Things to Do in Lviv

Also known as the Pharmacy Under the Black Eagle, the Pharmacy Museum in Lviv is also the city’s oldest pharmacy. Founded in 1735 by a military pharmacist, it is still an operating drugstore today and continues to mix its “iron wine,” which can be bought as a souvenir. The museum opened in 1966 and now features a collection of more than 3,000 pharmaceutical items, including instruments, medicine bottles, prescriptions, pharmacy-related books and, most notably, an 18th century pharmaceutical scale on display in the Trade Room. The scale is attached to one-meter high figures of the God of Medical Treatment and his daughter, the Goddess of Health.

The second room, known as the Material Room, showcases the collection of ancient medicines and pharmaceutical instruments, as well as ancient machinery used for making pills. The third room of the museum tells the history of pharmacy dating back to ancient times and the fourth room recreates an old pharmacist’s laboratory and features a collection of rare medicinal plants from all around the world.

Possibly the finest art museum in Ukraine, the LvivNational Art Gallery is home to more than 60,000 pieces of art from all over the world. Its history can be traced back to a Polish museum started in 1907 and expanded with additional collections in 1914 and 1929. Significantly, it features a large number of pieces by Polish artists that were acquired during World War II, giving it the most impressive collection of Polish art outside of Poland. The gallery has been in its current location, in the renovated palace of Count Potocki, since 2005.

Art is displayed in the gallery throughout thirty halls that are divided by epochs and art movements. In addition to Polish artists, it includes works from leading Dutch, Flemish, French, Italian Austrian, German, Russian and Ukrainian masters from the 14th to 18th centuries. Two particular highlights are Georges de la Tour’s “Payment of Dues” and Tiziano Vecellio’s “Portrait of a Man,” but works by Rubens, Bruegel, Goya and Caravaggio are also featured.

Better known as the Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, the Shevchenkivskiy Hai Open Air Museum outside of Lviv is one of the largest open air museums in Europe. Set near Shevchenko Park northeast of the city, it is comprised of more than 100 buildings from the past three centuries, including six wooden churches. Most notable is the Church of St Nicholas from the Kryvka village, which features a 17th century iconostasis and is considered an architectural gem of great cultural importance.

The museum attempts to recreate the traditional atmosphere of villages from different regions around western Ukraine, including Bukovyna, the Transcarpathians and the lands of the Boykos, Hutsuls and Lemkos – eight different regions are represented altogether. It includes more than 20,000 objects, from furniture and clothing to ceramics and jewelry to a collection of 130 painted Easter eggs known as pysanky. On weekends, visitors can enjoy demonstrations of blacksmithing, baking, pottery, doll making and woodcarving.