Zhovkva

Zhovkva was founded in 1594 by Stanislaw Zolkiewski as a planned Renaissance town on the Italian model, with a rectangular market square, a castle on one side, a collegiate church on another and streets running out through gates in the walls, and the layout survives almost entirely. Jan III Sobieski made it a royal residence. The wooden Church of the Holy Trinity of 1720 stands on the edge of the centre and is one of the sixteen tserkvas inscribed as World Heritage.

Background

Long before the town, a village named Vynnyky was recorded on this site in 1368. The new town took the name Żółkiew from its founder, Stanisław Żółkiewski, and King Sigismund III Vasa granted it town rights in 1603. Its position where major trade routes met helped it grow into a regional centre of culture, commerce and manufacturing. Louis XIV of France came here in 1676 and gave the Order of the Holy Spirit to the Polish king. Uri ben Aharon haLevi Witmund from Amsterdam set up a Jewish printing press here in 1693, and Jewish publishers kept working in the town until the early 20th century. In 1747 Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł founded a faience factory. The town covers 7.64 km2.

Source: Wikipedia, "Zhovkva"

The main sights

• The Holy Trinity church - a 1720 timber church, one of the World Heritage tserkvas.
• The market square - the Renaissance square with arcaded houses and the town hall.
• The castle - the Zolkiewski residence on the square, partly restored.
• The collegiate church - the domed Baroque church holding hetman tombs.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The wooden church is locked outside services and needs a keyholder. Museums close on Mondays.

Before you go

Many of the square's buildings are in poor repair and restoration is patchy. The wooden church is often locked. The synagogue, one of the finest fortress synagogues in the region, stands roofless and unrestored.

Nearby

Lviv is south, and Krekhiv monastery is nearby in the woods.

Key facts