MONUMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE AND TOWN PLANNING OF HALYCH: FORGOTTEN BUILDINGS BUILT BY FAMOUS ARCHITECTS. CATHOLIC PEOPLE’S HOUSE / BURIAL SITE OF THE FELICIAN SISTERS

Abstract

The article describes the main stages related to the construction of the building of the Catholic People’s House / Burial site of the Felician sisters in Halych, which during the periods of the USSR and independent Ukraine was adapted to serve as firstly a city and later a district hospital. The construction stages of the building are characterized, and its history is described according to the periodization from the 1930s to the present day. The material informs about the previously unknown fact ‒ the involvement of the well-known architect S. Trelia from Stanyslaviv in the project of the building. Biographies of the initiators of the construction and its implementers are provided, including representatives of the Galician Roman Catholic clergy, engineers, and architects. Famous doctors from the city of Halych who worked in the building and contributed to the development of healthcare for the city and region are mentioned. Attention is focused on the use of the premises during World War II when its original purpose was changed to meet the needs of military hospitals. The myth of Soviet propaganda about the specialized construction of hospitals for the needs of the population and the provision of medical care is debunked, as the basis for the «newly constructed» institutions was previously built property during the «lordly Poland’» period, which the «liberators» expropriated from its former owners. The article provides an architectural description of the building based on the original project and its current state. Emphasis is placed on the need to explore the architecture of the city during the interwar period, information about which has been forgotten over time. Attention is focused on the value of the building as a cultural heritage object, an interesting example of architecture and urban planning from the period of the Second Polish Republic. Suggestions are made for the preservation of the building and the popularization of information about it and its builders.