Lviv marks its 750th anniversary with extravagance, pomp and fun (10/08/06)

Lviv marks its 750th anniversary with extravagance, pomp and fun

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

LVIV - Laser lights illuminated the majestic Franko Opera House and the Lviv skyline by night.

By day, 25 Plast scouts set a Ukrainian record by cramming into a Ukrainian-made Zaporozhets car, an impressive feat for anyone who has ridden in the tiny vehicle.

As for the main attraction, a barely clad Ruslana scorched an outdoor stage with her wild dancing.

With such extravagance and fun, more than 1 million estimated Lviv residents and visitors on September 30-October 1 celebrated the 750th anniversary of the city known as the gateway to Europe.

Among those visiting were Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, as well as such Ukrainian celebrities as boxer Vitalii Klitschko, strongman Vasyl Virastiuk and actor Bohdan Stupka. Also present were U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and Russian Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin.

At the official opening ceremony and concert at the Franko Opera House on September 29, President Yushchenko honored Lviv and its history with heartfelt words.

"In the name of Ukraine, I bow my head before all Lvivians who gave their lives and died for our nation's independence - from the Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Galician Army to Ukrainian Insurgent Army soldiers," the president said.

Mr. Yushchenko also honored the Ukrainian Catholic Church, "which forms one of the most important national support to our people."

The Ukrainian president also recognized the critical contributions of Lviv residents to the Ukrainian independence movement of 1991, as well as the "achievement of social freedom in 2004."

Mr. Yushchenko said Lviv sets the example for his notion of a distinct and consolidated national character. The city lies on Ukraine's road to Europe and is called upon to remain Ukraine's motivator in that direction, he said.

He cited the words of former Ukrainian Catholic Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, hinting about Lviv's role in his own presidency: "I will be the kind of cardinal that are my people. If you will be a great people, I will be a great cardinal. But if you will be a small people, it will be very difficult for me to accomplish great things."

"To guard against becoming a small people, Lviv stands in Ukraine," Mr. Yushchenko said.

If St. Petersburg is the window to Europe, then Lviv is the gateway, said Valentyna Matviyenko, the oblast governor of St. Petersburg who wowed the VIP crowd by delivering her address in the Ukrainian language. (She was born in Ukraine.)

She pointed out that it was in Lviv in 1574 that the Russian printer Ivan Fedorov printed in Old Slavonic his "bukvar," the first grammar textbook for Eastern Slavs. "Without the cooperation of cultures, there can't be common understanding between nations," Ms. Matviyenko said.

Outside the walls of the Franko Opera House, festivities were well under way.

On Valova Street near the Old Market Square, a fair consisting of more than 40 craftspeople and artists peddling their authentic Ukrainian wares was drawing interested crowds.

The 750th anniversary festivities were the first time craftspeople were able to display their work at a fair in Lviv, said Zenovia Krakovetska, the Lviv chair of the National Union of Craftsmen.

Those seeking authentic embroidered works are better off buying them directly from the embroiderers rather than relying on markets aimed at tourists, she said.

"At the bazaar, you will find the embroidery is sewn on, in a kitsch-like fashion," Ms. Krakovetska said. "Real embroidery is sewn directly onto the linen. It's authentic work that's unique. That's a real difference!"

Several stands down, a large crowd formed around Maria Ivanyshyn, who was giving a live demonstration of pysanka-writing ("pysankarstvo"). Ms. Ivanyshyn teaches a beginner's class in Lviv that has attracted "6-year-olds to 60-year-olds," she said.

Though Ukrainian culture was evident throughout the weekend, the standard cliché attractions of American festivals somehow made their way into the celebration.

At the Shevchenkivskyi Hai park, which encompasses the Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Folkways, festival-goers got a taste of a medieval European fair, complete with jousting knights and opportunities to get dressed and photographed in maiden costumes.

Jazz music filled the Old Market Square's inner courtyard.

Retro car owners exhibited their antique vehicles in downtown Lviv's Adam Mickiewicz Square.

Even obnoxious motorcyclists swarmed the central Freedom Boulevard, characteristically revving their engines in order to draw attention to themselves and disturb the relative peace of this quintessentially Central European City.

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