The gravestone monuments of three heroes of the November Uprising preserved in cemeteries across Ukraine have been restored with funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Two of them are located in the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, the third in the Lopatyn cemetery.

Monument to Seweryn Goszczyński
The tombstone of Seweryn Goszczyński (1803-1876), a social activist, insurgent, Romantic writer and poet, underwent conservation work in 2014-15. His poetic novel, The Castle of Kaniów (1828), set around the events of Kolishchyna - the Haidamak uprising in Ukraine in 1768 - is one of the important works of the Romantic era.

Goszczyński was a member of Piotr Wysocki's Sprzysiężenie. On the night of 29-30 November 1830, together with other young conspirators, he took part in an attack on the headquarters of Grand Duke Konstanty in Warsaw's Belvedere. This event sparked the outbreak of the November Uprising. Goszczyński, with the rank of captain, then fought in General Józef Dwernicki's corps. He took part in the battles of Stoczek and Nowa Wieś. After the capitulation of Warsaw, he crossed the Prussian border together with General Rybiński's corps - a moment he described in the poem 'Exit from Poland'. When he returned to Poland after years of emigration in 1872, he settled in Lwów. He died on 25 February 1876 and was buried in Lychakiv Cemetery in Lwów.

An impressive tombstone monument with a supernaturally sized figure of the deceased sitting in an armchair, placed on a high pedestal, is the work of the outstanding Lviv sculptor Julian Markowski. The monument stands not far from the entrance to the cemetery, in the Alley of the Deserving. In form, it does not resemble typical tombstones, but rather a commemoration typical of urban spaces.

The monument was restored through the efforts of the Cultural Heritage Foundation, with funds from the Programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage "Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad". The Polish-Ukrainian team of conservators was led by Bartosz Markowski. It is worth recalling that the restoration works at the Lychakiv cemetery have been undertaken systematically since 2008 on the basis of memoranda of understanding signed by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage with representatives of Lviv city authorities.

They are supervised by the Department for Cultural Heritage Abroad and War Losses of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in cooperation with the Board for the Protection of the Historic Environment of the Lviv City Council and the management of the historic necropolis.

Monument to Julian Konstanty Ordon
In 2016, the programme of conservation works carried out at the Lychakiv Cemetery by the Cultural Heritage Foundation and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage included thirteen tombstones. One of the greatest challenges faced by Polish and Ukrainian conservators, working under the supervision of Anna Sztymelska-Karczewska, was the monument to Julian Konstanty Ordon (1810-1887), a November insurgent, knight of the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari. During the uprising, during the defence of Warsaw, he commanded an artillery battery in Redoubt No. 54, which was blown up on 6 September 1831. In the poem Ordon's Redoubt, his death was described by Adam Mickiewicz. In reality, Ordon did not die. After the uprising he stayed in exile. He died a suicidal death in Florence, and his corpse was brought to Lvov thanks to the efforts of the engineer Ludwik Ostaszewski and the sculptor Tadeusz Barącz. This excellent artist designed a monument for Ordon's grave, planned for the Alley of the Deserving - an obelisk with a pyramid-like shape, crowned with an eagle. At the foot of the obelisk, a wounded lion rises to battle.

Barącz, due to his deteriorating health and progressive eye disease, was unable to complete work on the memorial. The monument, made to his design, was created in the workshop of another Lviv sculptor, Julian Markowski. The ceremonial unveiling of the monument took place on 29 November 1896, the 65th anniversary of the November Uprising. According to Aleksander Medynski, the author of the 1937 edition of the Lvov. "Illustrated Guide to the Lychakiv Cemetery", published in Lviv in 1937, the ashes of the hero were placed in the niche of the monument, together with an ornate manuscript proclaiming: "With the erection of this monument we have paid well-deserved honour not only to the brave officer, heroic defender of the Fatherland, Julian Konstanty Ordon, but also to all those who in the fight for freedom and the Fatherland fell or in exile always and everywhere around the liberation of Poland and the realisation of our ideals gave their lives in sacrifice. Let us send them beyond the grave the words of consolation and merit - Poland is not lost yet".

Monument to General Józef Dwernicki
The third monument in question commemorates General Józef Dwernicki. It is one of the most important monuments related to the Polish army and national uprisings, located in the Lviv region. General Dwernicki, cavalry commander in the November Uprising, after emigrating to France, returned to Poland in 1848 and settled in Lwów. He spent the summer months in Łopatyń at the palace of Count Adam Zamoyski; he died there on 23 November 1857.

The general's eternal resting place received a dignified setting. The tomb consists of a slab and a sarcophagus with a sculpture of a lion set beside it. An inscription is carved on the slab: "ŚP. JÓZEF DWERNICKI - General of the Polish Army - 1857". Above the inscription there is a cross with military emblems in the background (banner, cannon barrel, sabre, sword). The sarcophagus, on which the lion stands, bears the inscription: "ŚP. JÓZEF DWERNICK - General of the Polish Armed Forces - Knight of the Polish Cross and of the French Legion of Honour - Winner in 1831 at Stoczek and Kurów, and in 1814 at Montmartre, born in Warsaw on 19 March 1779 - fighting hero and Commander in Chief, in honour and glory - a monument founded by grateful Compatriots and Veterans in 1861 and laid in 1863". and decorated with bas-relief panoplies and symbols of Faith, Hope and Love.

The granite lion is based on the barrel of a cannon and on an urn covered with a cuirass and wreath. The fence was modelled on four barrels from large-calibre cannon cannons from the 1830-31 uprising battles, joined by iron bars with iron cavalry lances inserted into them. The barrels bore the names of the victorious battles. Since the Polish Sokol Gymnastic Society was founded in Lviv in 1867, the tomb has remained under its care.

During the period of the Partitions of Poland, it was visited by numerous tours; especially by young people, for whom General Dwernicki was a national hero, a symbol of valour in the fight for a free Fatherland.

The monument was not seriously damaged during the two wars, and in the 1990s, when Lopatyn found itself within the borders of the new Ukrainian state, it underwent preservation work. Funds for this purpose were provided by the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, operating within the then structures of the Ministry of Culture. In 2016, full conservation of the monument was carried out. It was restored through the efforts of the Mosty Foundation with funds from the Programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad'. The team of Polish conservators was led by Bartosz Markowski.