Zhovkva

If You're visiting Lviv and are thinking what else interesting city situated nearby Lviv You can visit, so I recommend You to travel in Zhovkva. Zhovkva situates at the distance of 25 km to the north of Lviv and Your trip will take less than an hour (45-50 minutes) to travel from Lviv to Zhovkva. If You want to visit this ancient city of Lviv region independently, You can go to bus' stop on Kulish street (square near the building on Kulish street, 47) in Lviv, where all regular Lviv buses have end stop and go to Zhovkva. Bus ticket's price is 8 hryvni (UAH) in one side of the way. It's not expensive price, and, of course, Zhovkva is worth to be visited. Zhovkva was founded by royal hetman of Polish state Stanislav Zholkevskyy in 1594 and the city was planned by Italian architects Paolo di Ducato Clemenci (the first Zhovkva mayor, famous in the different documents as Paolo Shchaslyvyy), Paolo Dominici (Paolo Rymlyanyn) and Ambrosio Verbene (Ambrosio Prykhylnyy). And in 1603 Zhovkva got the Magdeburg Rights, so it was one of the important cities in the region. Zhovkva has a rich story and wonderful ancient sightseeings. Welcome to Zhovkva!    

The rests of the city's fortificational wall on Yevhen Konovalets square. This place is also important to know for tourists who like to travel independently, because all regular buses make final stop here. :)

                The rests of Zhovkva fortificational wall on Lvivska street.

One of Zhovkva castle's tower and the part of castle's wall. Zhovkva castle was built in 1594 by the royal hetman of Polish state Stanislav Zholkevskyy, Zhovkva city's founder. 

Castle's walls and Zvirynetska Gate. And many interesting things You can see, if You visit Zhovkva castle, where historic museum "Zhovkva castle" functions for last years.

View of Zhovkva castle and common grave of NKVS' victims of 1941.

Common grave of the victims, killed by NKVS agents in Zhovkva in June, 1941.

 

Holy Mother of the God sculpture-fountain on Vicheva square and Zhovkva castle behind.

 

One of the castle's part with Zvirynetska Gate.

                   One of the castle's tower and the part of the castle's wall.

                    Part of the castle's fortificational wall with Zvirynetska Gate.

                                One of the castle's towers in the city's park.

                        Hlynska Gate was constructed in the XVIIth century.

         Bell-tower was built in the XVIIth century as a part of Zhovkva fortifications.

 

Former Dominican men's monastery was constructed in the XVII-XIXth centuries, nowadays St. Yosafat Greek Catholic Church functions here.

                       View of the former Dominican men's monastery at the side.

     Synagogue was built in1687, nowadays is non-functioned and under reconstruction.

Sts. Petro & Pavlo Church was constructed in 1991-1993 (Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchy).

          St. Lazar Church was built in 1735 (Ukrainian Orthodox Autocefal Church).                                                                          

Memorable table on the building of the former Dominican women's monastery, constructed in 1682-1787.                                                                             

Wooden Holy Trinity Church was constructed in 1720 (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church).

Well, European football championship "Euro-2012" will start just in an hour in Warsaw! I wish good luck, fine mood and nice play for all football teams and wonderful staying for teams' fans in Ukrainian and Polish cities! And yeah, of course, I shall be football fan of Ukraine's team the most and want a victory of Ukrainian football players  in the championship. :)

