Street Formation
The first mention of the street dates back to 1414. Originally called Harbarska Street (Tanners’ Street), it was home to leatherworkers. In the early 19th century, a pond was located at the end of the street, crossed by a small bridge with a statue of St. John of Nepomuk. In 1886, the Poltva River was enclosed in an underground collector, and chief gardener Arnold Röhring created a boulevard, later modernized in collaboration with Alfred Zachariewicz. In the 1930s, the street was reconstructed and the old poplars were replaced with new maple trees.
In 1871, the street was renamed Akademiczna due to its proximity to Lviv University. On April 14, 1936, a demonstration of unemployed workers was shot here, sparking mass protests. In 1955, the street was renamed Shevchenko Avenue.
Builders and Styles
The building at 17–19 Shevchenko Avenue was constructed between 1907 and 1910 based on a design by architects Alfred Zachariewicz and Tadeusz Obmiński. Stylistically, it combines features of late Secession with Neoclassical elements. The main construction work was carried out by Ivan Levynskyi’s firm.
Who Owns It?
The building was constructed to house the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
What Does the Building Look Like?
This monumental three-story brick building features a basement and a mezzanine, and is designed in the European Art Nouveau style with Neoclassical elements. It has a rectangular floor plan with an inner courtyard.
The symmetrical main façade is marked by a central entrance framed by three-quarter Doric columns. The first floor features heavy rustication, while the second and third floors are adorned with Ionic pilasters and vertically segmented by lesenes. High-relief allegorical sculptures of Trade and Crafts by Wojciech Przedwojewski (1908) decorate the second floor. The mezzanine is topped with a wavy attic featuring an ornamental mosaic frieze centered around the coat of arms of Lviv.
The rear façade is simpler, with an oriel window ending in a large terrace. The roof is complex: a gable roof over the main volume and a mansard roof above the mezzanine.
The interior combines administrative and representative functions. The entrance vestibule is clad in marble and covered by a semi-circular vault with decorative coffers. The grand staircase features a stained-glass window designed by Alfred Zachariewicz and produced by Stanisław Gabriel Żeleński’s workshop. The stairwell is lit by stalactite-style crystal lamps.
The second floor houses a large assembly hall decorated with oak paneling, faux marble, and relieved pilasters topped with sculptural groups by Zygmunt Kurchynski. Wall murals by Feliks Wygrzywalski and Zygmunt Balk portray philosophical themes of human life and destiny. Sculptural groups represent Labor, Melancholy, Love, and other motifs. Stained-glass windows, also designed by Zachariewicz, and oak panels with mascarons by Kurchynski complete the ensemble.
This building is a vivid example of early 20th-century administrative architecture in Lviv, and a synthesis of various art forms — painting, sculpture, stained glass, and mosaics — all harmoniously integrated into the architectural design.
Interesting Facts
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry was designed as a prestigious headquarters for an influential professional institution, combining administrative functions with monumental decorative artistry. The main construction was carried out by Ivan Levynskyi’s firm, while the reinforced concrete structures were developed by Sosnowski & Zachariewicz.
Notable decorative features include a wall frieze by Feliks Wygrzywalski, sculptural reliefs by Zygmunt Kurchynski, and stained glass and mosaics by the Żeleński company, based on designs by Henryk Uziembło and Karol Frycz.
The Chamber of Commerce in Lviv was founded in 1850 and was initially housed in the Biesiadecki Palace on Halytska Square. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a more spacious and modern building was needed. The new project was developed by Alfred Zachariewicz, a prominent member of the Chamber, and Tadeusz Obmiński. It was designed as part of a complex with the Technological Institute (now the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy at 5 Nyzhankivskoho Street), and both shared a common courtyard.
The project was approved on October 4, 1907, and the completion date was recorded in the city magistrate’s documents on May 6, 1911. The formal opening took place on July 3, 1910, with guests from Vienna and representatives of chambers of commerce across Austria-Hungary. The initial construction cost was 60,000 crowns.
Construction was executed by Levynskyi’s firm, and concrete vaults and ceilings were provided by Józef Sosnowski’s company. The building was outfitted with central heating, electrical systems, an internal telephone network, and electric elevators installed by Sokolnicki & Wiśniewski.
During the Soviet period, the building housed the Lviv City Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
What Is It Now?
Today, the building houses the Prosecutor’s Office of the Lviv Region.
Sources and Literature
Project “Halytsiana” (I. Zhuk), 2001–2002.
State Archives of the Lviv Region (DALO) 2/1/312.
DALO 2/1/56 (later renamed as 2/1/53).
DALO 2/1/58 (later renamed as 2/1/55).
Volodymyr Vuytsyk, Roman Lypka, Meeting with Lviv (Lviv: Kameniar, 1987).
Ihor Zhuk, “Chamber of Commerce and Industry”, in Historical and Architectural Atlas of Lviv. Series II. Notable Buildings, Notebook No. 3 (Lviv: Center of Europe Publishing).
Mieczysław Orłowicz, Guidebook to Lviv (Lwów, 1925).
