The Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, usually called simply the Latin Cathedral ( uk, Лати́нський собо́р, pl, Katedra Łacińska) is a 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, western Ukraine. It is located in the city's

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

, in the south western corner of the market square, called Cathedral Square.

History

The first church built on this site was a small wooden Roman Catholic church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, built in 1344 and lost in a fire six years later. In 1360, king

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He wa ...

began the construction of the present day church, built in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, as the cathedral of the newly created Latin diocese. The church was consecrated in 1405 and the parish was moved here from "Our Lady of the Snows" church. In 1412 the see was transferred from

Halych Halych ( uk, Га́лич ; ro, Halici; pl, Halicz; russian: Га́лич, Galich; german: Halytsch, ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; yi, העליטש) is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the P ...

. Construction work continued throughout the 15th century and the cathedral was finally consecrated in 1481. The cathedral witnessed many significant events. In 1440 the

Metropolitan of Kiev Metropolitan of Kyiv is an episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the metropolitan city — Kiev. The title takes its name from the city ...

, Cardinal Isidore celebrated Holy Mass for the intention of Christian Unity, when he stopped off in Lwów on his way back from the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

. It was visited by several Polish kings, most notably by

John II Casimir John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...

, who entrusted the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

to the care of the Blessed Virgin in what came to known as the Lwów Oath. In the years 1761–1776 the cathedral was refurbished in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style and a tall bell tower was added. In 1776 the miraculous icon of the Mother of God held in the cathedral was crowned and placed in the main altar. In 1892–1898 the presbytery was remodelled in

Neogothic 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 ...

style and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, designed by

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, ...

and

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Poles, Polish painting, painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works includ ...

were installed. In 1910 the cathedral was granted the status of a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

. Following the Soviet annexation of almost half of Poland's pre-war territory the Latin Cathedral is presently one of just two churches in Lviv which were not closed down or made subject to the Muscovite Patriarchate during

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rule, the other being the Roman Catholic church of St. Anthony in Lychakiv, while the deported bishops of the See of Lwów resided in

Lubaczów Lubaczów ( uk, Любачів ''Liubachiv'') is a town in southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, with 12,567 inhabitants Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the capital of Lubaczów County and is locate ...

, a town in present-day southeastern Poland, close to the border with what is now Ukraine. In 1991 Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

reactivated the Lviv diocese. Meanwhile, the miraculous icon of the Madonna was moved to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

after

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and then in 1974 to the procathedral in Lubaczów. In 1983 it was once again crowned in

Jasna Góra Jasna may refer to: Places * Jasna, a village in Poland * Jasná, a village and ski resort in Slovakia Other uses * Jasna (given name), a Slavic female given name * JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America See also * Yasna Yasna (;

and remains presently in Lubaczów. Lviv Cathedral owns a copy which was crowned by Pope

during his Apostolic Visit to Ukraine on June 26, 2001. File:2017-05-25 Latin cathedral, Lviv - interior 6.jpg, Interior of the cathedral File:Латинський кафедральний собор (Львів) 13.jpg, Main altar File:46-101-0548 Katedralna 1 14.jpg, Altar of the Holy Trinity File:46-101-0548 Katedralna 1 5.jpg, Altar of the Transfiguration of Jesus File:Chapel of Kampian family.jpg, Kampian's Chapel

External links

Churches and chapels of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine

{{Authority control Cathedrals in Lviv Gothic architecture in Ukraine Basilica churches in Europe Roman Catholic cathedrals in Ukraine Wiśniowiecki family