Lviv Jewish History Tour

Due to its exceptional geographic location at a crossroads of major trade routes between the East and the West, medieval Lviv gradually became the most important trading center of Eastern Europe. The city increasingly began to attract representatives of different nationalities, who inhabited and developed this city. The Jewish diaspora, one of the largest, made an irresistible impression on the architectural style of Lviv and left its significant imprint on the culture and lifestyle of this area. “There are crowds of Jews…It is almost their promised land“ wrote Johann Alnpek, the outstanding Mayor of Medieval Lviv.

During this 2.5-hour walking tour you will have an exciting virtual journey into the past and see the Jewish Lviv, getting acquainted with its main sights. You will stroll through the former rich Jewish quarter, where numerous trade shops, ritual baths and Jewish primary schools were built in the Middle Ages. Then you will examine the ruins of the great Golden Rose Synagogue in Lviv, built in Renaissance style in the 16th century, which is related to the one of the most beautiful legends of the city. You will pass the Staroevreyska street, where the largest Jewish temple in the history of Lviv was once located.

You will also see the home of the leading Jewish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem, Jacob Hospital, a former Yaniv concentration camp and the only extant Beis Aharon Yisrael Synagogue with its unique interior wall painting. Everywhere you will hear the true stories from the life of the Jews of Lviv; you will discover the Jewish way in city history and their path of self-affirmation in Lviv’s community.