. It is very well told about the story of the "sleeping beauty": "The life-size figure of a sleeping young girl is a beautiful serene face, her hair scattered in disorder over the pillow ... Several versions of her death are told. According to one of them, Regina was a budding young actress who is too strongly "entered the role" on stage, and died when, according to the script of the play, her heroine was supposed to die. According to another version, she, already a married lady, fell in love with a young womanizer, and took poison, unable to endure his constant betrayals. Third, and in my opinion humble opinion, the most plausible legend - the heart of a young woman simply could not bear the tragic loss - the death of her young sons. Both boys, seven and two years old, are buried with their mother. Previously, a stone figure of a weeping angel still stood at the head, and then disappeared somewhere. Mysticism, an act of vandalism? Don't know. But there are always fresh flowers on her grave - visitors are drawn here, as if by a magnet ... "
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Grave of Armenian Bishop Samvel Kirill Stefanovich. Again, according to legend, at the age of 75, the bishop fell seriously ill and, anticipating his death, ordered a tombstone for himself. By the time the work was completed, the patient's condition had improved dramatically and the priest was on the mend. He lived another 28 years caring for his own image carved in stone.
And finally, one more story for lovers of horror stories: “There are crypts here with a“ bad ”reputation, such as one of the richest tombs of Rosalia and Wanda Zamoyski. Mother and daughter died tragically in a fire in 1902. They say that you can often to hear the chains rattling in the hermetically sealed crypt, on which the coffins are hung ... "But, unfortunately, we did not know anything about this and I do not have a photo of the "bad" crypt. It might be interesting for you to go to Lviv yourself, go to the Lychakiv cemetery and find this gloomy place :)
Today, there are 24 ancient chapels, 5 large memorials, 2 boarding houses of political prisoners, repressed people and fighters for Ukraine, as well as more than 5,000 tombs and more than 100,000 grave structures at the Lychakiv cemetery.
(Total 46 photos)
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1. The oldest tombstone in the cemetery dates back to 1675. It was moved from the church cemetery from the center of Lviv.
2. A mourner near the urn with ashes, the tombstone of Juliana Schrangner, handiwork of the famous architect Hartmann Witwer. His sculptures also adorn Rynok Square and many other streets of Lviv. In general, there are many sculptures in the form of mourners in the cemetery, because they symbolize unfading love, endless longing and sorrow for the departed person.
3. Sculptural composition of Brothers Johann and Anton Shimzer. Gravestone "Baer, Trunkli and Weigl". The sculpture depicts the transition from one life to another. dying girl holds a poppy in his hands as a symbol of sleep and a ritual vessel for collecting tears. The second takes her to the other world.
4. Tomb of Honorata Bozetskaya.
5. A grieving angel.
6. Tomb of the Polish Zlovodski family.
7. Chapel of Karol Kiselski. This Lviv citizen was a very rich man in his time. He began his career from the very bottom, and later, having become rich, he became a public figure and patron of the arts. In the same chapel lies a certain Emilia Kiselski, who was one of the creators of the first ambulance in Lviv.
8. In those days, depicting putting a sculpture of a guardian angel on the grave, people believed that he would keep them in the same way in the afterlife.
9. There were many fires in the history of Lviv, one of them directly touched Lychakov. In 1848, all burial registration books burned down, at the same time a new census of graves was carried out. During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, strict rules were introduced on the territory of the cemetery. In case of non-payment of money for a burial place, the relatives of the deceased were punished. The burial was demolished, and the remains of people were transferred to mass graves.
12. Tombstone on the grave of Maria Anna Poninskaya (installed in 1805), the work of Hartmann Witwer. Sculpture in the Rococo style.
13. Monument to Juliana Nevator, work of Antonio Shimzer. The goddess of the dead removes the crown of life from a woman. It happens suddenly and the woman does not want to give it away. The monument was built for a girl who died suddenly under unclear circumstances.
14. The crypt of the Barczewski family, the largest crypt of the Lychakiv cemetery, was built in the neo-Byzantine style, total area 220 sq.m. Such crypts were built in order to repose the souls of a whole family. But the only and last representative of the Barchevsky family is buried here. Barchevsky was a very rich but lonely man. Never having created a family, he died young at 50. He bequeathed his entire fortune to science and charity.
16. Classical sculpture. Mother of God.
17. Alley, in the distance you can see the dome of the Barczewski crypt. By the way, the house of this family is still preserved on Rynok Square.
