Statue of Andrey Sheptytsky () was installed in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

in 2015. In the 1930s and 1940s, there were two monuments to the metropolitan in Lviv, but they were later destroyed by the Soviet authorities.

Built in 1932

According to the book "Monuments and Memorial Plaques of Lviv", it was the first Ukrainian monument in Lviv. It was made by the sculptor Andrii Koverko and in October 1932 the monument to

Andrey Sheptytsky Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; ; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Galicia and Archbishop of Lviv from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure in office spanned two world wars and six political r ...

was installed in a half-open chapel in the courtyard of the . The monument stood until 1939, when, according to the memoirs of

Josyf Slipyj Josyf Slipyi (, born as ; 17 February 1892 – 7 September 1984) was a Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Life Genealogy Josyf Slipyj's father, Joannes (Ivan) Slipyj, was born 17 ...

, it was destroyed by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

Built in 1935

The second Lviv monument to Andrey Sheptytsky was erected in September 1935. The year was not chosen by chance, as it coincided with the 30th anniversary of the opening of the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

and the 70th anniversary of its founder, Metropolitan Andrey. Events on the occasion of these dates took place in the museum itself, which was located on (now Drahomanov Street). The monument was unveiled on 27 September 1935. The celebrations were attended by many representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia of Lviv of the time, including Ilarion Svientsitskyi, Senator Dacykiewicz, Czech Consul Mr. Chech, city mayor Mr. Protasiewicz, and vice-regimental commander Mr. Sokhanskyi. The author of this monument was the sculptor . He created a seated sculpture of the Metropolitan in the courtyard of the National Museum that accurately depicted his image. From 1940, the Soviet authorities repeatedly demanded that the monument be removed. The museum's director, Ilarion Svientsitskyi, delayed the time in every possible way and looked for various excuses to allow the sculpture to remain. The monument survived the war, but after the war, the Lviv City Council issued Resolution No. 687 ordering its immediate removal. On the night of 10 August 1947, the sculpture was removed (according to various versions, it was smashed with hammers or toppled by a cable attached to a tank) and disappeared without a trace. The monument was eventually replaced by a statue of God

Svetovit Svetovit, also known as Sventovit and Svantovit amongst other variants, is the god of abundance and war, and the chief god of the Slavic tribe of the Rani, and later of all the Polabian Slavs. His organized cult was located on the island of Rü ...

from the village of .

Built in 2015

During the period of Ukraine's independence, the question of erecting a monument to the Metropolitan was raised many times. In 1992, a competition was held to design the monument. On November 26, the winners were announced, and the site of the monument was determined to be the square on . However, it was later decided that the proposed designs were too pompous and did not reflect the spiritual essence of Andrey Sheptytsky's personality. In 2009, the curia of the

Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv The Archeparchy of Lviv is an ecclesiastical territory or ecclesiastical province of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — a Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular Eastern Catholic Church, that is located in Ukraine. It ...

initiated the construction of the monument. The modern monument to Metropolitan Andrey is a recreation by (architects Ihor Kuzmak and ) with minor changes of the first monument of 1932 by Andrii Koverko. It was inaugurated on 29 July 2015. The height of the monument is 3.6 meters.

References

Bibliography

* ''Мельник І., Масик Р''. Пам'ятники та меморіальні таблиці міста Львова. — Львів : Апріорі, 2012. — 318 с. — (Львівські вулиці і кам'яниці) — ISBN 978-617-629-077-3. {{authority control Andrey Sheptytsky 21st-century introductions Culture in Lviv 2015 establishments in Ukraine