Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet

The Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet or Lviv Opera is an opera house located in Lviv, Ukraine's largest western city and one of both Polish and Ukrainian historic cultural centers. Originally built on former marshland of the submerged Poltva River, the Lviv Opera now located on, the tree-lined centerpiece of Lviv's historic Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the city's Halych district. According to the inscription in the theater lobby, the building was constructed between 1897 and 1900, and has remained standing throughout several changes in history. Originally built when Lviv was the capital of the autonomous province of Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Lviv Opera first stood at the end of Archduke Karl Ludwig Avenue, was later known as the Grand Theatre of the Second Polish Republic, and during the time of Soviet rule, entering patrons would pass by a towering statue of Vladimir Lenin. For four decades, the theater was known as the Ivan Franko Lviv State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, having been renamed in 1956 after the city's famous poet and political activist on the centenary of his birth. In 2000, the Lviv Opera celebrated its own centennial with another renaming, this time after one of the city's native daughters, Solomiya Krushelnytska, a renowned soprano of the early 20th century. History At the end of the 19th century, local leaders felt the need for a large city theatre to be situated in the capital of Galicia. In 1895, the city announced an architectural design competition, which attracted a large number of submissions. Among the participants were the renowned Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer, whose entry was rejected as too international and eclectic. An independent jury chose the design by Zygmunt Gorgolewski, a graduate of the Berlin Building Academy and the director of city's Engineering Academy. Gorgolewski pleasantly surprised the jury by planning to locate the building in the center of the city, despite the area having been already densely built-up. In order to solve the space problem, he boldly proposed to enclose the Poltva River underground, and instead of using a traditional foundation, utilized a reinforced concrete base for the first time in Europe.