Stanislawow was founded on the private initiative of Jędrzej Potocki in 1661, who named it after his son Stanislaw Potocki. Over the centuries, the city has been inhabited by Poles, Jews, Ruthenians-Ukrainians, Armenians, and later also Germans and representatives of other nationalities . Each of these communities has left a lasting mark on the city. This can be seen, for example, in the preserved monuments, among which those related to Polish cultural heritage predominate. The following text presents a selection of the ten most important objects.

Most of them are located in the centre of the city, more or less within the city's boundaries delineated in the First Republic. In the foreground is the "oldest monument of Stanislaviv" - the Collegiate Church, now the Museum of Art. - Collegiate Church, now the Subcarpathian Art Museum. The former church building is rightly associated with the Potocki family. The crypt of the Baroque temple once held the remains of representatives of this family, including Jędrzej Potocki. To this day, on the outer wall, there is a plaque commemorating his son Stanisław, who was killed in 1683 on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. Inside the richly decorated church was the "treasure of the collegiate church" - the reliquary of St. Vincent, patron saint of Pokucie. It is worth mentioning that the collegiate church went down in history as a silent witness to the funeral of Michał Wołodyjowski, described on the pages of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy.

The Armenian-Catholic Church (now an Orthodox church) was counted, as Józef Zieliński wrote, 'among the most valuable architectural monuments of the city next to the Collegiate Church '. Its Baroque architecture still reminds us of the presence of Armenians in Stanislawow, who became Polonised over time. In the main altar of the temple was the miracle-working image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Grace. In 1937, it was crowned in the presence of tens of thousands of worshippers. It is now housed in the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Gdańsk. In the interior, some of the, as emphasised, "beautiful frescoes" by Jan Solecki have been preserved, including the painting of the "Annunciation"; some wooden sculptures by an unknown author from the 18th century have also survived.

An integral part of today's Ivano-Frankivsk is the Potocki palace , although for a long time it served a different function than that of the family seat. Since the Austrians took over after the First Partition, it was turned into a military hospital. Interestingly, its status did not change after Poland regained its independence. However, the palace's representative potential was recognised. In the 1920s, when there was a chance for a Roman Catholic bishopric to be established in Stanislawow, efforts were made for a bishop to reside there. Nowadays, the space of the palace complex is made available for cultural events (in the future, among other things, a Cultural and Art Centre is to be established here). The condition of the buildings leaves much to be desired - they require extensive restoration. Nevertheless, the entrance gate, decorated with panoplies, has returned to its former glory. It is a reminder of the once greatness of the Potockis.

Staying in the city centre, it is easy to notice that most of its buildings date from the times of the Austrian partition and the Second Polish Republic. The former is dominated by architecture from the period of Galician autonomy, which created extensive opportunities for the economic and socio-political development of the inhabitants. The neo-Renaissance building of the Savings Bank , designed by the Cracovian architect Rajmund Meus and erected in the 1980s, is one of the most beautiful buildings. Its characteristic element is the sculpture on the finial by the Lviv artist Tomasz Dykas, depicting an allegory of Labour and Savings. The building's interiors are decorated with marble tiles lining the walls and, at one time, works of art. Between the wars, the building played an important role in the cultural life of the city. Few people realise that the Savings Bank was the place where most exhibitions took place before the Second World War. It was in this building that the Pokucka Museum inaugurated its activities, presenting the Historical Exhibition of the City of Stanislavov. At other times, the works of Stanislav artists and works by painters and sculptors from the Stanislav region could be admired here. It is interesting to note that the building has not changed its purpose - today it houses the Ivano-Frankivsk branch of the Oszczad Bank (but is not used for exhibition purposes).

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries saw the development of construction. Many representative public buildings were built at that time, as well as striking tenement houses. One such example is the Neo-Renaissance theatre building with a portico, built through the efforts of the Moniuszko Music Society. It was designed by the engineer Józef Łapicki and was the greatest work of this Stanislav architect. From the very beginning, the building, located near the Mickiewicz Monument, became an important place on the cultural map of the city. On the boards of this theatre performed, such artists as: Helena Modrzejewska and Ludwik Solski, as well as Adam Didur and Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska. For several decades, there was a permanent Polish theatre here, as well as a music school, later transformed into a conservatory. In the Second Republic of Poland, the Stanislawski temple of the arts underwent profound modernisation. First its interior was rebuilt, and then its façade, designed by the urban engineer architect Stanisław Trela. The renovated edifice was stripped of its characteristic portico and given a simple, cubist shape. Today, it houses the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Philharmonic named after Iryna Malaniuk. Interestingly, this well-known opera artist, who was linked to Austria for most of her life, was a student at the aforementioned Moniuszko Conservatory before the war.

