Baworowscy Library, Private library in Lviv, Ukraine
The Baworowscy Library occupied a former arsenal building with high ceilings and spacious reading rooms. The collection held about 38,000 prints along with handwritten manuscripts and oil paintings from multiple countries.
The core of the building is the former Sieniawski arsenal, built in 1639 by artillery general Paweł Grodzicki near the Church of St Mary Magdalene to anchor Lviv's outer defences; its massive stone ground floor survives. In the 18th century it passed to the Czartoryski family, and around 1830 the Baworowskis rebuilt it as an Empire-style palace, probably to designs by Ignacy Chambreza, with sculpture by Johann Schimser. Count Wiktor Baworowski's library opened to the public in 1900.
The library's name comes from Count Wiktor Baworowski, who placed his collection in the palace; it opened to the public in 1900. The building's facade carries a sculpture of a reclining horse, and the interior a relief frieze with mythological scenes. The collection included letters and autographs of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Jan Śniadecki, Aleksander Fredro and Stanisław Konarski.
The palace stands at 2 Bibliotechna Street, with one facade facing Doroshenko Street. It closed to readers in 2003; since 2006 it has housed the Yemelian and Tetiana Antonovych Exhibition Hall of the Lviv Palace of Arts. The ground floor of massive stone blocks was buried in earth until street regulation at the end of the 19th century.
The building's lower storey of massive stone blocks was buried in earth until the late 19th century, when street levelling exposed it. The side facade carries a sculpture of a horse, and inside a relief frieze depicts mythological scenes.
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