One of the most magnificent buildings in eighteenth-century Lviv was the Piarist monastery erected by the suffragan bishop Samuel Głowiński, also known as the Collegium Nobilium, and still standing today at 7 Jurij Rufa St. The founder's aim was to establish in Lviv an institution similar to the one founded by Stanisław Konarski in 1740 in Warsaw for male youth from the wealthiest noble houses. The struggle to realise this dream lasted almost two decades (the Piarists were fighting the Jesuits, who had a monopoly on education) and it was not until 1766 that the plan could be put into action. Lviv's Collegium Nobilium was probably built to a design by the architect Paolo Antonio Fontana (1696-1765) - court architect to the Sanguszko dukes, author of designs for churches, monastery complexes and palaces. He modelled the main façade of the building on the Basilica of St John Lateran. The monastery was built shortly before the Partitions of Poland, so Fr Głowiński had no opportunity to continue the work he had begun. Nor was the building completed - the eastern wing was not handed over until 1885.

In the post-occupation period in the territory of the Republic incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there were a dozen or so secondary schools called Latin grammar schools by the Austrian authorities. Their curricula and level of teaching varied, and many of them were in the hands of religious orders (mainly Piarists and Jesuits). The Collegium Nobilium occupied a unique place among them and aroused the interest of the Austrian authorities. On 9 February 1773, Johann Baptist Anton von Pergen, then governor of Lvov, wrote to the Austrian chancellor, Prince Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, about the work carried out by Bishop Głowinski: "he has begun the construction of the magnificent Collegium Nobilium, close to Lvov, for the Piarists. I took the opportunity to praise him for this and to confirm his intention."

The partitioning authorities planned to take over the school, helped by the difficult financial situation of the Collegium Nobilium after Bishop Głowiński's death in 1776. There was not enough money to maintain the school and the rector had incurred debts, which were claimed by creditors. The partitioning authorities came to 'help' and, a few months before the founder's death, Empress Maria Theresa promised to finance the completion of the building and to grant the Collegium an annual subsidy for the upkeep of the school. The price was high - the school was imposed an Austrian course of study and placed under the supervision of the imperial authorities, changing its name first to Collegium Teresianum and then to State Academy. The founder, who was over seventy years old and facing financial difficulties, had no choice but to accept the conditions placed upon him.

Few sources have survived on how education was provided and how teaching was organised at the Lvov College under the Partitions. According to a report by the Austrian starost, Casimir Ritter von Milbacher, the convicts were taught according to a grammar school Latin curriculum, with French, German and music also taught. We do not know the names of the teachers (five Piarists and a sixth - a lay cleric in the person of Wojciech Guerig, who later became the first headmaster of the German school), but we do know that the library was looked after by the prefect Michał Siekierzyński, who probably also taught. There were 34 pupils in total, only five of them in the upper grades, and the annual tuition fee was one thousand zlotys. The Austrian authorities replaced the teaching staff with German ones and the institution ceased to develop. The school did not inspire confidence among Poles, who questioned the level of teaching and had reservations about the educational methods used by the German professors. Parents and conventioneers complained about the poor treatment of pupils, poor food and unsatisfactory academic progress.

After the dissolution of the order in 1782, the college was abolished and a hospital was placed in the building. It was divided into three departments: "sick ward", "maternity ward" and "insane ward", with only the last two being recognised as state-run by the Austrian authorities between 1818 and 1819, while the sick ward was classified as a so-called "local ward", which meant that its financing and management was placed on the city. The hospital's assets were formally divided between the three institutions in subsequent years, confirmed by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior in 1854. The costs of treatment at the hospital were to be paid by the patients or their relatives, in accordance with the decision of the imperial authorities, with the poor of Lviv being treated at the expense of the municipal budget. On 31 July 1853 it was here that paraffin lamps illuminated the operating theatre for the first time, allowing doctors to work after dark. It is worth mentioning that in Lviv, in the pharmacy building "Pod Złotą Gwiazdą" ("Under the Golden Star") at the beginning of Kopernika Street, two pharmacists, one of whom was Ignacy Łukasiewicz, invented paraffin by distilling oil. On 30 March 1853, the world's first paraffin lamp was lit in the window of the building.

