Lviv-Holovnyi railway station ( ua, Льві́в-Головни́й) is the main railway terminal in Lviv, Ukraine. It is one of the most notable pieces of Art Nouveau architecture in former

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. The station was opened to the public in 1904, and celebrated its centenary on 26 March 2004. On a monthly basis, the terminal handles over 1.2 million passengers and moves 16 thousand tons of freight.

History

Construction of an extensive network of railways within the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

allowed the city of Lemberg (its German name at the time) to retain its nodal position at the crossing of several notable trade routes. As the capital of

, the city needed a new, representative and large railway station that would suit the city needs and replace the old

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

railway station built between 1861 and 1862 with the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis. In 1888 the Polish architect and a graduate of the Lwów Technical Academy Władysław Sadłowski was selected to design a new station. The final project, prepared in less than a year, encompassed a large, horizontally-oriented main hall, with two large train yards located in the background. The main entrance was topped with a large dome made of bolted steel and stained glass. Both wings of the symmetrical building were constituted by two pavilions, each with a smaller

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, f ...

. The main entrance was flanked by a set of Tuscan columns and large mythological sculptures, with the one representing

Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: means 'sleep') also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was a dear ...

being the most notable. Since Sadłowski was the main representative of the

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

' Arts and Crafts movement in Poland, his project included not only the architectural part of the future building, but also the ornaments and decorations. The project of three waiting halls (one for each class of travellers) was prepared in cooperation with another graduate of Sadłowski's ''alma mater'', Alfred Zachariewicz. The first class waiting hall was modelled after the style of an English gentleman's club, and was equipped with dark, luxurious Viennese-style furniture, resembling the works of the Wiener Werkstätte. The second class waiting room was modelled after 19th century

burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

houses in Galicia, while the third class waiting hall was equipped with simple wooden pieces of furniture, modelled after the

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been ...

style of Polish Gorals made by the artist Tadeusz Obmiński. The ornaments featured in the tunnels leading to the platforms and in the platforms themselves were prepared by the

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

-based company of Józef Górecki. Made of bent steel, the balustrades and railings bore direct resemblance to the style of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

ornaments designed by

Hector Guimard Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building ...

. A design for the registers was constructed in Zieleniewski Maschinen und Wagonbau-Gesellschaft Werk Sanok, (

Autosan Autosan Sp. z o.o. is a Polish bus and coach manufacturer. The company is located in Sanok, Poland. Its sales network includes European (also non-EU countries), African and Asian countries. Currently it produces approximately 300 buses a ...

). Construction started in 1899 and lasted until 1904, when the railway station was opened to the public. It was visited by some of the most renowned architects of the epoch, and influenced the later construction of the train stations in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

( Josef Franta, 1909) and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

( Otto Wagner). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when the city was under the rule of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the occupied eastern Poland railways were integrated into the Soviet Railway system. The station suffered extensive damage during the war, including a completely destroyed trainshed. There was an open debate on whether to restore the building or to dismantle the ruins and build anew. Architect G.F. Domashenko managed to bring both parties to agreement, and between 1949 and 1953 the old structure was given a contemporary

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

interior, whilst a full repair on the outside preserved its original view. Frequent renovations and upgrades ensured that the service and building was always up to modern standards, a tradition which Ukraine continued through the 1990s and into the 21st century, with the most recent major restoration being carried out in 2003.

References

External links

*
Lviv State Railway
{{Lviv Transport in Lviv Rail freight transport in Ukraine Buildings and structures in Lviv Railway stations in Lviv Railway stations opened in 1904 Lviv Railways stations Railway stations in Lviv Oblast Art Nouveau architecture in Ukraine Art Nouveau railway stations

History

See also

References

External links