The Main Building of Lviv University

The former Galician Sejm building (now the main building of the Lviv National Ivan Franko University) was constructed in 1877-1881 under a project designed by architect Juliusz Hochberger. The monumental Sejm building belongs to the Historicist style influenced by the Vienna Neo-Renaissance architecture of the second half of the 19th century; it is notable for its rich sculpture and ornamental decorations.

Story

The idea to erect a special building for the Galician Sejm (or, officially, the Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria) and for the Provincial Department, the Sejm's executive body, was born in the course of sharp debate on the issue of the Galician autonomy between Polish politicians and the Austrian government.

Earth works, which were a part of the Galician Sejm building construction, were started on 1 April 1878. Half a year later, on 29 September 1878, the building's cornerstone was solemnly laid. The main works were finished in the summer of 1881. The building was consecrated on 23 July of the same year; a regular session of the Sejm started there two months later.

In 1906-1907 a fourth floor was added by architect Alfred Kamienobrodzki who also expanded the building (a lateral wing was build from the side of what is now Lystopadovoho Chynu street).

The Galician Sejm was located in the building till 1914. After the Polish Jan Kazimierz University was transferred to the former Sejm building, the assembly hall was reconstructed and adapted for the University's needs. The hall was ruined during the World War II and restored in 1950.

After the post-Trinitarian university buildings were bombarded by the Austrian army in 1848, the University was located in the former Jesuit convict's building (constructed in 1844) on the modern Hrushevskoho street from 1851. Shortly, however, the building was not meeting the academic needs. That is why a building for the chemistry, geology-mineralogy and pharmacology institutes was constructed on the modern Kyryla i Metodiya street in 1890-1891. Later, in 1897, another building was constructed for the physics institute; philosophical faculty’s departments as well as those of experimental physics, mathematics, geography were located there too. In 1905 a new building of the University library was constructed (Drahomanova street).

After Western Ukraine was incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR in 1939, the Lviv University was reorganized; in particular, the theological faculty was abolished while the medical faculty was transformed into a separate medical institute.

Architecture

The building is situated on an irregularly shaped plot limited by Universytetska, Sichovykh Striltsiv, Kostiushka and Lystopadovoho Chynu streets and located in front of the Ivan Franko park. This is the architectural dominant of the block.

The University is a complicated three-storied building close to a pentagon in plan. It has three courtyards, a high base and a mansard roof. The main façade facing the park is designed in the Neo-Renaissance style with a noticeable influence of the contemporary Vienna palace architecture. It has one central and two lateral avants-corps decorated according to the order system, including avants-corps decorated with Corinthian order columns and pilasters.

Entrance Sculptures

Cornice and Details

Below, on the cornice, in front of the attic, we see four figures that symbolize Love and Justice and Truth and Faith; their authors are Zygmunt Trembetskyi and Felix Mikulskyi, respectively. In addition, if you look more closely, you can see on the sides of the building lions (possibly attributed to Tadeusz Barącz) holding shields with coats of arms (previously on the shields depicted coat of arms (heraldic emblem) of Galician provinces, but most coats of arms were eliminated in the postwar period).

Today, the front façade of the university’s main building bears a Latin inscription: “Patriae decori civibus educandis” (“Educated citizens are the adornment of the Fatherland”). Right at the entrance, there are memorial plaques dedicated to prominent figures Yevhen Lazarenko, Myron Zarytsky, Volodymyr Levytsky, and Mykola Chaikovskyi.

An art collection, which used to be a part of the Sejm premises decorations, was partially moved to Poland after the Sejm ceased to function and partially lost after 1941.

Interior

Lobby and Staircase

Front stairs with a lobby and main premises of the former Sejm are located in the central part of the building next to the main entrance. The main six-flight stairs were used by deputies who entered the building through the main entrance from Universytetska street. These stairs and a gallery around them provided communication between the Sejm assembly hall, its premises and offices of the Provincial Department. Under the front staircase of the main building, wardrobes were located. The stairs, hewn of Terebovlia stone, were lit through a skylight made of metal and glass. The Neo-Renaissance décor of the staircase and of the Sejm assembly hall was designed by sculptor Leonard Marconi (1880). The university lobby walls are covered with murals in the style of that time.

University vestibule today (view of the main entrance to the building)

Decor of Common Areas

The interior artistic decoration includes a plastic design of the staircase, conference hall and assembly hall. On both sides of the building’s central axis at the level of the gallery situated in front of the assembly hall, there used to be two sculptural groups created by Zygmunt Trembecki. These groups depicted four ancient rulers of Poland and Rus' (Ruthenia): princes Mieszko I and Volodymyr the Great, who established Christianity in their lands, as well as king Casimir the Great and prince Yaroslav the Wise. These sculptures disappeared during the World War II or immediately thereafter.

Assembly Hall (Historical Layout)

According to the original project, the Provincial Sejm's assembly hall could accommodate 230 deputies. Chairs were placed in a semicircle in the hall; they stood in tiers, like in an amphitheater, and were divided by passages along the circle rays. On a platform located at the front wall the marshal's chair stood; places for four Sejm secretaries were arranged on both sides of the platform below. There was a rostrum for speakers in front of the marshal's chair, with stenographers in front of it. Chairs for the government commissioner and three Sejm aides stood nearby.

Assembly Hall (Later History)

The assembly hall of the Galician Sejm was located on the second floor. It had 152 seats for deputies, and the galleries contained seats for the public and journalists. The assembly hall's décor has been changed significantly. It was reconstructed under a 1920 project in 1923 and again in the 1950s.

Lighting

The hall was lit by kerosene lamps in the evening. It was here that electric light was lit for the first time in Ukraine on 14 June 1881, on the initiative of engineers Roman Gostkowski and Franciszek Rychnowski. During the parliamentary period, the hall was always filled with a large number of exotic plants.

Art and Sculptures (Lost & Preserved)

On both sides of the building’s central axis at the level of the gallery situated in front of the assembly hall, there used to be two sculptural groups created by Zygmunt Trembecki (depicting Mieszko I, Volodymyr the Great, Casimir the Great, and Yaroslav the Wise). These sculptures disappeared during World War II.

The building's sculptural decoration was one of the richest among those Lviv buildings which were erected during the autonomy period (1871-1914). Most famous Lviv craftsmen were engaged in its construction as well as sculptors who worked outside of Galicia at that time, including Leonard Marconi, Teodor Rygier, Tadeusz Barącz, Zygmunt Trembecki, Feliks Mikulski, Zygmunt Gorgolewski.

• The Assembly Hall was decorated with a painting entitled "The Union of Lublin" by Jan Matejko (now in Warsaw).

• The hall was also decorated with paintings by Henryk Rodakowski (canvases Faith, Moses, Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, Labour, Art, The Awakening of the Scientific Movement, Trade, and Agriculture).

Other Representative Rooms

Marshal's Hall: Had a painting named "The Constitution of 3 May 1791" by Jan Matejko (now in Warsaw) and portraits of the Sejm marshals (Potocki, Zyblikiewicz, etc.) by artists Matejko, Siemiradzki, Pochwalski.

Mirror Hall: The Mirror Hall hosted meetings of the executive committee of the Galician Sejm — the Regional Council.

Source:

1. Будинок Галицького сейму, Wikipedia

2. Vul. Universytetska, 1 – Lviv Ivan Franko National University main building

3. The building of the Galician Sejm today: architecture and its essence