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Lvi v Palace of Armenian Archbishops Privatized
26.04.2005, [11:55] // AAC //
Lviv- A historic building of Lviv, the Palace of Armenian Archbishops,
constructed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was recently
privatized. This was despite written appeals from the city’s Armenian
community, who want to see the building, constructed by their ancestors,
returned to them. gazeta.lviv.ua posted this news on 22 April 2005
`Since the palace was first built, it functioned as the Palace of Armenian
Archbishops,’ said Father Thaddeus Georgian, pastor of the city’s Armenian
church. `For centuries, it belonged to nobody but the Armenian community and
the Armenian Church. This is not the problem of a private citizen, not even
of the community, but of the entire Church, since this was the palace of
archbishops of the Cathedral of the Ukrainian Eparchy of the Armenian
Apostolic Church.’
The palace belongs to the ensemble of the Armenian church, which, in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was the center of life of the Armenian
community in Lviv. The ensemble consists of the Church of the Dormition of
the Holy Mother of God, a former women’s monastery, and the archbishops’
palace. Both the church and the palace are among the most unique examples of
Armenian architecture with elements of the European Renaissance. Even today,
parts of the palace remaining under the roof and in its exterior are over
five centuries old, for instance, the symbol of Armenian archbishops on the
outside wall of the palace.
The palace belonged to the Armenian community until the Soviet regime
confiscated it, together with other Armenian buildings. And while the
cathedral was returned to the Armenians after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the palace remained in the communal property of the city, functioning
as a residential building. The situation is much the same today: the upper
story has apartments, where people live, while plans are being made to sell
the lower story, privatized in recent years.
`After Ukraine’s independence, we hoped the issue would be resolved
democratically,’ said Fr. Georgian. `But soon we saw that only the name of
the state changed, while the ruling style remained Soviet. We were not heard
in the City Council, or in the Regional Administration.’
Lviv Mayor Liubomyr Buniak ignored the address to him from Archbishop
Gregory Buniatian, head of the Ukrainian Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church. The religious community of the Armenian Church requested to stop
`the illegal privatization and sale of apartments on the premises of the
Palace of Armenian Archbishops and begin a gradual transfer of the freed
rooms to the community of the Armenian Church.’ Instead, I. Kohut, deputy
head of the Halych district administration, responded to the address, saying
in his letter that `the building at 7 Virmenska (Armenian) St. is not a
building of worship. It is being used as a residential house.’
In turning to the mayor with its request, the Armenian community acted in
accordance with presidential decree #279, “On Urgent Measures for Combating
the Negative Consequences of Totalitarian Policies of the Former Soviet
Union regarding Religion and Restoration of the Violated Rights of Churches
and Religions Organizations.” Parts of the document speak of the return of
worship buildings and other church property, including buildings to the
communities they used to belong to before confiscation. In addition, the
Lviv City Council issued an order in February 1994, according to which the
City Administration was supposed to gradually return the Palace of Armenian
Archbishops as its residents moved out.
The Lviv City Council did not think it necessary to include the palace in
the list of Lviv’s cultural heritage monuments that are not subject to
privatization. Thus, it can be easily privatized, which was done. Now, the
owners can do whatever they please with their property.
Fr. Georgian says that the Armenian community is not planning to take the
palace illegally or by force. An Armenian archbishop who is spending several
days in Lviv intends to help the Armenian community to resolve the issue in
the nearest future.
The owners of the palace turned residential house are conducting renovation
work. Therefore, the `Lviv Gazette’ writes, it is doubtful, that the
Armenians’ attempts to return the buildings will be successful. The building
was privatized, and nobody is going to return the invested money to the
owners.
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