The saying “He who works hard has a good time resting” has become a rule of the enterprise. Thus, “Zhytomyr butter plant” trades committee that has always taken care of its staff, organized a tour of the historical places of Lviv on the 13-14th of November for all the employees willing to make it.

Lviv is a city of legend, mystery and symbol. It can be endlessly talked about and millions of printed copies of books on it can be published but everybody will agree that there’s no other city like Lviv both in Ukraine and the entire world.

Its city tours tell us a lot of interesting things but none of the story will give us the answer to when and by whom the city was founded. The city is assumed to be founded in 1256 by the prince Danylo Halytski in honor of his son Lev. However, the archaeological data collected in the very heart of Lviv suggest that the early settlements were established there before Christ.

Our colleagues discovered numerous things for themselves. We were interested to know that the first paraffin oil was invented in Lviv. When the Soviet troops attacked Lviv their number of casualties was 250 thousand killed warriors. Our employees saw the residence of Franz Joseph of Austria, penetrated the mystery of the underground city. They also saw the Italian and Austrian architects influence upon the streets layout and buildings, appraised the great sculptures’ work whose masterpieces adorn the burial vaults on the elite Lviv cemeteries. With great pleasure did our staff visit the villa museums of Hrushevski and Franko, learned the real assassination story of Yaroslav Halan, a writer of political essays. They were also told the story of legendary Lviv beer, tobacco and coffee, visited the first Greek-Catholic Transfiguration of Jesus Church of today, the main Armenian temple of Ukraine, Jesuit St Peter’s and Paul’s Church, admired Palazzo Bandinelli, the palace of Lubomirski earls, the residence of John III Sobieski and were to Lviv State Academic Opera and ballet Theatre of Solomia Krushelnytska, the pearl of Lviv and watched “Natalka-Poltavka” performance.

It’s well-known that Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine but Lviv is the cultural one. Our colleagues appreciated the hospitality of the locals, their first-rate service and got high spots of the city. Everybody pledged to come back to Lviv again to feel the legend of the city once again.