As war approaches, Lviv is trying to protect its rich cultural heritage, which has earned it an inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In this city in western Ukraine, less than 80 km from the border with Poland, the countless statues are now wrapped in foam, protective tarpaulins and fireproof fabrics to protect them from possible attack.

Of Neptune, which stands with three other sculptures inspired by Greek and Roman mythology on the Market Square, the central square of this city of 700,000 inhabitants, only the trident is still visible.

Amphitrite, Diana and Adonis suffered a similar fate.

Without waiting “for the government to do something”

Throughout the city, an army of agents strives to protect the statues with makeshift means.

At the origin of this movement is Andriï Saliouk, the director of the "Society for the protection of monuments" which in normal times raises the awareness of the inhabitants and the authorities about the preservation of heritage.

“An art historian came to tell me that if there was a bombardment, God protect us, we could lose the stained glass windows,” he confides in his office, where several Ukrainian flags and insignia are hung. many battalions fighting in the east of the country.

“We didn't wait for the government to do something, for someone to write a request for funding.

I took out the money, we assembled a team and bought the materials,” he continues, adding that he was supported by wealthy donors.

14th century artifacts

Alongside Andriï Saliouk are art restorers but also construction entrepreneurs, good connoisseurs of construction sites.

It was they, for example, who advised on the materials to be used to protect the stained glass windows of the many churches in the city.

Andriï Potchekva is one of these restorers.

This 40-year-old supervises the installation of sandwich panels to protect the stained glass windows of the Basilica-Cathedral of the Assumption, whose construction dates back to the end of the 14th century.

“We are well aware that we are not able to protect them from a direct impact, but we try as much as possible to protect them from any light damage,” he confides.

On one side of the cathedral, an imposing sculpture representing the Holy Sepulcher is already wrapped in moss and protective sheets, under the approving gaze of Liliya Onishchenko, head of cultural heritage protection for the municipality of Lviv.

In an Armenian church, a recently restored 14th-century wooden altar was dismantled and moved for protection, "as in World War I."

According to her, the city's museums have also sheltered their exhibitions.

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  • Video

  • Russia

  • War in Ukraine

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  • Unesco World Heritage

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