Church of Intercession of the Mother of God, Lviv (must see)

The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv occupies a commanding position in the eastern part of the city, on Lychakivska Street. This building, belonging today to the Eastern-Rite branch of the Salesian Congregation of the UGCC, takes the form of a basilica crowned by a lofty campanile tower.

Before the present structure, the site held a wooden church dedicated to the Prophet Elijah, serving the local Ukrainian community of Kryvchytsi. That earlier building was dismantled in the 19th century and replaced by a small brick church. In June 1914, parishioners formed a committee to build a new church, though the outbreak of the First World War interrupted those plans.

Construction resumed more decisively in the 1930s under the direction of local architects. The church was solemnly consecrated on October 7, 1934, and eventually completed in 1938.

The mid-20th century brought hardship: the building was shelled by Soviet troops in 1939 and later damaged again by German air raids during World War II. After the war, the church was closed, stripped of its altars, bells, and furnishings, and repurposed as a book depository.

With the legalisation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1989, the building was returned to religious use. By 1992, it had been reconsecrated as the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the years that followed, new icons and decoration were added — the iconostasis was painted by local artists — and a youth oratory centre was built next door.

Visitors today will see a church whose architecture blends basilican clarity with a striking bell tower that recalls Florentine campaniles. The tower rises nearly sixty meters — an uncommon feature in Lviv’s sacred architecture. The contrast between the building’s turbulent past and its serene presence now offers a poignant reflection of Lviv’s layered spiritual and cultural history.