Lychakiv: a beautiful place in Ukraine where no one can harm its inhabitants anymore

@ElentirENG ES 3·07·2023 · 23:13 0

The Russian invasion of Ukraine encourages me to show you a place in that country where, no matter how hard Putin tries, he will no longer be able to hurt or kill those who inhabit it.

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The place I'm talking about was founded in 1786 in Lviv, which at that time was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, belonging to the Austrian Empire. Until a few years earlier, in 1772, the city had belonged to Poland and became part of it again in 1918 and until the Soviet invasion of 1939.

Lychakiv was born as an elegant cemetery with some beautiful statues of a romantic air, which is why today it is a monument open to the public but with restricted visits. Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants alike were buried there. Among its graves are great names in Polish and Ukrainian society and culture, as well as heroes of their wars and victims of communism.

During Soviet times, the cemetery suffered great deterioration and many of its statues were destroyed, until in 1975 it was declared a historical monument. The southeastern part of the cemetery is called the Monument of the Defenders of Lviv (the photo above is part of it), and it is where some 3,000 Poles who fell in the Polish War are buried. Soviet 1919-1921. As you can imagine, for many Poles this is a very special place, since their ancestors are buried there (the Polish population of the city was expelled by the Soviets after World War II Worldwide and resettled in the eastern parts of Germany, given to Poland in compensation for the Kresy strip that was invaded by the USSR in 1939).

Three years ago, at An interesting article about this cemetery, the Ukrainian Marussia Bilous commented: "No matter how strange it sounds, but exploring the Lychakiv cemetery is not a terrible experience. The only period when the cemetery is filled with an atmosphere of anxiety and fear is during the autumn rains. There are leafless trees between the graves, the winds roam, and the cemetery is full of crows. Otherwise, during the rest of the year, I suggest you not to be afraid and visit the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv to hear the voice of the fallen and understand their stories."

I agree with Marusia and add: as what Russia is doing with Ukraine shows us, those we should be afraid of are not among the dead, but among the living. Hopefully this war and the world will end soon I can once again enjoy places like this, whose hero population will unfortunately increase due to this criminal invasion. I'll just leave you with this beautiful video of the cemetery published years ago by Alexander Knyazyuk:

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Photos: iStock / Palinchakjr / Prabuddharay.