Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter Paul (XVII century)

The garrison church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (known in Lviv as the Jesuit Church), built in the early Baroque style in the early seventeenth century modeled on the Roman shrine of Il Gesù and is one of the most iconic buildings in Lviv. The church is the first monument of Baroque architecture in Lviv.

The Jesuits, who represented the authoritative order of the Catholic Church, sought to show how influential and powerful the Catholic Church was. Therefore, it was decided to build a huge cathedral in Lviv, which would surprise with its scale and beauty. The construction of the brick temple began in 1610 and lasted a total of 20 years. In 1630 the church was completed and consecrated by the Archbishop of Lviv Jan Andrzej Pruchnicki.

After the liquidation of the Jesuit order in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV, the church was adapted to the garrison of the military command of the Austrian army, and in 1830 the church tower was dismantled (which was erected in 1702). In 1905, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv, Yosyf Bilchevsky, crowned the icon of the Mother of God of Adoration, placed in a chapel in the southern nave.

Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is one of the largest religious buildings in Lviv: its length – 41 m, width – 22.5 m, height – 26 m. In the interior of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, many frescoes, statues, bas-reliefs. But the main decoration of the temple is a beautiful altar in the Baroque style, which was created in the middle of the XVIII century.

Given that in a certain period of history the church served as a garrison church of the city, at present the church is cared for by the chaplains of the Center of Military Chaplaincy of the Curia of the Lviv Archdiocese. Since independence, the church was consecrated and opened on December 6, 2011 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.