The complex of the Basilian monastery consists of the church of Heart of Jesus (1612-1905), the building of cells (1782), the bell tower (1770) and the print house.
The Basilian Monastery was a religious and cultural center in Galicia. In 1895 the print house and the publishing house were found here. In 1901 the church was rebuilt, and in 1935 it was decorated with wall paintings of Yulian Butsmaniuk, the famous artist, the creater of the new art conception — the Ukrainian secession. In his paintings he combined religious themes with the events of the real Ukrainian history.
Since 1990 the church is opened for messes and belongs to the Greek-Catholic church.
The church was laid by Stanislaw Zholkievsky in 1606. Its construction lasted for 12 years under the guidance of Pawel Szczęśliwy, Ambroży Przychylny, Paweł Rzymianin.
The church is a prominent structure of Renaissance style that practically has not changed. Only inside the church new altars and monuments were established, new icons were painted for it.
The church serves as a burial vault of Stanislaw Zholkievsky, the city founder, and his family.
King Jan III Sobiesky decorated the church with chivalrous symbols and four large battle pictures.
There are three baroque altars inside the church. Sofia Fredro, mother of Andrey Sheptytsky, was among the artists who painted for the altars.
In 1946 the church was closed and served as a museum. Practically all the interior decorations were damaged or taken out.
In 1989 the church was returned to the Roman-Catholic community, and the reconstruction of the temple began.
The church of St. Lazarus was built in 1624. It is not large, includes the central nave, the cosy altar and side wings. The monastery cells are attached to the church. The church was built in a form of rotonda, and it has been preserved till today.
In 1627 Sofia, a daughter of Stanislaw Zholkievsky, found here a hospital for the poor. In 1731 a school for the children from the suburbs was opened here, too.
The church was reconstructed in 1861, and a nunnery began its activities there — it supported a school for girls till 1939.
After the II World War the church served as local archives, the authorities of rural economy, a driving school.
Today it is the Orthodox church of St. Lazarus.
The church of St. Trinity is situated in the former Lvivske suburb. It was built in 1720 on the place where the previous church burnt down in 1717. The church is a monument of wooden architecture of Galician architectural school.
The church is famous for its five-tier iconostasis that contains about 50 icons. The iconostasis was created by masters of the well-known Zhovkva school of painting and carving that was founded in early XVIII c. by Ivan Rutkovych, the prominent baroque icon painter.
In 1978-1979 the iconostasis was restored.
Today the church belongs to the Greek-Catholic community.
The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is situated in the city suburbs — the former Vynnyky village that was much older than the city. There is a local cemetery around the church.
The church was built in 1705 thanks to the efforts of Yosyp Kyrnytsky and his wife Iryna. The author of the project was Kunash, the local carpenter. The church is an example of the Galician wooden architecture.
The carving and fragments of paintings of its iconostasis are of great artistic value. They belong to the widely-known icon painting school of Ivan Rutkovsky.
The city fortifications in Zhovkva were laid out together with the city construction in 1594. Paweł Szczęśliwy is likely to be the author of the project. The renaissance construction theories of 'ideal city' and the local relief of irregular heptagon with the castle attached from the west — all that influenced the city scheme structure. The stone wall around the city was constructed near 1600, and seven towers, walls with wooden galleries were built till 1621. There were four city gates — Lvivska, Hlynska (Krakivska), Zhydivska (Turynetska), Zvirynetska where a torture chamber was located. The lifting gears of drawbridges were placed inside the gates. Because of the Turkish danger the earthen bastion fortifications were constructed. Ravelins were made in front of the city gates. There also was a moat with water to strengthen the city fortification line.
Today only the city walls with towers (1613-1621), Zvirynetska and Hlynska gates (XVII c.) remained on Vicheva square.
The Dominican Monastery complex contains the church and the building of cells (1653, 1754—1792), the bell tower (1843) and the wall with the round tower (1655).
The church of the early baroque style was built in 1653-1655 having the churches of Neapol as an example. Teophilia Sobeska had built the church as the burial vault for her son Mark. Till nowadays the tombstones of Mark and Teophilia had been preserved. The tombstones were made by Andreas Shliuter, the well-known sculptor.
The cells were constructed during 1754—1792. In 1792 the church got its modern look. Its interior was painted by K. Politynsky, the artist.
At the Soviet period the complex served as barracks, stable and storage. Now the ground floor and the church of St. Josaphat belong to the greek-catholic community.
Засноване наприкінці XVII ст. Найстаріша мацева, збережена на цвинтарі до війни, стояла над могилою Іцхака, сина Аврама (пом. 1610 р.). Останні поховання було здійснено у 1943 р.
У 1854 р. площа кладовища складала 3,2 га. Цвинтар був оточений оригінальним муром у стилі бароко. З внутрішнього боку у цвинтарний мур було вбудовано декілька мацев, можливо на початку 1941 року.
Під час німецької окупації надмогильні плити було розібрано — їх використовували для вимощення доріг. Остаточно єврейський цвинтар було зруйновано у 1970 р., а на його місці влаштовано великий місцевий ринок.
Довкола частини ринку збереглись фрагменти огорожі, а у південно-східній частині, біля входу, можна знайти охель місцевого цадика (каплиця духовного провідника), юдейського теолога Олександра Сендера Шора (пом. 1737 р.) та фрагменти мацев, вмуровані в огорожу.
Заповідник створений у 1994 р. на основі ренесансних пам'яток поч. XVII ст. в історичному центрі міста Жовкви. Його площа становить 27 га. Основна мета створення заповідника — забезпечення охорони, вивчення, реставрації та належного використання унікального комплексу пам’яток архітектури, містобудування, історії та природи м. Жовкви.
The Synagogue in Zhovkva is one of the biggest defense structures of the Renaissance style in Europe. The baroque elements are added to its renaissance features. The Synagogue was attached to the city walls and to the Zhydivska (Jews) tower in old times. Thanks to its thick walls with the loopholes, it could serve as a tower: the artillery could be put on its roof.
The Synagogue construction began in 1692 under the guidance of Peter Beber and was finished during 1698-1700.
In late XVII ст. the Synagogue looked so elegant that it was forbidden to whitewash it not to eclipse other churches in Zhovkva.
The Synagogue undergone several rebuildings and reconstructions. During the German occupation in 1941 it was blown up, ceilings and the interior were damaged.
In 1955-1956 the Synagogue was partly reconstructed and served as a warehouse.
In 2000 the total restoration of the temple began.
Here the Jewish Center of Galicia is going to be opened in future.
Zhovkva Castle is a prominent architectural monument of the Renaissance epoch. Stanislaw Zholkiewski ordered the castle to be built as a defense structure. It was constructed during 1594-1606. According to the plan of the owner the castle included four buildings, connected by special galleries with four towers.
In its scheme the castle had the shape of the defensive yard. The main wing housed apartments, the side ones — utility rooms, and the front wing served as a defense structure.
The castle was built under the guidance of Paweł Szczęśliwy.
In 1610 the Castle was already inhabited. At once it became the center of economical, political and cultural life of the city and its owners, serving also as a defense for the local people from Tatars attacks.
At the end of XVII c. the Castle was a favourite residance of Jan III Sobieski, the Polish king. It was the period of the greatest Castle prosperity.
After numerous reconstructions the Castle has got its modern look. Its reconstruction is going on now, though for visitors the inner courtyard and the museum are available.