Potocki Palace, Lviv (must see)

The Potocki Palace in Lviv was built in the 1880s as an urban seat of Alfred Józef Potocki, Minister-President of Austria. No cost was spared to make it the grandest nobleman's residence in the city. The French architect Louis de Verny elaborated all of Beaux-Arts stylisic devices to produce a hypertrophied imitation of a French hôtel particulier. An open, parklike setting was scored to give the mansion a sense of depth. At the turn of the century the parkland gave way to a network of apartment buildings.

The palace itself was adapted for holding wedding ceremonies in 1972 and subsequently underwent restoration. In the 2000s the President of Ukraine appropriated the palace as one of his residences. Some of its architectural motifs were borrowed by the next-door exhibition hall (inaugurated in 1996).