In 1876, the hospital's statutes came into force, which regulated its activities, sources of funding and the fees it charged. At that time, the hospital's medical staff numbered 17 in the infirmary, four in the maternity ward and four in the mental health ward. In the early 1880s, the director received a salary of £1,600 a year, the chaplain £600 plus the right to a housing allowance of £200, while the midwife, by comparison, received £400 plus a £40 allowance for every five years of service and the right to free staff accommodation in the hospital building. Staff numbers were insufficient for the needs of the hospital as early as the 1870s, and deteriorated over time as the number of patients increased. In 1885, the hospital had 638 beds in all wards, while in 1896 it had 835 beds. Expansion of the hospital became necessary, and between 1849 and 1850, the south wing was added at a cost of almost 15,000 zlotys raised from municipal funds. Unfortunately, there was not enough money to build the north wing - it was only possible to purchase the land for the investment. The hospital also required repairs - in 1874 the cost was almost 80,000 zlotys. The most necessary works were carried out as and when funds and possibilities allowed. In the meantime, an institution for the mentally ill was opened in Kulparków, moving patients to the new facility in May 1875.

In the "Nowosci Ilustrowane" of 1905, we read about the state of the hospital after the renovation, under the direction of the then director, Józef Starzewski:

"Renovated and completely rebuilt a few years ago - today's hospital can be proud of its progressive facilities, which are on a par with foreign institutions of this kind. The external view of the building covers a wide area and is impressive with its stone pilasters and cloisters, surrounded by a tasteful square in front. Among other improvements, the kitchen of the steam system deserves the greatest attention and appreciation. These kitchens occupy spacious halls - - equipped with the latest appliances, electric lighting and excellent ventilation. The cleanliness is exemplary everywhere, from the floors, cookers and dishes to the neatly and cleanly dressed staff. The kitchen, which is run under the direction of a professional hospital cook, remains under the strict control of the doctors."

On Dr Starzewski's initiative, a nursing school was established in Lviv in 1895, of which he became head and professor. Previously, the sick had been cared for by the Grey Nuns (under an 1870 agreement), which resulted in an unsatisfactory level of care and was a problem for many hospitals of the time facing nursing staff shortages. In 1910, the Lviv School of Nursing offered an eight-month theoretical and practical course. Dr Starzewski, who spoke on the opening day, stressed the need to remedy the "terrible shortages in the service of patients". In its first year, 24 students from eight religious congregations attended the school. Closed in 1914 due to the outbreak of war, the school reopened its doors in 1922 and two years later a two-year curriculum was implemented. From 1895 to 1929, almost 400 nuns and more than half a hundred lay nurses graduated from the school.

In 1931, the Cancer Institute building lying on the hospital grounds was completed and opened. It had been converted from one of the old Piarist school buildings that had survived in the complex. As we read in the Słowo Polskie newspaper of 8 November that year:

"The reconstruction of the building and the furnishing of the Institute cost a total of about 100 .000 zlotys, however, a large part of this sum was covered by the public by way of donations, made mainly in kind by citizens of all districts of the state. Everything the Institute needed was donated, from bricks to beds, and even pillows, napkins and special shoes for the sick. The building was erected on a sloping site and consists of two storeys. On the south side, a large veranda was erected for the sick. This is supported by a thick retaining wall, and underneath it is a large cellar to house the experimental animals".

During the Second World War, under the direction of Professor Władysław Dobrzaniecki, the General Hospital became one of the many Lviv hospitals that had to provide assistance to the bombarded city and help both soldiers and civilians in often Spartan conditions. Fortunately, the hospital avoided serious damage. Today, the buildings house the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital. First called the Lviv General Hospital, since 1854 it has been known as the Lviv State General Hospital, in the interwar period as the Lviv State General Hospital, and after 1940 as the Clinic of the Lviv Medical Institute, it has been a witness to the city's history for almost two and a half centuries. The Eye of Providence has been preserved on the frontage, Baroque decorative vases can still be seen in the west wing, and vaulted ceilings inside.

Location: 7 Nekrasova Street, Lviv, Ukraine