Photographer's Note
Lviv was quite a multinational city in the past. Towards the end of the WWI, its population consisted in 60% of Poles, 30% of Jews, 10% of Ukrainians, but there were some rich Armenians living in the town who contributed to the character of the town as well.
This photo presents a snapshot from the interior of the Armenian Cathedral of Lviv (Вірменський собор). I have a bad light when I tried to photograph it from outside and inside it was really dark and photography was not allowed. But after recently seeing a picture of this beautiful temple showed by Fis2, I though I will share something as well.
Info about the interesting history of the church from Wikipedia:
A small Armenian church was built in the years 1363–1370, founded by an Armenian merchant from Caffa, and established as the mother church of an eparchy. It is said to have been modeled after the Cathedral of Ani in the ancient Armenian capital of Ani. In 1437 the cathedral was surrounded with an arcade gallery: today only the southern one is preserved and the northern has been rebuilt into a sacristy. After the church was damaged in a city fire in 1527, a new stone belfry was erected in 1571. In 1630 the main nave was extended and was further rebuilt in 1723. From the 17th century until 1945, the cathedral belonged to the Armenian Catholic archdiocese of Lviv, as union with the Roman Catholic Church was introduced by bishop Mikołaj (Nicolas) Torosowicz and his successor, archbishop Vartan Hunanyan. The Cathedral owes most of its present-day look to a remodeling carried out in the years 1908-1927 by archbishop Józef (Joseph) Teodorowicz.
Lviv was in the eastern part of the territory reconstituted as Poland in 1919–20; and after World War II, that portion of the territory was taken from Poland and annexed by the Soviet Union, becoming part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1945 the new Soviet authorities decided to annihilate the Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv, and arrested its last administrator, the Rev. Dionizy Kajetanowicz (murdered in the Soviet gulag in 1954) and three other priests. Almost all the Polish Armenians were expelled to the west, to modern-day Poland. The cathedral was closed, and its building was used for storing plundered sacral art. Officially, the Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv still exists, but it has remained vacant since 1938.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a handful of Armenian Catholic families attempted to reestablish the parish. Also the Armenians who came to Lviv during the Soviet times, belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church, sought to acquire the cathedral.
Shortly before the visit of Pope John Paul II, the local Ukrainian authorities passed the cathedral to the Armenian Apostolic Church under the condition both the Armenian Catholic and Armenian Apostolic communities could use it. An Armenian Apostolic eparchy was established in Lviv in 1997.
On 18 May 2003 the cathedral was re-consecrated by the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and three other Armenian Apostolic bishops. Among the guests were: speaker of the Armenian parliament Armen Khachatryan, former president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, president of the Union of Armenians in Ukraine, French singer of Armenian origin Charles Aznavour with his son, Armenian actor Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and Armenian Ambassador to Ukraine Hrachya Silvanyan. Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was represented by bishop Augustin. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was represented by rev. Mikhail Dymyd. In the name of the Ukrainian government the head of the Religions State Agency Victor Bondarenko was present. However, neither Polish Armenians - the former owners of the cathedral, nor Armenian Catholic Church clergymen were invited.
Since 2009 the cathedral has been in course of a renovation process, fully financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Foundation of Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians seated in Warsaw. The works are being conducted jointly by Polish and Ukrainian specialists.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Cathedral_of_Lviv
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ikeharel, Fis2, ChrisJ, COSTANTINO, aliabazari, mcmtanyel, PaulVDV oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne
Critiques | Translate
Royaldevon
(85932) 2022-03-13 3:12
Hello Mariusz,
The light was challenging but I like how well you have shown the interconnecting arches, one leading smoothly to the next.
The patterns are well included and have a strong impact on the overall impression.
My warm regards,
Bev :-)
BennyV
(34748) 2022-03-13 4:31
Hello Mariusz
Great interior shot of this Armenian church in Lviv. Armenians...there's another proud people who, like the Ukranians now, have had a hard time in history, even in very recent history that is, cf. the still smouldering troubles with Azerbeidjan. I still feel "war" and "21st century" don't go together, but I realize I'm speaking from a priviliged bubble.
