Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów

The Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów or Cemetery of Eaglets is a memorial and a burial place for the Poles who died in Lviv (Lwów in Polish) during the hostilities of the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War between 1918 and 1920.

The complex is a part of the city's historic Lychakiv Cemetery. There are about 3000 graves in that part of the cemetery; some from the Lwów Eaglets young militia volunteers, after whom that part of the cemetery is named. It was one of the most famous necropolises of the interwar Poland.

History

In 1918-1919, Poles and Ukrainians fought over the territory of Eastern Galicia that included Lviv; with Poland defeating the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. A year later, another war, between Poland and the Russian SFSR, was fought around the city. In the aftermath, the city ended up being part of interwar Poland, and the Polish authorities decided to construct a memorial to the Poles who died in the 1918-1920 hostilities in that region.

The necropolis complex was designed by Rudolf Indruch, an architecture student from the Lviv Polytechnic whose project won the competition. The most visible element was a domed chapel towering over the tombs below. Between the chapel and the tombs, Indruch placed catacombs where the exhumed remains of 72 fighters were laid to rest. In addition to Polish fighters, this part of the cemetery also has graves and monuments to American (pilots from the Kościuszko Squadron) and French volunteers who fought on the Polish side. Below, a semi-circular colonnade monument was built with an inscription reading "Mortui sunt ut liberi vivamus" ("They died so we could live free"). Two stone lions stood near a triumphal arch. The construction of the cemetery continued until the outbreak of the Second World War. The cemetery had almost 3,000 tombs, including 300 of the Lwów Eaglets, the young defenders of the city from 1918. In 1925 the ashes of one of the unknown defenders of Lwów were transferred to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.

After the Soviet invasion of Poland and the events of World War II, the city became part of Soviet Ukraine, and the Polish historical monuments located at the cemetery were devastated or neglected. Up to 1971 many of the sculptures were destroyed; the cemetery of Lviv Eaglets was completely destroyed and turned into a truck depot. There were attempts to crush the triumphal arch with tanks, and in the 1970s, bulldozers razed most of the tombs.

In 1975 the Lychakiv Cemetery was declared a historical preservation site and the degradation ended. Since the late 1980s the cemetery has seen constant rebuilding and refurbishment and continues to be one of the principal tourist attractions of Lviv. The Lviv Eaglets section was, however, not reopened for several decades, as the fact that many of the people buried there fought on the Polish side against the Ukrainians during the Polish-Ukrainian War generated some controversy. The issue has resurfaced several times in the Polish-Ukrainian relations; however, in 1989 the reconstruction works have begun, carried by local Polonia and Polish workers working temporarily in Lviv. Eventually the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lviv was reopened on 24 June 2005 when the Lviv City Council that initially resisted the opening finally gave its approval, following Polish support for Ukraine's Orange Revolution (2004). President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski and President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, who attended the opening ceremony, agreed that the reconstruction and official opening represents a major improvement in Polish-Ukrainian relations.

References

External links

Listed in the following categories:
Post a comment
Tips & Hints
Arrange By:
There are no tips nor hints for Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów yet. Maybe be you will be the first one to post useful information for fellow travellers? :)
Map
0.1km from Banakha St, L'viv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine Get directions

Hotels nearby

See all hotels See all
Lviv Central Jam Hotel

starting $34

Jam Hotel

starting $37

One Bedroom Apartment on Doroshenka 34 (V.I.P.)

starting $30

Three Bedrooms Apartment, Doroshenka ,57

starting $100

Two Bedrooms Apartment on Kostyushka 16/9 (V.I.P.)

starting $1556

Three Bedrooms Apartment, Kostyushka ,16

starting $1167

Recommended sights nearby

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Lychakiv Cemetery

Lychakiv Cemetery (Polish: Cmentarz Łyczakowski; Ukrainian:

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Hlyniany Gate

Hlyniany Gate (Polish: Brama Gliniańska; Ukrainian:

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Бэрнардынскі касьцёл і кляштар (Львоў)

Бэрнардынскі касьцёл — помнік архітэктуры XVI—XVII ст. у

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Lviv Arsenal

Lviv Arsenal (Polish: Arsenał Miejski we Lwowie) is the oldest of

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Порохова вежа

Порохова́ ве́жа (1554–1556 рр.) — одна з небагатьох з

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Lubomirski Palace, Lviv

The Lviv palace of Prince Stanisław Lubomirski was built in the 1760s

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Dominican Church, Lviv

The Dominican church and monastery (Ukranian:

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Korniakt Palace

The Korniakt Palace on Market Square in Lviv is a prime example of the

Similar tourist attractions

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Hollywood Forever Cemetery is at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Lychakiv Cemetery

Lychakiv Cemetery (Polish: Cmentarz Łyczakowski; Ukrainian:

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Baikove Cemetery

Baikove Cemetery (Ukrainian: Байкове кладовище) is a famous and hist

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Cimetière des Rois

The Cimetière des Rois (French: Cemetery of Kings) or Cimetière de P

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro

The Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro (English: Román Ba

See all similar places