Union of Lublin Mound

Union of Lublin Mound (Ukrainian: Копець Люблінської унії; Polish: Kopiec Unii Lubelskiej) is an artificial hill, 29 m high, in Lviv, modern day Ukraine created in 1869-1890 by Polish inhabitants to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Union of Lublin by initiative and with financial support of Franciszek Smolka.[1] It is located on the summit of Lviv High Castle.[2]

Aerial view of the mound, late 1930s

Status in late nineteenth and early twentieth century

In the second half of the 19th century Poles living under Russian, Prussian and Austrian rule as a result of partitions of Poland, were looking for every opportunity to celebrate important events from the Polish history, reminding them of Poland's past glories.

At the time Austria-Hungary had the most liberal policy towards ethnic minorities. The province of Galicia, created from the areas taken over from Poland, with Polish as one of the official languages, was the most obvious location for such celebrations. Lviv, Galicia's capital (now western Ukraine), was chosen for the occasion. The city's Polish population of all ages and classes offered voluntary labour to build the mound. The work was carried out without any prior engineering advice, using locally available materials, including stones from the ruins of High Castle. In 1906 a part of the mound collapsed and had to be rebuilt.

There is an observation platform at the top of the mound (altitude 413 m), offering a vantage viewpoint over Lviv.