18. Lion statue.
20. Sarcophagus-monument, the remains of the deceased are simply buried in the ground.
25. Downed cross. Huge damage to the cemetery was caused during the opening of the cemetery for mass graves, during the years of the Soviet Union. The local Soviet authorities simply knocked down crosses from tombstones and dug up the graves, and buried ordinary Soviet citizens in a new place. That is why now among the ancient sculptures and monuments you can find simple nondescript granite slabs.
28. Tombstone of an unknown person.
31. The chapel was built in the Neo-Gothic style, the end of the 19th century.
32. The owners of the chapel are unknown. Nearby is a monument to Juliane Schrangner. At the moment, this chapel was purchased. Restoration robots are now being carried out: the doors have been changed, new windows have been inserted, everything inside has been put in order. The new owners of the chapel built two new marble boards into the wall.
33. Tomb of the Pax family.
34. Crypt of the Barczewski family.
43. Polish military cemetery 1918-1920 One of the most majestic war memorials in the territory of Eastern Europe. Like most of these cemeteries, after the Second World War, the Polish memorial was destroyed and robbed. And in the days of the same Soviet power, excavators and tanks simply razed it to the ground and there was nothing left that would remind of former glory Polish boys who died for the liberation of Lvov. And only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, with the money of the Polish government and the Polish diaspora, restoration work began to restore the memorial. According to the data of the first burial, the souls of 2,859 young children aged 17 to 19 are buried in the Polish cemetery.
Right at the entrance to the Lychakiv cemetery, on the right side, there is a field of honorable burials. Most of the finished slabs are empty, no one is lying there.
I express my deep gratitude to Yevgenia Yavorskaya for providing me with interesting information on the Lychakiv cemetery.
I invite you to walk around the city of the dead and listen to its legends...
It was decided to dedicate one of the days, or rather part of the day, of our stay to a walk through the historical and cultural reserve of local significance, through the open-air museum of grave sculpture and architecture, in the majestic European necropolis, through one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe (it is older than Paris Pere Laches and London Highgate) - along the Lychakiv cemetery.
It is probably worth starting to tell, or rather retell, the legends of the Lychakiv cemetery with a short historical background.
On the territory of 42 hectares on 86 fields there are more than 5000 tombs, 2000 crypts, about 500 sculptures, 24 chapels, 5 memorials. There are over 100,000 tomb structures. Each slab is a story, the architects have thought of everything before the smallest details, capturing moments of sorrow in stone. The heterogeneity of the burials is evidenced by inscriptions in Polish, Armenian, German, Ukrainian and other languages.
The history of the Lychakiv cemetery begins in 1783. Then, by order of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, burials were prohibited around city churches and churches - for sanitation purposes, of course. The old necropolises in the city center were excavated and the disturbed remains were moved to a new resting place.
At that time, no one could have foreseen that the cemetery on the outskirts of the city would become something like a beautiful landscape park, attracting mystics and romantics with its mysterious atmosphere. And it all started simply. Bauer, a talented local gardener, with the consent of the magistrate, laid out roads and alleys, planted trees and flowers - that is, turned the "field of sorrow" into a very cozy place.
Since then, the Lychakiv Cemetery, where the dead of the plague were buried back in the 15th century, has become an “elite” place of last refuge for “privileged” Lviv residents - famous politicians, priests, military men, cultural and art figures, as well as simply wealthy citizens.
This fact explains the presentable appearance of the huge family crypts with magnificent bas-reliefs and tomb sculptures, many of which are real works of art. It is they, the sculptures - stone, marble, bronze, that speak to us in the language of symbols and allegories, exciting the imagination, and giving rise to legends.
Something, but legends, superstitions, sad stories abound here. Such a place.
Perhaps the most unrealistic of them is about a lonely lady walking along Mechnikova Street, which stretches along the cemetery.
The legend of the woman without a face
The legend says that one moonless night, one young rake (naturally, the history of his name has not been preserved, who would have doubted), returning home after a hot date, was attracted by a fragile female figure, wandering alone along uneven Lviv paving stones. Unheard of, a young lady, alone, in such a place - already anticipating a new romantic acquaintance, our young friend caught up with her and offered to take her home. “Yes, be so kind…” the woman agreed, and turned around…
Oh horror, there was no… face under her hood!
The poor young man, trembling with fear, stuck to the ground, unable to utter a word, and the lady, waving goodbye to him with a white hand, disappeared into the opening of the cemetery gates ... Then the sound of wheels was heard - a carriage was approaching, and the young man, making sure that his legs became wadded, and they won’t bring home any more, he was happy to “catch a taxi”. As you may have already guessed, the poor fellow was unlucky again - the coachman also did not have a face under his hat, and the carriage with a roar disappeared behind the same gates of the cemetery.
