On the main pedestrian street of modern-day Ivano-Franc o indicate , and once on one of the central streets of Stanislaviv , a large five-storey building is located on the main pedestrian precinct of today's Ivano-Frankivsk, once one of the central streets of Stanislavlów. Its imposing structure, which shapes the image of the city centre, was built at the junction of Sapezhynska Street (now 4 Nezalezhnosti Street) and Goslavsky Street in 1912.

The Chowaniec family had been known in Stanislavov since the end of the 19th century . The senior of the family , Stanislav , was a well-known public figure and owner of one of Stanislavov's most recognisable publishing houses, which published the 'Stanislavov Courier', the city's main periodical. Wacław Chowaniec, Stanisław's son, was a distinguished mayor of the town for 11 years (1924-1935).

At the beginning of the 20th century , the entire quarter framed by Sapieżyńska, Gosławski and Sobieski Streets belonged to the Chowaniec family. The first development on this plot was the post office building, built in 1908, designed by Jan Tomasz Kudelski .

Encouraged by the successful realisation ą of this construction, Stanisław Chowaniec commissioned Jan T. Kudelski to plan the rest of the plot. The result was the design of the Starosty on Gosławskiego Street and the Chowaniec family tenement house on Sapieżyńska Street . In 1910 , when the projects had already been approved by the Technical Department of the Magistrate, the progress of the preparatory work was interrupted by the death of Stanislaw Chowaniec . The younger generation of the Chowaniec family , succumbing to the modern appeal of the younger architect's ideas, rejected Kudelski's design. The entire plot was designed by a young architect of Viennese provenance Friedrich W . Janus ch a and was built between 1911 and 1913. . The entire project consisted of de facto of two tenements - the first one at 4 Sapiezhynska Street (today Nezalezhnosti), and the second one facing Goslavsky Street. The second, as a continuation of the first, was built in 1913 in such a harmonious manner that the two buildings can be considered a single entity.

After the construction of the new magnificent ensemble The family business under the name D rukarnia i lithografia Stanisława Chowańca was moved to this new address. In addition to the printing house, the building had a restaurant and café on the ground floor, several flats, including those of the owners, and a small (25 rooms) but luxurious Union Hotel on the upper floors . It had its own power station with electric lighting, lift , hot water and heating .

The Union Café, which was part of the large confectionery business of the Chowance family, was moved to the trendy Chowance premises. n. " Confectionery and Bakery by Jan Noworolski and Władysław Krowicki " . The factory itself was located next door, in the courtyard of a tenement house at 8 Sapieżyńska Street.

Classical , standing apart from the rounded shapes of the Art Nouveau , s tyl of this tenement, derived from the forms of the Geometric Art Nouveau, was full of the simplicity of early modernism, which was becoming a common style after 1910. This unified façade was embellished with full-plastic figurative sculptures flanking the second-floor balconies. They were made by the Krakow-based sculptor Feliks Antoniak (1888-1974). After studying at the Zakopane School of Wood Industry (1903-1908), he worked in Stanislavov from 1909 to 1913 in the sculpting and stonemasonry workshop of his brother Marian Kazimierz Antoniak . The locksmith work was carried out by the Galician Union company to a design by Jan Fedorowski.

The building was known in the interwar period as o Union tenement continued to serve its function. After World War II, the hotel was renamed "Kiev " and automatically the whole building was given this name. Today, the building has retail and service functions on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors.

Location: Nezalezhnosti St, 4, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine