Bernardine Church, Lviv

The Bernardine church and monastery in Lviv, Ukraine, is located in the city's Old Town, south of the market square. It was designed by Paolo Dominici. The monastery along with the church of St. Andrew now belong to the Order of St. Basil the Great of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The Franciscan Observantists, known in the region as Bernardines after their monastery in Kraków in order to distinguish them from Franciscan Conventuals, were invited to Lviv by Andrzej Odrowąż, who founded the first monastery in 1460 outside of the city walls. The monastery was burned down in 1498, and then in 1509 by the Moldovan hospodar Bogdan III the One-Eyed. The church and monastery were rebuilt using the half-timbered (Prussian wall) technique. In 1521, the remains of John of Dukla were transferred from the crypt to a sarcophagus by the wall of the presbytery. In 1587, the monastic buildings were probably damaged during the raid on Lviv by Mikołaj Jazłowiecki.

In 1600, the Bernardine Order appealed to King Sigismund III Vasa for permission to rebuild the church and monastery and to incorporate them into the city fortifications. On 16 March 1603, a royal privilege was issued granting consent for the reconstruction. The reconstruction was supervised by Fr. Bernard Avelides, while the chief architect was Paolo Romano. The new church was built in the mannerist style. In 1608, a red marble tomb for the relics of John of Dukla was installed in the church; it was made by Wojciech Kapinos at the foundation of Mikołaj Daniłowicz. The first part of the church was completed in 1609, but it did not gain approval, and the work was continued by the architect Ambrosius Nutclauss. The construction was supported by donations from soldiers returning from the Muscovite War. The presbytery was vaulted in 1613. The old church was demolished in 1614. The church was consecrated in 1620, and the high altar was erected in 1622. After the construction of the church, the monastic buildings were erected and, in the 1630s, were connected to the city walls. In 1648, the city council of Lviv funded a silve

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