Let's not guess how much the young man drank wine the day before, or maybe, what the hell is not joking, insidious absinthe ... or maybe he had a rich imagination since childhood ... but soon rumors spread around the city. And an amazing thing, there were immediately a dozen witnesses “for”, who also “saw” both a faceless lady in black and a carriage with a coachman. But there was not the slightest idea who this might be. mysterious stranger... And if so, then let's leave it, and return to more real personalities, which at least have names. Names carved on stone headstones.
How Regina Markovskaya died
Regina Markovskaya. This name does not tell us anything, but her tombstone, which is called the “sleeping beauty”, can be considered one of the most poetic in the cemetery.A life-size figure of a sleeping young girl - a beautiful serene face, her hair scattered in disorder over the pillow ... Several versions of her death are told. According to one of them, Regina was a promising young actress who "entered the role" too much on stage, and died when her character was supposed to die according to the script of the play.
According to another version, she, already a married lady, fell in love with a young womanizer, and took poison, unable to endure his constant betrayals.
The third, and most likely the most plausible legend - the heart of a young woman simply could not bear the tragic loss - the death of her young sons. Both boys, seven and two years old, are buried with their mother.
Previously, a stone figure of a weeping angel still stood at the head, and then disappeared somewhere. Mysticism, an act of vandalism? Don't know. But there are always fresh flowers on her grave - visitors are drawn here, as if by a magnet ...
Grotger and Monnet
A romantic halo surrounds the monument Polish artist Arthur Grotger, installed by his beloved Wanda Monnet.... They were brought together by the Lviv score. Fifteen-year-old beauty, mother's and aunt's pupil Wanda Monnet could not believe that this talkative, witty 28-year-old man who publicly showered compliments on her was the same Arthur Grotger who revels in all of Poland. She was even more amazed that Arthur, without putting things off in a long box, declared his love to her during the dance. However, is this done on the first evening of acquaintance? How could the girl know at that moment that Grotger had already seen her before and, sensitive to female soul and beauty, decided to win her heart? The day after the ball, Arthur Grotger was already on the threshold of their house. Thus began a great love.
Mom and aunt, with whom Wanda lived, liked this energetic and sincere young man, who also showed respectful attention to them. They did not forbid their favorite to meet with him often, but when the engagement question arose, they were not delighted. Arthur did not have enough money to provide their child with a decent future. But they didn't say "no". It was jointly decided that Wanda would wait while Arthur earned money for a future life together. It's time for parting.
They never managed to get engaged to Wanda Monnet, who was madly in love with him, but even earlier, walking together along Lychakov, Arthur shared with his bride that he would like to be buried here once.
“You are my dearest! - Grotger wrote to his beloved from the road. - I see nothing, I hear nothing, except for you alone. I became a man without thoughts, life and content, if we are talking about matters that do not affect You or my love. In a word, without You there is nothing, neither in thoughts nor in deeds.
Every week, Wanda received several tender letters, she answered the same. But they were not destined to marry.
Arthur Grotger died at the age of thirty in the French Pyrenees from tuberculosis. Knowing that he was very sick, although not realizing how much, Wanda Monnet rushed to him, strove to be with him. However, mother and aunt, who were not the most financially experienced better times, did not give her the amount needed for the trip, although they could. Bitterness and resentment towards them will not leave Wanda until the end of her life ...
When at last the money was needed in his pocket and Panna Monnet began to prepare for her departure, the news arrived: Arthur was gone.
"Died! - this word echoed with a cry in my thoughts, but I still did not understand to the bottom of that terrible truth, I could not understand it. Passed out at the sight of his letters or some of the trinkets she received from him. I couldn't talk about him. I didn’t have, in the end, with whom ... All my youth lay in the coffin ... ”(from the memoirs of Wanda Monnet, which are stored in Lvovskaya scientific library named after Vasily Stefanik).
Wanda did everything so that Grotger's body from the French churchyard was transported to. In the coffin to him, her relatives already put her ring and all her letters, which Arthur took great care of. And Wanda never found the strength in herself. last time look at the one whose image will carry through his whole life.
It is interesting that, knowing the strength of feelings between young people, the famous Italian sculptor Paris Filippi did not take money from Wanda Monnet for a sculptural monument on the grave of a young colleague. Moreover, the portrait of the groom Wanda Monnet made on a monument filled with various symbols, on one's own.
It is known that four years later the girl married a close friend of Grotger - Karl Mlodnitsky, with whom she had a daughter, Marilya (later, the famous Lviv writer Marilya Volska), but until the end of her life she was often seen near the grave of Arthur, now also with her daughter, immersed in her memory and aching melancholy.
