Street Formation
Until the mid-14th century, the center of Lviv was located around the Old Market Square. Lysenko Street was part of the ancient Hlyniany Route, which led to Hlyniany and Kyiv. After Lviv received Magdeburg rights, the city center shifted southward, and a new route for the Hlyniany Road emerged — the initial section of what is now Lychakivska Street. The older road, known as the Upper Hlyniany Route, remained the boundary between land plots.
In the 17th century, vineyards were cultivated on the slopes of Zmiyova Hill for local consumption. Active construction along the street began in the mid-19th century when the Kurkowe Society built one of the first houses. The odd-numbered plots belonged to the Zholkevskis, later the Sobieskis, who founded a Carmelite monastery. In 1778, Johann Franek built the popular tavern “Weteranische Hohle.”
Builders and Styles
The building at 14–14a Lysenko Street was constructed based on a design by Oleksandr Lushpynskyi and Tadei Obminskyi. It is a Secession-style (Art Nouveau) building stylized to resemble vernacular (folk) architecture.
Who Owns It?
In 1871, the property was owned by Vasyl Levytskyi.
What Does the Building Look Like?
The four-story Dormitory of the Narodnyi Dim Institute was built by Ivan Levynskyi’s firm in 1906–1907. It consists of two adjacent buildings, each with a front façade featuring two risalits and a central entrance accessed by small bridges. The high tiled roofs with pyramidal tops above the risalits give the structure a silhouette reminiscent of Boyko vernacular architecture.
The ground floor is marked by board-like rustication, with string courses separating the levels and rectangular window pediments above the second-floor windows. The façade features a richly decorated cornice with brackets and a ceramic frieze inspired by Carpathian folk motifs. The most striking elements are the metalwork designed by Lushpynskyi and crafted in the workshop of Mykhailo Stefanivskyi, forming a three-tiered Secession-style composition with intricate iron stairwell lacework.
At the center of the façade is an inscription reading “Бурса института ‘Народный Домъ’” (“Dormitory of the Narodnyi Dim Institute”) in raised lettering. The coat of arms of Galicia, which once adorned the façade, has not survived. Across from the right side of the building are several one- and two-story annexes, constructed between the 1890s and the 1960s. To the west, beyond a brick fence, lies a playground on the site of the former monastery garden.
Interesting Facts
In 1907, Ivan Levynskyi’s firm built a dormitory at 14 Kurkova Street (now Lysenko Street) for boys, complete with a museum and library for the Narodnyi Dim Institute. Designed by Oleksandr Lushpynskyi and Tadei Obminskyi, this Secession-style building, stylized after traditional folk architecture, features rich ceramic and metalwork. It accommodated 200 students and was outfitted with the latest technical innovations of the early 20th century.
During the Soviet era, until the 1970s, the building housed Secondary School No. 36. The property at 14 Lysenko Street is now recognized as a local architectural heritage site (Protection No. 1327) and houses the Library-Cabinet of Rare Books (formerly a dormitory for vocational school students).
What Is It Now?
Since 2010, part of the building has been used for residential housing. The left wing (14a Lysenko Street) houses the Department of Rare Books of the Vasyl Stefanyk National Science Library of Ukraine. It also includes the Cabinet of New German-Language Contemporary Literature, the German Reading Room, and the Austrian Library.
Sources and Literature
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Vuytsyk V. S. On the History of the Buildings of the Shevchenko Scientific Society // Visnyk of the Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsia Institute, 2004. — ISBN 966-95066-4-13.
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Noga Oleksandr. Ivan Levynskyi: Architect, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist. – Lviv: Center of Europe, 2009.
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Czerner O. Lwów in Old Prints and Maps. – Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków, 1997.
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Księga adresowa Król. stoł. miasta Lwowa. – Lviv, 1902.
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Lwów. Ilustrowany przewodnik. – Lviv: Centrum Europy, 2003.
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Index of the Royal Capital City of Lviv with Indication of City Division. Names of Streets and Squares, Numbering of Buildings by Conscription and Orientation, Including Property Owners – As Well As Old Names and Numbers. – Lviv: Published by the Royal Capital City of Lviv, printed at the Stauropegian Institute Press, 1889.
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Index of the Royal Capital City of Lviv – Lviv, 1916.
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Index of New and Old Real Estate Numbers, As Well As Names of Streets and Squares of the Royal Capital City of Lviv – Lviv, 1872.
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Spigel J.R. Address Directory of the Royal Capital City of Lviv. – Yearbook II: 1910. – Lviv, 1909.
