Ukraine: Lviv – Theater of Opera & Ballet
The Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet is considered the second most spectacular opera house in the world after the Vienna one (although about 3-4 dozen other opera houses would surely disagree). The theater was built between 1897-1900 and opened as a grand artistic institution in the capital of Galicia of the sprawling Austria-Hungarian empire (which Lviv was the capital of at the time). The building survived virtually unscathed through both world wars, multiple countries that claimed the city, and the years of communism (Lenin monument stood right in front of the theater and that’s how I actually remember it when I was here at the age of 10). The baroque building is lavishly decorated with statues, reliefs, columns, and so on. Two big niches are occupied by statues of Comedy and Tragedy, while the three grand statues on top are supposed to represent Glory, Poetry, and Music. And if you show up early in the November morning, you can snap a picture virtually without people.