Today, this story is reminiscent of an oak tree. According to legend, Arthur Grotger put him in a tub as a symbol eternal love and happiness, and eventually transplanted into the Jesuit Garden (now the Ivan Franko Park), where the tree grows to this day. The memorial corner of Arthur and Wanda in the Dome coffee house also reminds of her - in the house where Wanda Monnet lived to old age. The memory is cherished by the tombstone at the Lychakiv cemetery and archival materials in the Lviv Scientific Library.
But true feelings, like manuscripts, do not burn. Even now, Lviv residents sometimes say to lovers: “They love like Arthur and Wanda.”
Couples in love say that in the deserted cemetery they sometimes see a young man and a woman walking towards them smiling, holding hands, but after a few steps they seem to melt in the air. They say that Arthur and Wanda come to congratulate the true love of the living.
Felix Barchevsky
Nearby is the magnificent mausoleum of Felix Barczewski, once one of the richest magnates. Countless treasures of this kind haunted tomb robbers for a long time. But if they only knew that this tomb is the only thing left of this strange man's vast fortune!
Before his death, he converted all the good into cash and bequeathed it to patronage and good deeds. More than half - for annual awards for the best works in the field of literature and history; In the will, the prudent rich man indicated that none of his relatives had the right to challenge his will.
Mother and daughter
There are crypts here with a "bad" reputation, such as one of the richest tombs of Rosalia and Wanda Zamoyski. Mother and daughter died tragically in a fire in 1902. They say that you can often hear chains rattling in the crypt, on which coffins are hung ... It could be assumed that this is a draft, but their crypt is hermetically sealed.
Wonderworker Nikolai Charnetsky
A path has already been trodden by superstitious visitors to the modest tombstone of Bishop Nikolai Czarniecki. A simple Maltese cross is decorated with embroidered towels, candles are constantly burning. this martyr totalitarian regime even during his lifetime he was considered a saint and a miracle worker. And today, Lychakov's employees are forced from time to time to pour earth on his grave, because it is constantly taken away for talismans. People believe that she heals, helps in matters of the heart, and even ... successful delivery sessions! Yes, yes, it is the students who are the "regular customers" of the deceased priest, bringing their grade books here and soiling them with earth. They should study better… You can also often see how mothers bring terminally ill children here, hoping for a miracle. Just in this case, the language does not turn to be ironic. Well, they say, faith really works miracles...
Bishop Kirill Stefanovich
The grave of another, the Armenian bishop Samvel Kirill Stefanovich, is noteworthy, the tombstone here depicts a man stretched to his full height on a magnificent bed. According to legend, at the age of 75, the clergyman fell seriously ill, and, anticipating the near end, he ordered a tomb for himself. But when it was made, he suddenly recovered, and so successfully that even then for 28 years he himself looked after his own tomb, admiring his exact stone copy.32. Tomb of Bishop Kirill Stefanovich
Dr. Jozef and his dogs
Two bronze dogs, Pluto and Nero, are immortalized at the grave of Dr. Jozef Ivanovich. What is unusual about dogs? Yes, the fact that according to all the canons, animals have no place where people are buried. Such an incredible exception to the rule find a very touching explanation. The fact is that when the respected doctor died, his dogs followed Lychakov after funeral procession, and lay down on the grave of Pan Jozef, refusing food and drink. Naturally, after some time, the poor fellows, yearning, died. Struck by such devotion, the sculptor Paolo Eutelier created this lovely sculptural group. Thus, faithful dogs and after death guard their master...
centenarians
On the main alley, next to the graves prominent personalities you can see two modest graves of unknown soldiers Polish army Francis Zaremba and Anton Pierecki. They are notable for how many years of life the fate measured out to these people - one got 112, the second a little less - 106 years.
Lviv Charon
The former owner of the well-known company "Concordia", which provided funeral services to the townspeople, is buried under a monument with the inscription "Lviv Charon". This comparison of oneself with the mythical carrier of the souls of the dead speaks of the peculiar sense of humor of the person lying under the stone slab. And he was remembered by the townspeople for his invention of a special "hotel-tomb", where, for a fee, there was a coffin with the deceased until the very day of the funeral.
Under the cross
On the tombstone of the famous Soviet publicist Yaroslav Galan, known for his ardent anti-religious writings, after the rain, the contours of the Christian cross clearly appear. This mystical transformation can be explained by the fact that an old tombstone was used for his grave, the cross on which was not completely erased by a negligent master.
