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Rynok Square

Name: Rynok Square
Address: Rynok Square, L'viv, L'vivs'ka oblast, UA

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October 24, 2021

Market Square is among the most ancient and most fascinating areas of Lviv – the vital core of urban life from the Middle Ages to the current day. The Square began to take shape as the center of this “walled city” in the 13th and 14th centuries, planned in accordance with the principles of the Magdeburg Rights. The structural ensemble which currently encircles the Square took shape over centuries, preserving elements and aspects of a variety of styles and epochs. Its appearance was influenced by pan-European architectural trends, urban trends, and the aesthetics of the various ethnic groups which have inhabited Lviv. Each building which stands on Lviv’s Market Square has been designated a Ukrainian National Historic Architectural Monument. The designation of Lviv’s central Market Square as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 stands as further testimony to its singularity. The date of Lviv’s founding is a subject for debate. It is established that the first settlements of the city were located on the slopes of Zamkovy Hory, or Castle Hill, near the Royal Castle. Today Lviv’s oldest churches can be found there: St. Mykola Church, St. Paraskeva Church, the St. Onuphria Monastery, and the Church of John the Baptist. At that time the center of Lviv was the square which currently goes by the name Staryi Rynok, or the Old Market. During the 13th and 14th centuries Lviv was afforded the right to self-governance, the Magdeburg Rights. The privilege afforded city residents more than just liberal exemption from central government rule, it also greatly influenced the city structure, through the establishment of a new, so-called “designated” city with an organized network of streets and fortifications encompassing it. This new ‘center’ was located to the south, near the ancient road to Halych, the capital of Galicia at the time. In the center of ‘designated’ Lviv appeared a quadrangular, nearly square market plaza, ringed on all four sides by residential buildings. At the center stood the “Rat”, or Town Hall, the home of Lviv government. The town’s central church – the Roman Catholic Cathedral – was located near the square. This configuration was typical in all cities of East Central European of the day to which Magdeburg Rights had been extended. Lviv had long been a crucial trading city and Market Square the place where that trade was concentrated. Marcin Gruneweg, author of the earliest written account of Lviv (mid-16th century) was duly taken in by the city’s impressive appearance and prosperity, noting that one could purchase a limitless variety of goods, both local and imported, and encounter buyers from every country of the world. In addition to serving as a market, Market Square was also the center civil government, and the social and spiritual life of town residents. It was a place where a wide variety of events were held, including celebrations of victorious military campaigns, religious observances, and much more. Here also, on the west end of the square near the city council building was the pillory (Polish, pręgierz) where corporal and capital punishments were carried out. It was at this place where, in 1578, the legendary Cossack Hetman Ivan Pidkova was executed. The city council building was home to more than just the city council, it also headquartered the treasury, the court, the city guard, the city jail, and various shops among others. An obligatory feature of this type of structure was a clock tower which was placed to stand out in the city skyline in order to show from afar the location of the market square. Yet, it also served other functions. In time of fire or the approach of an enemy force, the town trumpeter would signal a warning for town residents. In later periods a bell was used to sound the alarm. In Lviv, as in many other cities of its type, the council building was not the only structure at the center of its market square; as late as the 19th century, three rows of stone manor homes stood here as well. Together with the council building they formed what was known as the market’s “central block”. Around the square in the market’s “outer blocks”, stood homes belonging to the wealthiest residents, the patrician class, made up chiefly of merchants and financiers who ran the city council and vital municipal establishments, and who had significant financial, political, and legal influence. Their stone manor houses, correspondingly, reflected the high status of their owners and set the standard for city residential buildings.