"Sokol " in Stanislawow was among the oldest Falcon nests operating before the war. Its headquarters, erected according to a design by the architect Karol Zaremba of Krakow in 1894-1895, received a characteristic corner tower. As it was written, the edifice was "magnificent and very beautifully and practically arranged both technically and in terms of health". The façade of the "Sokol" was decorated with a copy of Artur Grottger's painting "The Battle", painted by Jan Rubczak , a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, born in Stanislawow and later a renowned artist. As it was written, the date of the building's commissioning "marks a turning point in the history of our nest". In 1927, the building suffered a serious fire.

A few years later, it was restored to its former glory and a new, larger edifice, designed by Stanisław Trela, was erected next to it. In addition to flats and shops, it housed the "Ton" sound cinema , which had a huge auditorium for six hundred spectators. It was reported in the press that it had a wide repertoire and showed three films a day. Jozef Grabowski, head of the Pokucki Museum, wrote in his article "Have you seen the "Ton" cinema": "our city has at last received the first cinema-theatre premises of which it not only does not need to be ashamed, but which could also be an ornament of the capital". "Let us enter," he further wrote, "the main hall. Maintained in silver-green tones, it is ornamented with American walnut panelling, whose rings - as well as the lemons in the vestibule - are arranged in simple geometric patterns. No carvings, no tacky embellishments. There is a monumental bronze screen border, also made of walnut". There is now a 'Lumiere' cinema in the building. Its external appearance has not changed. The interior, on the other hand, has changed a lot - it is difficult to find elements from the 1930s in it.

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in the main street of Stanislaviv - Sapiezhynska, a four-storey stylish modernist tenement house was built according to the design of Friedrich Janusch . This modern building was equipped with a lift, which was a sign of true luxury. For most of the time, the building housed Krowicki's café, popular in Stanislavov, the bookshop of the distinguished publisher and bookseller Roman Jasielski, the administration of the popular weekly 'Kurjer Stanislavovski', Stanislav Chowaniec Printing and Lithography, the 'Union' hotel and café, and private flats. The tenement house was owned by the Chowaniec family of merit to the town (the building is known as the Chowaniec Tenement House , after their surname). In the interwar years it was home to Wacław Chowaniec, the longest-serving town mayor in the Second Republic, first as mayor and later as president, as well as a member of the third-term Sejm. A few years ago, a commemorative plaque dedicated to him was unveiled on the façade of the building.

A kind of symbol of the architecture of the interwar period in Stanislawow is the modernist Town Hall , rebuilt according to a design by Stanislaw Trela. It was intended by the town hall to be used for cultural purposes. It was to have separate rooms for the Smaglovskiy Town Library, the Pokuckiy Museum and the Town Archive. The outbreak of the Second World War prevented this plan from being fully realised, as all the interior work was not completed. Situated in the centre, the building is the pride of the citizens of modern-day Ivano-Frankivsk. The City Hall bond offers a sweeping panorama from which all the city's major buildings can be seen. The halls of the town hall house the National History Museum. Interestingly, its collections include a fragment of the collection of the pre-war Pokucki Museum . If we look at the building from a bird's eye view - the layout may resemble the Order of Virtuti Militari.

When thinking of modern architecture in Stanislavov, it is worth remembering at least one more building - the church in Gorka . Gorka is a district that used to be an independent town. It was inhabited largely by Poles who worked on the railways. This temple was the realisation of their long-standing efforts. Its creator, Trela , was just beginning his work as an architect in Stanislawow. In 1925, a design was drawn up. There was not enough time or money to fully realise it. It was not even possible to plaster the church. Nevertheless, the church was considered the second tallest building in the city, second only to the Town Hall. Less than a year before the outbreak of the Second World War, it was consecrated by Lviv Archbishop Bolesław Twardowski. During the USSR period, the church served as a warehouse, and was not returned to the faithful until 1989. Local Poles had many concerns about whether it could be restored to its proper appearance. Today it is the only active Roman Catholic church in Ivano-Frankivsk.