Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv is a special necropolis not only because of the personalities buried there, but also because of the high artistic value of the gravestones there. The POLONIKA Institute in 2018 joined in the work that will help preserve the beauty of these monuments.

Work completed in 2023.

In Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, conservation and restoration work is underway on the monument to Dr Henryk Mosing and the tombstone of Kazimierz Sichulski.

The statue of the Virgin Mary, which adorns the monument, has been transported to the conservation workshop to allow work on the masonry part of the tombstone. This will continue until next year, primarily due to damage to the limestone blocks in the masonry part of the monument, which is currently being partially restored. The sculpture of the Virgin Mary is being cleaned and protected.

Executor: Monument Service

The work is being carried out by stone conservator-restorer Anna Kudzia and her team.

Work completed in 2021

In 2021, work was carried out on repairing damage to gravestone monuments after the storms that haunted the Lychakiv Cemetery for the next two years. At that time, two limestone vases at the tombstone of Colonel Zhukovsky were damaged (broken into pieces). A reconstruction of both elements was installed in 2021. In addition, two cast-iron crosses at another monument, that of a double John Doe, were cast anew.

At the same time, conservation and restoration work was carried out on further monuments. Two grave monuments with figural sculpture by Anton Schimser were comprehensively treated - the monument to Julianna of Schabinger Newater, the monument to the Weigl family, the Braur family (Breuer), the Frenkl family (Tränkl family) and the monument to Josef Schabinger attributed to Hartmann Witwer with a figure of his wife mourning.

The work was carried out in accordance with programmes developed by Radosław Tusznio.

Executor: Cultural Heritage Foundation

Works completed in 2020.

In 2020. POLONIKA Institute continued work on the tomb of the Tarnawiecki family. The tomb was designed by Bronisław Wiktor and Piotr Tarnawiecki, who was buried here in 1961.

The work included full restoration, preceded by a construction expert's report. The concrete elements, which functioned as decorative cladding, underwent restoration primarily involving the replenishment of large areas of relief. In view of the conservation work rarely undertaken with the material concrete, the project presented an interesting conservation challenge.

In connection with the conservation work carried out within the framework of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage programme on the tombstone of Archbishop Grzegorz Szymonowicz, POLONIKA Institute undertook the reconstruction of the central stone pinnacle crowning the tombstone. The design of the pinnacle was developed on the basis of an archival photograph, taking into account the perspective and dimensions taken in situ.

Executor: Cultural Heritage Foundation

Work carried out in 2019

In 2019. POLONIKA Institute funded the conservation of two tombstones in the cemetery. These are the tombstones of: Edmund Zychowicz (Zychowicz), a prominent Lviv architect active in the early twentieth century, and the counts of the Karnicki family, which is located in the main avenue, on the road to the Defenders of Lviv cemetery. The Karnickis' tombstone required minor construction work consisting of a retaining wall and the foundation of the base for the column. In addition, both tombstones underwent full technical conservation of the stone elements and aesthetic conservation through restoration of damaged and missing elements and colour unification.

Implemented by: Cultural Heritage Foundation

The Lychakiv cemetery contains the tombs of many architects of Lviv, including Piotr Tarnawiecki. The tomb is in an emergency condition. The Polonika Institute in 2019 financed basic works to protect the tomb from precipitation by building a canopy over the tombstone.

Executor: Monument Service - Marcin Kozarzewski

Works carried out in 2018.

Thanks to the finances of the Institute, the conservation of 4 tombstones of prominent figures of Lviv public life was carried out:

Piotr Chmielowski - literary historian, encyclopaedist, professor at the University of Lviv; author of the sculpture: Stanisław Ostrowski;

Józef Torosiewicz - doctor of medicine, philanthropist, founder and founder of the Armenian Bursa for boys, later known as the Dr Józef Torosiewicz Scientific Institute; author of the sculpture: Edmund Jaskólski;

Stanisław Zborowski - lawyer; authors of the sculpture: Julian Markowski and Antoni Kurzawa;

Marceli Ciemirski, botanist and secretary of the convent of the Benedictine Nuns; sculpted by Julian Markowski.

Polish-Ukrainian conservation teams, as part of the work of the Cultural Heritage Foundation, cleaned the tombstones, filled in the gaps and protected the monuments from the harmful effects of the weather.

The project is being implemented between 2018 and 2024