Stone mourners
Another legend tells that some stone statues of mourners, located on the graves, really shed tears. However, you can notice this miracle only in the early morning, until the dew has dried. This metamorphosis is explained by the fact that ancient sculptors created a system of inconspicuous grooves in the stone, through which the dew accumulated overnight or rainwater could flow out of specially made holes in the area of the eyes of the statues.
Such legends would probably have survived much more if not for one barbarous decree of the Lviv magistrate in the middle of the 19th century, namely, the installation of a stone crusher in the cemetery. Indiscriminately and regretfully, she ground monuments and tombstones into small pebbles, with which the alleys were then compacted. Moreover, the central gates of the necropolis were later built from these pebbles. Those graves were destroyed, for which no one looked after for 25 years, and no one paid the Lychakov administration. New burials were allowed in their place. Thus, not so many 300-year-old tombstones have survived to this day ...
But this barbarity cannot be compared with what began with the advent of Soviet power in 1939. The cemetery was opened for mass graves. Since then, simple granite slabs have been sharply dissonant with the elegant necropolis monuments of the past. But the most outrageous is the unheard-of looting and vandalism. Most of the old crypts were gutted in search of the treasures of "bourgeois enemies of the people". Just then, the story was very popular that the whole family of Polish magnates was buried in golden shoes. Every morning, the cemetery staff found opened coffins with the remains right on the paths ... And the fences of most of the graves became the prey of hunters for non-ferrous metals.
This disgrace continued until the status of a museum was awarded to the Lychakiv necropolis in 1990. Since then " City of dead” accepts new “tenants” only as an extreme exception. So, a few years ago, composers Vladimir Ivasyuk, the author of the "Red Rue" and Igor Bilozir, the brutally murdered journalist Georgy Gongadze, whose severed head, by the way, were never found ...
As mentioned above, many famous people are buried at the Lychakiv cemetery.
39. Among the stone angels, Madonnas and crosses on Lychakovo, one often comes across very unusual tombstones. For example, a bronze figure ancient Orpheus with a lyre on the famous grave opera singer Solomiya Krushelnytska (the Lviv Opera House is named after her).
40. The image of the titan-Prometheus, the “stoner”, who is still hammering the rock, apparently trying to reach out to us, the descendants, at the place of the last refuge of the great Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko.
41. Grave of composer Volodymyr Ivasyuk, author of The Chervona Ruta
42. Little is known about this grave, in addition, young guys died in a car accident
43. Viktor Chukarin (1921-1984) - a gymnast who survived a fascist concentration camp; absolute world champion, XV and XVI Olympic Games.
44. Honorary Citizen
45. If I'm not mistaken, the grave of one of the leaders of the city.
The Cemetery of the Defenders of Lviv is located on a separate site. The Polish defenders of Lviv, who fell during the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918−1919) in battles against units of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, are buried here.
48. Nearby is the Lviv Eaglets Memorial - according to the heroic name of the young Polish militia “Lviv Eaglets”, who took part in the defense of the city with weapons in their hands, including those who took up defense directly at the Lychakiv cemetery, where many of them died and were buried.
51. Victims of communist repressions and Holodomor are buried in this part
56. And the recently appeared cemetery of the fallen in the east of Ukraine.
The cemetery is not a place to walk. This rule has been instilled in us since childhood, and we live with the firm conviction that every visit to the churchyard takes away from us a piece of vital energy and strength. And how many horror films are based on a plot where main character turns out to be at the gravestone at night! But if you are lucky enough to be in Lviv, be sure to get an excursion to the Lychakiv cemetery. This place is strikingly different from everything that we understand by the word "graveyard". After all, here is real city dead with beautiful green alleys and paved paths, and an abundance of sculptures and masterpieces of architecture makes the Lychakiv cemetery a real landmark of the city. From our article you will learn a lot of interesting things about this unique place, as well as the stories of people who found eternal peace here.
Short description
The Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv is considered one of the oldest and most beautiful. Twenty-six years ago, this necropolis was officially transferred to the category historical monuments. Now it belongs to the historical and memorial museum-reserves of Ukraine. On the territory of Lychakov there are graves of celebrities, tombs of ancient European families and burial places of citizens awarded various honorary titles (including the Hero Soviet Union). Here you can find gravestone inscriptions in at least twenty-four languages, and among the graves there are more than four hundred thousand graves of people of different nationalities.
The Lychakiv cemetery occupies about forty-two hectares of land on a hill. The entire territory is cut into eighty-six sections, here for some reason they are called "fields". The churchyard is famous for its sculptural structures, there are more than five hundred of them. Also big interest rich and intricately designed crypts evoke the locals and tourists. Many of the two thousand structures were built famous architects of his time. They often became the authors of tombstones, in which various architectural styles characteristic of a particular era.