Present Ukrainian power decided to accept new language's law, allowing huge rights for languages of that national minorities, which consist 10% and more of all population in the region. In fact only Russian minority consists more than 10% of the population in some Ukraine's regions, and according to this new language's law Ukrainian language will not be obligatory in all state organizations, so Russian minority will have the right to use Russian language everywhere. That's why this law is called russification's law. Nowadays according to present Ukrainian Constitution Ukraine has one state language - Ukrainian and it's obligatory to know it and to use, especially in the state documents and organizations. But in fact Russian language is more spread in Ukraine, than Ukrainian, though Ukrainian language is native language of  Ukraine's ethnic nation - Ukrainians. Russian language is more present than Ukrainian in the private organizations and institutions, on the TV and in the newspapers and on the news sites in Ukraine and Ukrainian language is present a little bit more than Russian only in the state organizations, but that new law will change this small preference of Ukrainian language in Ukraine. Of course, Ukrainians understand why present Ukrainian power wants to accept such language law, because present Ukrainian power thinks more about Russian colleagues and about a friendship with Russia, than about Ukrainians. And Russia welcomes russification of its neighbours. For example, only 23% Belarusians speak Belarusian language and the majority of  Belarusians speaks Russian in Belarus according to Belarusian National census, taken in 2009. That is a result of great russification's politics of present Belarusian President A. Lukashenka. And of course, Russia is happy in any case, when Russian language spreads more and more in the world. Ukrainians don't want to lose Ukrainian language in their own state and that new languages' law will decrease the rights of Ukrainian language, though Ukrainian language is in the difficult situation now, because Russian is more spread language in business, on the TV, in Internet in Ukraine. I really think that Ukranian language needs a state protection in Ukraine. And I write it not only because I'm Ukrainian by the origin and am Ukrainian spoken citizen in Ukraine, but because Ukrainian needs a protection indeed, that humanity will not lose this language in the future. And if some politician will say about little rights of Russian language in Ukraine, I can tell my life stories of job interviews, which happened with me in Lviv in 2010-2012 years. Once I saw work's announcement about a creation of children's crosswords for one journal, I liked this idea and called in this journal to know the details of the work. They said me to write some examples of childrens' crosswords and to send them, what I actually did in Ukrainian language (well, there was no language's condition in that announcement and I thought about Ukrainian children's crosswords, of course). But in a few days they said me "Oh, but we need children's crosswords written in Russian, so we prefer others". And they didn't reply me why it wasn't written in the vacancy. Another time I went to a job interview of copywriter vacancy in one web-agency and there wasn't any language's condition too. And yeah, I thought only about writing in Ukrainian, because the firm situates in Lviv and isn't foreign and didn't write about obligatory knowledge of any foreign language in its announcement. Unbelievable, but do you know what I heard on the working inteview? I heard the next words "when you will work copywriter, you will write in Ukrainian and Russian, 50/50%". Stop, but why did you avoid these details in the announcement, I asked. But are any problems with your writing in Russian, they asked me. In fact they didn't like my small experience of using of Russian language in life and that my question too, and they took other person for that work. Other time I went to a job inteview of guide vacancy in one touristic firm, situated in Lviv, and it's not foreign firm. And practically one of the first questions which I heard was: "How often do you speak Russian? Because we organize excursions in the Western Ukraine and many people from others Ukrainian regions, including the Eastern and Southern Ukraine, like to travel in the western regions of Ukraine, but these people speak mainly Russian". And again, because I speak Russian rarely, this touristic firm prefered other person. But You know, in general I can't understand such strange position of the majority of Ukraine's touristic firms. Why do excursions must be held in Russian for Ukraine's citizens in Ukraine??? Yeah, I know that Russian language is more spread than Ukrainian in some regions of Ukraine, but that people even if know not very good, but they finally understand Ukrainian, so why Ukraine's touristic firms use Russian as obligatory in the work, it's a big question. But there is similar situation of the preference of Russian language in many spheres, especially in private businesses in Ukraine, unfortunately. And some politicians can say that Russian language needs state protection in Ukraine. How cynical they are!
Generally I thought again and again about the reasons of such situation, when people don't write in job's vacancies about obligatory knowledge of Russian language. Do all that people think about Russian like about necessary for every Ukrainian? Do they think that Russian just can't be foreign for Ukrainians and that Russian is like a second native language for all Ukraine's citizens? But who gave them a right to think in such way? My mother tongue is Ukrainian and if I think about foreign languages, I can say honestly that English is more native language for me than Russian, because I studied that language the most in my life and I just enjoy English. But it's foreign language for me, of course. Russian is also FOREIGN language and will be always foreign for me.
And like post scriptum I would like to describe first part of the voting for new language's law in Ukrainian parliament on June 5th, 2012, or maybe it's better to say "so-called voting". Just one example. On June 5th, 2012 the Head of Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn was present in fact in the session hall of the parliament during the voting for new language's law, but parliament's screen showed the results of that voting and it was written on the screen that the Head of the Parliament Lytvyn was absent in the time of the voting. Incredible...

