The city's sacral architecture impresses with its beauty and is an integral part of Lviv's historical heritage. Lviv boasts over 100 temples of various denominations.
The Church of St. Archangel Michael, formerly a Carmelite barefoot monastery, is situated in the central part of the city, at 22 Vynnychenka Street.
In 1717, the Carmelites managed to restore the church. In 1731–1732, the Italian artist Giuseppe Pedretti, together with his Lviv disciple, the monk Benedict Mazurkevich of the Bernardine Monastery, executed fresco painting of the walls and ceilings. By the end of the 18th century, the church acquired twelve side altars, which housed miraculous icons of Saint Apostle Jude Thaddeus and the Savior under the cross. The murals were restored and partially altered in 1870, 1906, and 1918.
As a result of the Josephine suppression (1784), the order of the Barefoot Carmelites left the city, the monastery was transferred to the reformers, and a few years later - to the Order of Discalced Carmelites (it belonged to them until 1945). At that time, the external appearance of the church underwent significant changes. The two towers on either side of the main entrance were designed by A. Vondrashka. Initially, only one was built (1835), and after restoration, the second was added (1906). The towers received non-Baroque completion, which they still retain to this day. At that time, the facade and interiors of the sanctuary were also restored.
In 1945, the Soviet authorities closed the monastery, and the monks moved to Krakow. Initially, the monastery buildings became shelters for the homeless, later warehouses were located here, and dormitories were arranged in the former cells. In addition, the KGB surveillance service operated in separate buildings.
It is worth noting that from the 1960s to the 1980s, the garden of the former monastery was a gathering place for the informal youth association "Republic of the Holy Garden," where Lviv hippies gathered.
In 1979, the church was transferred to the Lviv Historical and Architectural Reserve, and only in 1991 was the sanctuary returned to the believers. The church and monastery were transferred to the monks of the Studite Order of the UGCC (an order founded in the 1920s by Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky). At that time, there was a stockpile of building materials, the premises were filled with garbage, which was removed within two weeks, and the walls had to be cleaned with the help of a fire truck. The Studite monks somewhat renovated the sanctuary, replacing the roof structure, installing stained-glass windows above the choirs, and adding four side altars to the interior.
The first Divine Liturgy in the church took place in March 1991.
Architecture
The Temple of St. Archangel Michael is oriented along the west-east axis and has the shape of an elongated rectangle, with a building of cells adjoining it with an inner courtyard. Stylistically, it is a Baroque structure, with a facade featuring restrained architectural decoration, divided by pilasters. The only sculptural adornment on the facade consists of statues of two saints in niches on the first tier on either side of the main entrance. The ornamentation of the church includes two towers with multi-tiered non-Baroque summits.
Interior
The interior of the church is Baroque but not as lavish as, for example, the churches of the Bernardines or the Jesuits. Despite its rich historical past, elements of sculptural and pictorial decoration dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries have been preserved in the temple. The decoration of the sanctuary includes a unique altar in the form of a tabernacle made of black and red marble. This is the only artistic monument that dates back to the construction of the church. Today, in the interior decoration, one can see frescoes and epitaphs from the 19th century, partially preserved wooden sculptures, including the figure of a flying angel.