Today, to look at the graves of celebrities, you can book a group tour. It is carried out in several languages, so Foreign tourists often visit the most famous cemetery in Lviv, listening to the guide with great interest.
History of the cemetery
Historians claim that the Lychakiv cemetery (Lviv) was founded in the sixteenth century. However, written evidence has been preserved that three centuries before the foundation of the necropolis, people who died from the plague were buried on these lands. The place was considered sufficiently remote from the city, which excluded the spread of infection.
It was only at the end of the eighteenth century, by order of Emperor Joseph II, that the Lychakiv cemetery began to be used everywhere for the burial of dead citizens. The fact is that earlier it was customary to bury the dead within the city near temples and churches. In a small area, crypts were built, where all the bodies fell. Naturally, the smell of rotting flesh enveloped the city in a stinking cloud. Infectious diseases often broke out, usually they turned into epidemics and claimed a huge number of people with them. The Austrian emperor decided to move all cemeteries outside the city in order to clear its territory of any possible infections and bad smell, because of which visiting the church turned into excruciating torture.
By decree of the emperor, four plots of land were cleared for graveyards. But, unfortunately, only the Lychakiv cemetery has survived to this day. In Lviv, every schoolchild knows about it, because walking along this historical museum turn into a real pleasure. Interestingly, since its foundation, the territory of the cemetery has aroused interest among the wealthy residents of the city. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, they began to buy land for the construction of crypts, which significantly expanded the perimeter of the churchyard. From that moment on, not just tombstones were erected here, but real masterpieces of art, to which the most famous sculptors and architects. Among them are such names as:
- Hartmann Witwer.
- Paris Philippi.
- Leonardo Marconi and so on.
The tombs created by these people became family ones. Several generations of the same family found their rest here.
In the fifties of the nineteenth century, a project was created that turned the area into a real museum. Its authors were two talented botanists who thought out a system of alleys and paths that give visitors the feeling of walking through a beautiful European city.
Which celebrity is buried at the Lychakiv cemetery?
Many guides claim that the names of the people who found their refuge in the churchyard near Lviv do not say anything to Russians. In fact, this is not so, because among the large number of Polish, German and Ukrainian names there are those that are well known to our compatriots in Soviet times.
For example, buried here National artist USSR Boris Romanitsky and his wife Nadezhda Dotsenko. During the tour, the guide will definitely lead the group past the grave of the Soviet playwright Yaroslav Galan, well known in all former republics Soviet Union. We will talk about his memorial a little later. If you find yourself in the Lychakovsky churchyard, be sure to visit the grave of Ivan Franko. This man is considered one of the most bright figures revolutionary movement late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the same time, he is known as a writer, poet and publicist. A year before his death, he was even nominated for Nobel Prize. In Ukraine, his name is very well known and respected; one city and an urban-type settlement in the Lviv region are named after the revolutionary.
Also, visitors to the cemetery should pay attention to the monuments to the following people:
- Stanislav Ludkevich.
- Vladimir Ivasyuk.
- Mykola Kolessa.
- Yaroslav Galan.
- Regina Markovskaya.
- Grigory Tyutyunnik.
We will briefly describe each memorial in the following sections of our article.
Hill of Glory
Today, the Hill of Glory also belongs to the Lychakiv cemetery - a famous memorial where Russian soldiers who died in the Battle of Galicia in 1914, as well as Soviet soldiers who liberated Lviv from the fascist invaders, are buried.
The first burials in this area were made in the fourteenth year of the twentieth century. There were mass graves and individual graves. At that time, the memorial was a white high cross, mounted on a pedestal. There were walkways and benches set up.
After the Second World War, the number of burials increased - two hundred and fifty-five individual and three mass graves. The memorial was completely redone; large group architects from Lviv. Thanks to their efforts, the Hill of Glory became a circle, divided into two semicircles by an alley. Each contains thirteen tombstones, at the entrance there are two sculptural groups and Eternal flame.
Unfortunately, if you come to Lviv now, the eternal flame at the Lychakiv cemetery will not burn. The last time it was lit on the ninth of May this year at nine o'clock in the morning and extinguished at six o'clock in the evening. This fact caused great unrest in Ukraine, but the leader memorial museum-reserve refers to the order received from the mayor of Lvov.
Memorial in honor of the soldiers of the Ukrainian National Army
Nine years ago, a memorial was erected on the territory of the Lychakiv cemetery in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Ukrainian National Army. It began to take shape two months before the end of the war with Nazi Germany.