On April 27, 2012 people saw at first Yuliya Tymoshenko's look in the prison thanks to the photos, made by parliament's human rights representative Nina Karpachova in Kachanivka prison on April 25, 2012 and published on "Batkivshchyna" party' site and in the different newspapers. These photos show the bruises on the arms and stomach of Tymoshenko and are the evidences of Tymoshenko statement about her beating in the prison. Thus Yuliya Tymoshenko, former Ukrainian Prime Minister and the main rival of present Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the presidential elections in February of 2010, wrote a statement about her beating by jail's guards and her moving by force from Kachanivka jail to a hospital in Kharkiv. This Tymoshenko statement was read by her lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko and was published on "Batkivshchyna" site on April 24, 2012. Yuliya Tymoshenko said in the statement that on April 20 in the evening three prison's guards went in the cell, took out her cell's mate, put bed sheet on Tymoshenko and began to pull her off the bed, using brutal force. But ex-Prime Minister began to defend herself and said about her disagreement to be moved into a hospital, and then one of the guards beat her once in the stomach through the bed sheet, after what they pulled her off the bed and using such brutal methods she was moved to a hospital. Y. Tymoshenko refused from the treatment in the hospital and was removed again in the jail on April 22. She descibed that all situation in her statement and wrote about bruises on her arms and stomach, got after violent transfering from the jail to a hospital, and she also started hunger strike since April 20 as her protest against physical violence and breach her human rights in the prison and against present Ukrainian power in general. Nina Karpachova also said about bad health and bruises on Tymoshenko's body after visiting her in the prison on April 25. So when are such conditions of staying in the prison for such famous politician like Tymoshenko, how can be the conditions of staying there for simple Ukrainians?
Several weeks ago Ukrainian TV-channel TVі (ТВі in Ukrainian) demonstrated a documentary film and special journalistic report of Kostyantyn Usov, TVi Kyiv journalist, about Lukyanivka investigatory isolation ward in Kyiv (Ukrainian film's name is "Лук'янівка.Тюрма №1", the name of this film with English subtitles is "Lukyanivka. Prison №1"). In Ukraine people often wait judge's verdict many time in the investigatory isolation wards, being not found guilty or innocent yet, and this documentary film shows that awful conditions, in which people stay there.
What can I say something else? Ukraine very needs a great reform in the legal sphere to be real democratic state.

Main task for Ukrainian opposition

Main task for Ukrainian oppositional politicians is the achievement of the freedom for Yuliya Tymoshenko and others, also oppositional politicians, and the possibility of their participation in the next parliamentary elections in September, 2012. But instead of it Ukrainian people can see on the TV and can read in the newspapers about different versions of the oppositional parties' unities, about discussions who will be number 1, 2, 3 etc. in its elective list. So these oppositional politicians (or so-called oppositional?) don't try to achieve the freedom for their colleagues, though all oppositional politicians must achieve it every day, using their deputies' and political rights and possibilities, if they really want to be strong opposition in Ukraine. But oppositional politicians (who are free and aren't in the prisons!) think about parliamentary elections and about their own participation in the elections. Some politicians say that they will achieve to free Tymoshenko after parliamentary elections, when they will become deputies and will have oppositional majority in the parliament. But why after elections and not now, when they are also deputies? Then deputies from Tymoshenko's party "Batkivshchyna" say about number 1 of Y.Tymoshenko in their elective list. But Yuliya Tymoshenko is in the prison now and according to Ukrainian Constitution she can't take part in any elections till she is in the prison and till she is admitted guilty in the crime. So Y. Tymoshenko must be free to take part in the elections! If these oppositional leaders will be only in the elective list, but indeed they will be in the jail, it will look like some cynical farse of other politicians.If politicians are really oppositional, they must fight for their oppositional colleagues, who are in the jail now. How can some oppositional politicians think only about their own next five years of the deputy's being in the parliament, while some their oppositional colleagues are in the prison or abroad, getting political asylum there? How can some oppositional politicians say about political repressions of the present Ukrainian power and also prepare to take part in the parliamentary elections in the same time, while ex-Prime Minister Tymoshenko and another oppositional politicians are in the jail? Is this different opposition toward present power in Ukraine or what?

Arena Lviv

General quantity of the seats at the stadium - 34 915, the quantity of the seats during Euro-2012 - 32 767. Area of the football field is 105x68 m.

Stadium "Arena Lviv" outside

Main press conference hall (one of 6 press conference halls)

Main press conference hall

Cloak-room for football players

Massage room for football players

"Arena Lviv" will receive football teams and fans of Germany, Portugal and Denmark on European championship Euro-2012 in June.

Player bench for football players and coaches

Wonderful construction of Lviv stadium

One of 19 fast food on the stadium

Arena Lviv was built in 2011

Places for the invalids and their accompanied

Journalists' places

Fan sector and VIP-sector above

Restaurant for 408 persons (VIP-sector)

View of the stadium from this restaurant

Sky box or VIP-room for 12 person

Mini-kitchen near every of 14 sky boxes, where will be cooking a food during football match

Danylo Halytskyy Lviv International Airport

This year Lviv International Airport has got new terminal and was named after Danylo Halytskyy, first Ukrainian king, Halytsko-Volynskyy prince and founder of Lviv. Old terminal of Lviv airport was constructed in 1955 and Lviv really needed a new modern airport's terminal, so it happened - Lviv airport has new terminal now!

New Lviv airport's terminal outside

Airplanes flew at new terminal

Entrance hall

Entrance hall and time table

Airport time table

Look of the upper floor from entrance hall

Hall for registration of the passengers

Posts for registration of the passengers

Entrance hall's look from the second floor

Entrance hall's look from the second floor

The second floor

Airplane flew at new terminal

Security checkpoint

Customs & passport control

Hall on the second floor and passage to waiting hall (on the third floor)

Waiting hall

Waiting hall's ceiling