Lviv Old Town, UNESCO

Hotel History

Best Western Plus Market Square Lviv brings together four historic townhouses in the very heart of Lviv. Their architecture and carefully preserved original details form the foundation of the hotel’s contemporary character, set within the city’s historic centre — a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO World Heritage Centre

The main building

Dzyurdzhivska Townhouse

The main building of Best Western Plus Market Square Lviv, at 4 Shevska Street, is the historic Dzyurdzhivska Townhouse, closely associated with the Boim family and the history of Lviv. The present building took shape in the 18th century on the foundations of an earlier townhouse, where Dzyurdzhi Boim lived as early as the late 16th century.

Medieval cellars from the original townhouse have survived and now form part of the hotel. During restoration, the historic spatial layout, façades, wooden staircases, window and door openings, as well as the original brickwork in the underground spaces, were carefully preserved.

The ensemble

Hotel Buildings

01
Dzyurdzhivska Townhouse

4 Shevska Street — the hotel’s main building and principal entrance

18th century, built on the foundations of an earlier townhouse
02
Mostsitskykh Townhouse

6 Shevska Street

historic cellar spaces partially preserved from the late 16th century

Timeline

The Boim Family and the House

1576

Dziurdzhi Boim arrives in Lviv

A merchant of Hungarian origin, Dziurdzhi (Georgiy, Yuriy) Boim first came to Lviv in 1576, to the court of Stefan Batory, who had just been elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He went on to become a royal secretary, one of the wealthiest townsmen of Lviv, a town councillor and a burgomaster.
1609–1615

The Boim Chapel

Over the family tomb beside the Latin Cathedral the Boims built a chapel, constructed between 1609 and 1615. Its facade still carries the fresco portraits of the founders — Georgiy Boim and his wife Jadwiga.
1613

Pavlo-Yuriy Boim, physician to the king

Dziurdzhi Boim’s son Pavlo-Yuriy (1581–1641) studied at the University of Padua, became a doctor of philosophy and medicine and served as court physician to King Sigismund III Vasa. In 1613 he returned to Lviv, where he was a town councillor, a vogt and a burgomaster.
1656

Mykhailo Boim and «Flora Sinensis»

The son of Pavlo-Yuriy and grandson of Dziurdzhi, the Jesuit Mykhailo (Michal) Boim (d. 1659) became one of the first European scholars of China. In 1656 his work «Flora Sinensis» («The Flora of China») was published in Vienna.
18th c.

The Dzyurdzhivska Townhouse at 4 Shevska Street

According to the Heritage Bureau, Dziurdzhi Boim settled in 1582 in a house that stood on the site of today’s 4 Shevska Street. The present townhouse was built in the 18th century on older foundations, and the cellars survive from the Boim era.
2022

The hotel opens

In August 2022 Best Western Plus Market Square Lviv opened in the historic townhouses at 4–6 Shevska Street. The press called it the first Best Western hotel in Ukraine.