Museum Prison on Lontsky

Not the easiest place to find but memorable when you do get there. There was a really helpful, informative English speaking guide available when I arrived and she showed us around the prison. She supplied the historical background to give context to the building and the grimness of its history. A must visit place if you have any interest in Ukrainian history.

Just a few logistics – If you don’t speak Ukrainian, please contact the museum via their Facebook page for an English language tour. The tour is free and will help you understand better the enormity of what you are seeing. The museum is suitable for young children and they should visit, but you will have to sensor one room. Finally, although a huge amount of the building is on Bandera street the actual entrance is on Karl Bruillov street The museum is moving, disturbing and absolutely essential. It brings to life the horrors of the individuals and the collective experienced both in this place and wider region. You will see where and what happened to political prisoners between arrest and being sentencing and upstairs there are individual accounts. One of the most important aspects of the museum is that it is based entirely on documented facts. The musuem makes clear that personal memoirs are subjective and subject to change over time and the museum makes it clear when something if based on a memoir. If you visit only one place when you’re in L’viv make it this museum.

I'd recommend English-speaking visitors to call ahead to the museum and book an English-language tour of the ground floor: it is free and is really helpful. I was keen to check the suitability of the museum for children aged 10 and 11 and had a very helpful conversation via the museum's facebook site. The guide sought to engage the children, and skipped over the content inappropriate for them, but they found the stories of individuals upstairs most fascinating. Both my husband and I found the museum moving and disturbing, and brought to life the experiences we perhaps had not thought about before -- what happened to political prisoners between arrest and being sentanced. It is grim, but is also a story about human resiliance. An essential component of a visit to L'viv we think. The entrance is a little hard to find: it is not on Bandera street (as the address indicates), but round the corner on Karl Bruillov streee.

Well worth a visit if you are interested in recent historical events. Not dissimilar to the KGB prison in Vilnius. Free to enter, self guided. You’ll need a guided tour if you want to go otherwise than the main prison floor.

ポトスキー宮殿前の広い道を西に暫く歩くとこのロンスキー刑務所博物館になります。敷地の広さに驚きますが、刑務所だった所と知れば納得です。外観は、当時のままで古いです。中欧の各国各地の歴史は、この様なところからも窺えます。