Today, patriots and members of various public organizations to lay flowers at the memorial.
Burial of Stanislav Lyudkevich
If you start to inspect the churchyard from the central alley, you will surely stumble upon the memorial of Lyudkevich. This amazing person was a talented composer and artist who received many titles confirming his services to the country. Stanislav Lyudkevich lived for a hundred years and all these years he warmed people with the flame of his talent. That is why a sculptural composition of Prometheus was installed on his grave, reflecting the essence of the composer's life.
Ukrainian composer and poet Ivasyuk
Vladimir Ivasyuk, like many other artists Soviet period, buried on Lychakovo. Over the thirty years of his life, he managed to prove himself as a talented and versatile person who made a huge contribution to the development Ukrainian music. Ivasyuk played the violin, guitar and several others superbly. musical instruments. In parallel, he wrote poetry, and by education he was medical worker, serving big hopes.
Many rumors are connected with the death of V. Ivasyuk, because he was found hanged on a tree in the vicinity of Lviv. official version there was a suicide, but several times a criminal case was opened on the fact of death, but each time it was closed for lack of corpus delicti.
Mykola Kolessa
Not far from the grave of Lyudkevich, the composer Kolessa is buried, who managed to live up to one hundred and three years and had a long list of government awards. Mikola Filaretovich composed music and also played in the theater. Unfortunately, a worthy monument has not yet been erected on his grave. However, it is worth hoping that the sculptural composition will be created soon. After all, such a person deserves a long memory.
The burial of Yaroslav Galan does not have a pretentious appearance and even a sculptural composition that could reflect the talent of this writer and publicist. On his grave is a simple, smooth, dark-colored granite slab. True, it is quite difficult to get past it. It stands out very strikingly against the backdrop of intricately decorated crypts, which are often called "houses for the dead." It is noteworthy, but after a downpour on a smooth slab, it clearly appears Orthodox cross. locals find no other explanation for this than the mystical.
If you find yourself at the Lychakiv cemetery, then be sure to find the grave of Galan, who proved himself to be a bright individualist during the period of the communist party's total power over the minds and souls of the people. It was for his views that he paid with his life when he was hacked to death with an ax by a Ukrainian nationalist.
Regina Markovskaya
This actress has received one of the most unusual monuments at the cemetery. He is often called the "sleeping beauty" because of the sculptural composition of a girl reclining on a luxurious bed. The young beauty is in a sleeping state, her face is relaxed, and her hair is scattered over the pillow. Historians claim that the sculptor was a relative of Regina Markovskaya and in his creation he tried to capture the beautiful features of the actress.
There are many rumors about her on the Internet, but it is known for certain that she did not shine on stage for long, having died of tuberculosis.
Grave of G. M. Tyutyunnik
The tombstone of the Ukrainian prose writer Grigory Tyutyunnik looks very severe against the background of ancient sculptural compositions cemeteries. It is a roughly hewn stone, to which is attached a bas-relief with the writer's face. Only the years of the writer's life are carved on the tombstone itself.
I would like to note that Tyutyunnik lived a short life - only forty-one years. But the writer used the time and talent given to him by fate to the full. He created a number of works that are still considered classics. Ukrainian literature. Some of them have even been made into feature films.
Directions to the Lychakiv necropolis and the cost of excursions
If you do not know how to get to the Lychakiv cemetery, then this section of the article will be useful to you. The necropolis is located on Mechnikov Street, thirty-three, not far from the central square. From here you can walk to the churchyard in just fifteen minutes.
However, there are several public transport routes that will quickly take you to this necropolis. Podvalna Street runs through the center of Lviv, from which you can get to the Lychakiv Cemetery by tram number seven. If you plan to go sightseeing in Lviv directly from the railway station, then you need the twenty-ninth bus route or tram number ten. You can also use minibuses, which run in large numbers along Lychakivska Street.
Keep in mind that the entrance to the necropolis is paid. For one person you will need to pay about ten hryvnia. Group tours are held with the number of tourists at least ten people. In this case, you must pay one hundred hryvnia. For this money, the guide will take you to the most interesting places of the cemetery and tell you about its history in the required language.
Many people say that visiting the Lychakiv cemetery made a deep impression on them. However, not all tourists allow themselves to take photographs of tombstones, considering it in bad taste and fearing the revenge of the deceased. It is known that on this graveyard often happen incredible stories mystical character. For example, in one of the crypts where a mother and daughter are buried, burned alive during a fire, the creak of iron chains holding the coffins is periodically heard. This is rather difficult to explain, given that the crypt is hermetically sealed and drafts are impossible inside. Whatever it was in reality, but a tour of this ancient necropolis leaves positive emotions, seasoned with a light and bright sadness.
