Zhovkva is a beautiful and extraordinary town located 25 kilometers from Lviv … an easy day trip away. From its earliest days, Zhovkva’s population was a mix of Poles, Ukrainians and Jews. Today the towan’s architectural, historical and cultural diversity make it popular with tourists. More than 27,000 visited last year. Zhovkva was founded in 1594 as a private town, by Polish military commander Stanislaw Zolkiewski. It soon became a center of religious life, arts and commerce. In the 17th century the Polish king established a royal residence there. The Jewish community’s roots in Zhovkva run deep. The oldest Jewish tombstone in Zhvovka dates back to 1610. In 1690, local Jews established a Hebrew printing press, and a Jewish tailors’ guild dates back to 1693. By the eighteenth century, Zhvovka was an important center of Jewish study, worship, and administration for Jewish communities in the area. In the late 1690s, a magnificent synagogue with a late-Renaissance appearance was built for the rapidly growing community. It was an outstanding example of a fortress synagogue. Designed to protect Jews from invasions, it had a passageway to the roof, and underground shelters. Over the centuries, the synagogue underwent a number of restorations. The […]

Ukraine’s Jewish community is fighting to restore a historical treasure in the heart of Lviv. This treasure is the “Golden Rose” — also known as Turei Zahav — and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Golden Rose is the oldest synagogue in Ukraine. It is also renowned as one of the oldest and most beautiful synagogues in all of Europe. The synagogue was built in 1582, and it was one of the most spectacular Renaissance architectural landmarks of the city. Initially it was built as a private synagogue for Yitzhak Nachmanovych. He was a senior of the Jewish Assembly in Lviv and one of the city’s wealthiest residents. In 1603 the Polish king granted the lands on which his synagogue stood to the Roman Catholic church. The church wanted it as a monastery for the Jesuits. But in 1609, the synagogue was returned to the Jewish community — upon payment of a ransom of 20,600 guilders. Legend has it that the synagogue was saved by a woman — the daughter-in-law of its founder, Yitzhak Nachmanovych. The woman’s name was Rosa. She was known in the community as the Golden Rose because she was very kind. Rosa saw, and […]

The Faina Petryakova Scientific Center for Judaica and Jewish Art has been set up to commemorate the life of Faina Petryakova – a passionate defender and promoter of Jewish art, and a great scholar. Faina Petryakova was born in 1931 in Old Buxov (now in Belarus territory) into a Jewish family. Her father was an officer and her mother was a nurse. She studied Russian philology at the Lviv University and art criticism in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Faina Petryakova was an extraordinary person. She was very popular among her colleagues, and also with critics and artists. She was popular not only because of her flamboyant nature, beauty and charm, but above all because of her knowledge, her passion for her work, and her outstanding work ethic. She was a professor at the Lviv Academy of Arts, a Doctor of Art History, and senior scientist at the Lviv Department of the Folklore Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine., where she earned her doctorate. In 1990 she curated the first exhibition of Jewish work in the USSR. The exibition was a unique event in the 90s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having spent most of her […]

In the heart of Lviv is a little-known centre dedicated to the revival and restoration of Ukraine’s Jewish heritage. The Faina Petryakova Scientific Center for Judaica and Jewish Art was created in March 2005. The Center is located in the former apartment of Faina Petryakova in Lviv at 14/ 4 Mendeleyeva street. Ms. Petryakova was a well-known researcher of Ukrainian glass, porcelain, ceramics and Judaica. She was single and devoted her life to preserving and promoting Jewish culture in the Former Soviet Union and post-soviet Ukraine. Faina died in 2002, having bequeathed the apartment to Lviv’s Jewish community. The Faina Petryakova Center acts as a memorial institute, a private museum and a research center. The main aim of the Center is to preserve the past and promote the future of the Jewish culture. The museum stuff is continuing the work of Ms. Petryakova. Currently they are in the middle of developing an exhibition to tell the story Ms. Petryakova’s life and work, and to show her private collections of Ukrainian Judaica, glass, porcelain and ceramics. In addition to Ms. Petryakova’s collections, the museum’s library houses over 5000 books about art, religion, history, and Jewish culture. The most treasured resources are collections on […]

The Faina Petryakova Scientific Center for Judaica and Jewish Art has been set up to commemorate the life of Faina Petryakova – a passionate defender and promoter of Jewish art, and a great scholar. Faina Petryakova was born in 1931 in Old Buxov (now in Belarus territory) into a Jewish family. Her father was an officer and her mother was a nurse. She studied Russian philology at the Lviv University and art criticism in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Faina Petryakova was an extraordinary person. She was very popular among her colleagues, and also with critics and artists. She was popular not only because of her flamboyant nature, beauty and charm, but above all because of her knowledge, her passion for her work, and her outstanding work ethic. She was a professor at the Lviv Academy of Arts, a Doctor of Art History, and senior scientist at the Lviv Department of the Folklore Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine., where she earned her doctorate. In 1990 she curated the first exhibition of Jewish work in the USSR. The exibition was a unique event in the 90s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having spent most of her […]