Benny
Fis2
(170747) 2022-03-13 8:05
Czesc Mariusz!
Ladne wnetrze dobrze pokazane.
Ciekawy POV i kompozycja.
Przyjemne swiatlo i kolory.
Podoba sie.
Milego popoludnia.
Krzysztof
Tue
(92360) 2022-03-13 9:42
Hello Mariusz,
An excellent photo of the interior of this church. You handled the lighting really well, which helped to show the many details and decorations so well, especially the pattern on the ceilings.
Lars
cargus
(13954) 2022-03-13 10:06
Interesting architectural scene of interior, well rendered, sharpness, exposure and natural colors are excellent!...well done.!!
Regards
Adrian
lousat
(139266) 2022-03-13 13:24
Ciao Mariusz,a very nice memory from Lviv, the interior of armenian cathedral is lovely, i hope that remains in the future, now the bombs are coming on this city too very close to polish border, interesting and original post well done despite the light. Have a nice week and thanks,Luciano
ifege
(48085) 2022-03-13 23:48
Hi Mariusz
Lviv certainly has a background of mixed ethnicities. The Armenian style is different any others I've seen so a good interesting photo.
cheers
Ian
jemaflor
(147128) 2022-03-14 0:15
Hi Mariusz,
superbe decorations for this interior and in particular for this ceiling,well photographed, interesting post about the poor ukranian people, tfs.
ChrisJ
(171822) 2022-03-14 2:49
Hi Mariusz
I really do hope this doesn't become just an historic record shot. Russia has started bombing Lviv environs :-( A superb interior shot of the cathedral. Tfs!
pajaran
(115891) 2022-03-14 5:13
Pozdrav.
Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep enterijer i detalji, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i perspektivom.
Dobar rad, lepa fotografija.
lepa unutrasnjost Catedrale.
Lepo secanje.
Zelim vam lepo popodne, sve najbolje.
Paja
jmdias
(115156) 2022-03-14 11:43
mariusz
marvelous these adornments of the interior, looks different the other I saw in catholic and orthodox churches. this region of the planet had many changes during the centuries, I presume these plains permitted many invasions because there wasn't strong geographic limits.
take care
jorge
COSTANTINO
(116490) 2022-03-14 23:19
Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy evening
thanks for the sharing
thanks for your useful notes
and generally for the presentation
of this Armenia cathedral of Lviv
regards
Costantino
aliabazari
(22175) 2022-03-15 9:29
Hi dear friend Mariusz
A beautiful view of the interior architecture of this Armenian church. I like engravings. Clarity and exposure done well. Spiritual and relaxing atmosphere. Thanks for sharing
mcmtanyel
(68503) 2022-03-15 20:57
Hello Mariusz,
Very pretty church, pretty goof light management to take all this beauty in.
Regards,
MT
PS. I see what you mean. What I am afraid of is that China is going to get emboldened by Russia's move and will invade Taiwan. Then we'll get WW III on our hands.
ikeharel
(113345) 2022-03-18 23:24
Good morning Mariusz,
Well taken the indoor's scene at the Armenian church, fairly good use of the outside light from above, clear details as always.
One correction though: The Jewish history of Lviv dated back to the year 1256, but - after WW2 most of the jewish community parished in the Holocast and the remaining soles were only just better than 2700 people. Not 10% of the population as noted.
Wish you a nice weekend,
Ike
PaulVDV
(62892) 2022-03-21 9:22
Hello Mariusz,
I've been inside this Armenian cathedral but I haven't good pictures of the interior.
This is a very attractive composition with lots of beautiful curving lines.
The lighting and colours are very good.
Best regards, Paul
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Mariusz Kamionka (mkamionka)
(74407)
- Genre: Miejsca
- Medium: Kolorowe
- Date Taken: 2017-08-26
- Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X4, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
- Map: view
- Wersja zdjęcia: Oryginalna wersja
- Temat(y): Vaults and ceilings by Mariusz [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2022-03-13 0:45
Discussions
- To ikeharel: Jewish community (1)
by mkamionka, last updated 2022-03-18 11:40