Description of the attraction
The Powder Tower is a historical landmark of the glorious city of Lviv and is located on Pidvalna Street. The tower was built in 1554-1556. and is a monument of military and defense architecture of the Renaissance.
The Powder Tower is one of the last powerful and insurmountable city defensive towers, which has survived in the ancient city to our time. The tower was located on an earthen rampart behind the defensive city structures and a deep ditch with water and guarded the approaches to the city from the eastern side from ill-wishers. The material for the construction of the object was rough stones from the old dismantled city arsenal. It was an almost impenetrable defensive structure, since the thickness of its walls was 2, 5-3 m, in which loopholes were arranged on all sides.
The tower was also used as a storage for gunpowder, ammunition, weapons, and in peaceful days it was used to store grain. When Galicia was part of Austria-Hungary, it housed barracks, and later artillery workshops. For four centuries around the Powder Tower, the soil level rose by almost two meters, hiding its lower part.
In 1954 the Powder Tower was restored. In 1959, in front of the entrance to the building, there were figures of sleeping lions from the 19th century. In the same year, the tower was handed over to the Lviv House of Architects. In 1973, restoration was carried out, after which the Powder Tower acquired its modern look. Today, on the ground floor of the tower, there is a cozy restaurant and a shop where you can buy various souvenirs.