Lychakiv Cemetery is a well-known tourist attraction in Lviv. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe (the oldest tombstone dates back to 1786), founded by decree of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II in order to streamline burials and counteract unsanitary conditions. Of the four cemeteries laid down in those distant times, only Lychakovskoe has survived, while others ceased to exist even during the time of the Austrian Empire: the Railway Station Bazaar is located on the site of the Gorodotsky cemetery, a hotel and a monument to the soldiers of the Soviet army are located on the site of Stryisky, and a railway was laid through Paporovka.
The history of the Lychakiv cemetery is interesting and ambiguous. There are several versions of the origin of the name of the Lychakiv region. According to one of them, the name comes from the German Lützenhof (the court of the Lützes - German colonists who settled this area at the end of the 16th century). According to another version - from the word "lychaks" (bast shoes), which is associated with the poor living in this area in the fifteenth century.
There are several views on the status of this object: some consider the place prestigious because of its proximity to the center of Lviv and because rich residents of the city were buried here at all times. Others argue the opposite, because people who died as a result of epidemics in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are buried here. as well as suicides.
The Lychakiv cemetery is perceived by visitors as a huge green park with many sculptures or as an open-air museum of the history of Lviv. The project of alleys and paths was developed in 1856 by the botanist Karl Bauer. On the territory of the Lychakiv necropolis there are more than three thousand monuments and tombstones, the authors of some of them were famous sculptors and architects S. Litvinenko, G. Kuznevich, P. Filipi, L. Marconi, P. Eutele and others.
Much more monuments would have survived to this day if this had not been touched quiet place remorseless wheel of history. In the 19th century, the Lviv magistrate sent a stone crusher here to destroy old burials that had been left without care for more than 25 years. Three-hundred-year-old tombstones were mercilessly crushed and used to fill the alleys.
With the advent of Soviet power, the object of attention of revolutionary-minded marauders was the ancient Polish family crypts, most of which were looted. There is a legend about a Polish family buried in Lychakovsky, whose members were buried in golden shoes. Such misuse of precious metals was considered unacceptable and the contents of the crypts were “expropriated”, leaving only coffins with the remains on the paths of the cemetery.
Since 1991, the cemetery has had the status of a historical and cultural reserve, and new burials are held here only in exceptional cases: subburials of direct relatives and emigrants from Lviv who wished to be buried in their homeland.
Ritual architecture and tomb sculptures are striking, in particular, the figures of mourning women - mourners. They say that sometimes in the morning you can see tears on their faces. Mystic? No, the reason for this phenomenon is a special system of grooves in the stones, provided by the sculptors, through which the accumulated dew flows and appears from the holes in the eye area.
The cemetery is shrouded in legends. One of them is about the “sleeping beauty” Regina Markovskaya, whose causes of death are told by several versions. The first is about a promising young actress who died on stage at the moment when, according to the script, her heroine was supposed to die. The second is the story of a married lady who was turned to the head by a young rake. Unable to survive the betrayal, the beauty took poison. Another story is about a young mother who could not bear the death of her little sons (both boys of two and seven years old are buried with her).
There is a legend about the Armenian Bishop Samvel Kirill Stefanovich, who, as they say, having become seriously ill at the age of 75, ordered a tombstone for himself. But when the order was completed, the bishop recovered and lived another twenty-eight years, caring for his image carved from stone.
The blood in the veins of tourists freezes when they tell about the story of the death of mother and daughter Rosalia and Wanda Zamoyski, who tragically died in a fire in 1902. Their crypt has a bad reputation, because, it is said, from the hermetically sealed tomb, the rumble of chains from which their coffins are hung is heard.
Many famous people found eternal rest at the Lychakiv cemetery. Among them are writers and composers, actors and scientists, famous historical figures. I. Franko, S. Krushelnitskaya, V. Ivasyuk and many others are buried here.
In 1974, near the ancient cemetery, the Field of Mars was opened - a military memorial at the burial place of 3,800 soldiers who died during the war with the Nazis.
In the middle of the planet
In the thunder of thunderclouds
The dead look to the sky
Believing in the wisdom of the living
Such an inscription was on the wall of this modern memorial, but it was removed by order of the authorities in the 90s.
On another part of the Lychakiv cemetery, in the so-called "Cemetery of the Defenders of Lviv", there is a "Memorial of the Lviv eaglets" who died during the confrontation with the units of the ZUNR.
When planning a trip to Lviv, be sure to include a visit to the Lychakiv cemetery in your travel itinerary.
