Potocki Palace, Lviv
Encyclopedia
The Potocki Palace in Lviv
was built in the 1880s
as an urban seat of Alfred Józef Potocki
, Minister-President of Austria. No cost was spared to make it the grandest nobleman's residence in the city.
The French architect Louis de Verny elaborated all of Beaux-Arts stylisic devices to produce a hypertrophied imitation of a French hôtel particulier
. An open, parklike setting was scored to give the mansion a sense of depth.
At the turn of the century the parkland gave way to a network of apartment buildings. The palace itself was adapted for holding wedding ceremonies in 1972 and subsequently underwent restoration.
In the 2000s the President of Ukraine
appropriated the palace as one of his residences. Some of its architectural motifs were borrowed by the next-door exhibition hall (inaugurated in 1996).
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
was built in the 1880s
1880s
The 1880s was the decade that spanned from January 1, 1880 to December 31, 1889. They occurred at the core period of the Second Industrial Revolution. Most Western countries experienced a large economic boom, due to the mass production of railroads and other more convenient methods of travel...
as an urban seat of Alfred Józef Potocki
Alfred Józef Potocki
Count Alfred Józef Potocki was a Polish nobleman , landowner, politician, monarchist, liberal-conservatist....
, Minister-President of Austria. No cost was spared to make it the grandest nobleman's residence in the city.
The French architect Louis de Verny elaborated all of Beaux-Arts stylisic devices to produce a hypertrophied imitation of a French hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
. An open, parklike setting was scored to give the mansion a sense of depth.
At the turn of the century the parkland gave way to a network of apartment buildings. The palace itself was adapted for holding wedding ceremonies in 1972 and subsequently underwent restoration.
In the 2000s the President of Ukraine
President of Ukraine
Prior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
appropriated the palace as one of his residences. Some of its architectural motifs were borrowed by the next-door exhibition hall (inaugurated in 1996).