The Royal House in Lviv is one of the most valuable historical buildings in the city. It is also one of the most important historical monuments of the pre-partition Rzeczpospolita, a place associated with landmark events in the history of Poland and Ukraine. It was the city residence of several kings and hetmans, and above all the Lviv home of King Jan III Sobieski. The collecting interests of the owners led to the tenement house becoming the seat of one of the first Polish private museums as late as the 18th century.

The authors and executors of the long-term research project (2022-2024) are: Małgorzata Miślicka and Michał Witkowski. The aim of the project is to conduct a scientific archival search, the final result of which will be the preparation of a complete monograph on the Royal Tenement House in Lviv, as, despite its significance and the numerous archival materials relating to the building, the tenement house has not yet been properly published.

As the researchers point out, "the sources for the history of the Royal Tenement House are scattered and difficult to access. Information on the building is found in many state and church archives located in several countries and is located in the extensive legacies of historical families, municipal records, land records and monastic archives. For this reason, until 1939, only attempts were made to present the history of the monument and its artistic issues, while after the end of the Second World War, access to the building itself and many sources was difficult or impossible for several decades."

Research into the history of the building is being carried out with a view to developing a historical and conservation monograph on the monument. Their premise is to verify existing knowledge and acquire new information on the history of the Royal Tenement House in Lviv. The research is based primarily on queries of source materials in Polish and Ukrainian archives and libraries. Among other things, searches are being conducted in Polish archives and libraries, such as the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw and the National Archives in Kraków. They are also being conducted at the Lithuanian State Historical Archive in Vilnius or the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in Vilnius and the Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv, and in many other places.

Among the information obtained, fragments of the correspondence of the plenipotentiaries of Prince Constantine on the sale of the Royal Tenement House to Hetman Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski appeared from the List of Foreign Houses, or the author's mention in the correspondence of Mikołaj Krogulecki, the general administrator of Maria Kazimiera's estate, of the queen's obligation to deposit money for the sale of Kaluga salt into the treasury of the Royal Tenement House. Information was also found on the commercial activities carried out in the tenement during the reign of King Jan III Sobieski and the use of the building's premises for business purposes. At the Lithuanian State Historical Archive in Vilnius, documents were obtained confirming the administrative affiliation of the "Palace alias Kamienica in Lviv" to the Zhovkva estate in 1708 during the reign of King Konstantin Sobieski.

Without doubt, the queries should be considered fruitful. The information obtained will form the basis of the academic publication "Kamienica Królewska we Lwowie. A historical and conservation monograph', which the Polonica Institute plans to publish in print in 2025.

Researchers: Małgorzata Miślicka and Michał Witkowski