Church of Sts. Olha and Elizabeth, Lviv

The Church of Sts. Olha and Elizabeth in Lviv, Ukraine is located between the city's main rail station and the Old Town. It was originally built as the Roman Catholic Church of St. Elizabeth and today serves as the Greek Catholic Church of Sts. Olha and Elizabeth.

The facade and belltower
Rather bare interior with the preserved neo-Gothic ambo and marble art-deco altar

The church was built by the Latin Archbishop of Lviv Saint Joseph Bilczewski in the years 1903-1911 as a parish church for the city's dynamically developing western suburb. It was designed by Polish architect Teodor Talowski,[1] in the neo-Gothic style, similar to that of the Votive Church in Vienna. St. Elisabeth's, placed on a hill which is the watershed of the Baltic and Black Sea, with its facade flanked by two tall towers and an 85 m belfry on the north side with imposing spires was envisioned as Lviv's first landmark to greet visitors arriving in the city by train.

In 1939 the church was damaged in a bombing raid but remained open until 1946. After the war, the building was used as warehouse[2] and fell further into ruin, until it was returned to faithful with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1991 a Ukrainian Greek Catholic was established and the church was reconsecrated as the Greek Catholic church of Sts. Olha and Elizabeth.

References
  1. A. Olszewski, An outline history of Polish 20th century art and architecture, Interpress Publishers, 1989, p. 23
  2. L. Galusek, Reconstructing a Shattered Mosaic: The Common Heritage of Poland and Ukraine, Centropa: a journal of central European architecture and related arts, vol. 7, 2007, p. 107


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