Drohobych

Drohobych grew rich on salt from the middle ages and on oil in the nineteenth century, and the town keeps the fabric of both periods around a market square. St George's Church, moved here in the fifteenth century and covered inside with painted scenes, is one of the sixteen wooden tserkvas inscribed as World Heritage. The writer and artist Bruno Schulz was born and lived here, and his Street of Crocodiles is this town seen sideways.

Background

The town began at the close of the eleventh century as a trading post and transport hub linking Kievan Rus' with the lands further west, and it is first named in 1387, in Lviv's municipal records. From the fifteenth century it grew as a centre of trade and salt making, and its saltworks are thought to be the oldest in Europe. In 1392 King Vladislav II ordered the first Roman Catholic parish church, raised on the foundations of older Ruthenian buildings. By the mid-nineteenth century Drohobych was Europe's largest oil extraction center. Elisabeth Bergner, Yuriy Drohobych (Kotermak) and Ivan Franko were also born here. With 73,682 people in 2022, it is the second largest city in Lviv Oblast.

Source: Wikipedia, "Drohobych"

Highlights

• St George's Church - a World Heritage timber church with painted interior walls.
• The salt works - production continuing in the town since the middle ages.
• The Schulz connection - the streets and buildings behind his stories, with murals surviving.
• The market square - the old centre with the town hall and Gothic parish church.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The wooden church keeps museum hours and closes on some days. Winter is grey.

Practical notes

Much of the town is run down and the historic fabric is neglected in places. The wooden church can be locked outside its stated hours. Schulz's traces are scattered and take a guide or a plan to find.

Nearby

Truskavets is southwest, and Lviv is northeast.

Key facts