A brief history: Lviv's founding and early years (10/08/06)

A brief history: Lviv's founding and early years

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - It was the great King Danylo Romanovych who established the city of Lviv sometime in the 1240s or 1250s, naming it in honor of his son Lev.

The year 1256 is the accepted birthday of Lviv because that is the year that historians were able to find the first recorded mention of the metropolis.

A fire in the city of Kholm was visible from Lviv in that year, according to the Halychyna-Volyn Chronicle.

The earliest settlers of the region now known as Lviv arrived during the sixth century, as it was situated on a crossroads of trade routes.

Denser settlements in the region emerged in the 12th century, archeological investigations have revealed.

With the capital of his dynasty in the city of Halych, King Danylo began establishing and founding numerous cities throughout the region.

One factor in selecting Lviv was the proximity of many rivers and streams, which flowed into the Baltic and the Black seas.

In establishing Lviv, King Danylo provided guidance, but he allowed his son Lev to play an active role in its planning, development and leadership.

Like most other ancient cities in present-day Halychyna, Lviv consisted of two parts: a fortified castle and an urban, commercial section.

Soon after establishing the city's first fortress, King Danylo was forced to dismantle it in 1259 at the demand of Mongol Khan Burundai, who threatened to destroy all of King Danylo's Halychyna forts and towns.

Five years later, King Danylo died, leaving his entire Halychyna estate to Prince Lev.

For the location of the next Lviv fortress, Prince Lev selected Zamkova Hora (Castle Hill) with defense in mind. The hill was surrounded on three sides by the valley of the Poltva River, which is now barely a river and mostly underground.

After spending his first winter in his castle amidst the cold, howling northern winds, Prince Lev realized the inconvenience of living on the lofty mountain. Even cattle had difficulty ascending the hill, so he built a second castle lower in the foothills.

When Prince Lev noticed the increasing populations in and around the fortress, he marked out the nearest valley under the brick walls of both castles as the location for the commercial district. By royal order, refugees quickly began to build the city.

To bring order to his community, Prince Lev divided his settlement into four parts - the eastern side for the Rus' people, the southern side for Jews and the northern side for Armenians and Tatars.

Prince Lev reserved the western side for himself because it was already built up with a castle.

Ancient Lviv's center was today's Old Market Square, protected by the surrounding nature, particularly Castle Hill and the Poltva River.

In the 1260s Prince Lev Danylovych relocated the capital of the principality from Halych to Lviv.

The system of surrounding towns developed by King Danylo played a valuable role in defending the land from Mongol attacks. During the 1287 campaign, the Golden Horde's Khan Telebuha was forced to admit that he couldn't take Lviv.

However, the end result was that Lviv ended up looking more like a military fortification than a city, said one historian.

Nevertheless, Lviv quickly developed as a center of commerce.

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