At breakfast in any of the many wonderful establishments in Lviv, you can hear not only Ukrainian but also German, Polish, French, English, a bit of Russian, and so on.
The architecture presents a similar cocktail: many buildings here are over 300−500 years old, and the wise local architectural council does not allow indiscriminate new constructions. I realized that after walking about 20 km through the city, I hadn’t noticed a single identical facade.
In the category of "suitable for magnets," I include:
• Handcrafted decorative elements, such as bronze balconies or elegant lanterns; • Picture-like reliefs on facades and many other sculptural compositions; • Grand entrances in the spirit of Peter with carved and nobly creaking three-section staircases.
It’s hard to imagine how many resources are required to preserve such a collection, but the absence of interference based on the principle of "yellow paint on white marble" allows for an authentic view of the living historical architectural environment.