Mickiewicz Square

Mickiewicz square in 2007, hotel George first from the left

The Mickiewicz Square (Ukrainian: Площа Міцкевича, trans. Ploshcha Mitskevycha) is one of the main squares in the city of Lviv, Ukraine.

The southern side of the square in the beginning of 20th century

The square lies between the Lviv's old town and southern part of midtown, and was planned and created in the first half of 19th century after the demolition of the old town's defensive walls in the late 18th century. From 1843 it was primarily known as Ferdinand Square (German: Ferdinandplatz, Polish: Plac Ferdynanda), in honour of the Austrian governor of Galicia Ferdinand Habsburg-d'Este; later in 1862 was renamed St.Mary's Square (Polish: Plac Mariacki) when a monument dedicated to her was erected in the area. Now it bears the name of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, whose monument was placed in the central part of the square in 1904. Lviv prior to World War II was inhabited mostly by Poles and Jews, and belonged to prewar Poland. In 1939, the Soviets in the course of the Invasion of Poland annexed the city. As the new occupant administration perceived St Mary as a rather inappropriate patron for the square in the centre of the now-Soviet city, the square went under "secularization" and was renamed after Mickiewicz - Mickiewicz square (Polish: Plac Mickiewicza, Russian: Площадь Мицкевича). Although the majority of Polish Lvivians were expelled after second Soviet annexation in 1945 and the city was repopulated with Ukrainians and Russians, the monument wasn't demolished during the Soviet era, and instead was kept, as well as the name of the square.

The Adam Mickiewicz's Column

Mickiewicz's Column with the Sprecher's tenement house (to the left) and the bell-tower of the Latin cathedral (to the right) in the background

The monument composes of a 21 metre high column made of Italian granite, over 3 metre high statue of Mickiewicz being granted his poet's lyre by a genius of poetry, and some additional elements including the golden torch of Inspiration on the top of the column. Standing in the central part of the square, it was erected in 1904, with the official opening ceremony held on October 30th. It's been designed and carved by famous Polish sculptor Antoni Popiel, who won the contest for the design in 1898.

Other important sights

• Monument of St. Mary with adjacent fountain. The figure of St. Mary, on the order of countess Seweryna Badeni, was sculpted in white, trembovlian marble by Johann Nepomuk Hautmann from Munich in 1859 and brought to Lviv the same year. When in 1904 the monument of Mickiewicz was erected, the figure was moved north from the center of the square and remodeled according to a concourse won project by Michał Łużecki. In Soviet times, the figure was removed from the top of the fountain and placed in the Boim's chapel (now is in St. Andrew's church). Instead the fountain was topped with a vase. The original composition, including a copy of the St. Mary's figure, was reconstructed in 1997.
• Sprecher's tenement house. The six story high edifice with mansard roof, was ordered by Jonas and Gizela Sprecher and constructed between 1914 and 1922, according to a project designed by Ferdynand Kassler from Michał Ulam's architectural bureau. The architecture is a mix of neoclassical and early modernist motifs. Due to its height and size it was dubbed as Lviv's first "skyscraper".
• Hotel George. Constructed as a luxury hotel in 1900 according to a project of Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner & Hermann Hellmer with a sculptural decoration designed by Leonard Marconi.