The city was developing as the major center of the Kingdom of Halicko-Wlodzimierskie, which was ruled by Galician princes and in the past constituted a part of the vast state created by Prince Yaroslav I the Wise.  Lwów was founded around the year 1250 by Prince Daniel who named the city in honor of his son. The most important reason why the city was founded was, first of all, the fact that the kingdom’s administrative centers, including Halicz, collapsed after their destruction during the Tatar invasion in 1240. At first, the settlement concentrated in the area of the Łysa Mountain (Góra Łysa), yet, another Tatar invasion caused such a devastation that Prince Lew decided to build a stronghold on a hill, today know as High Castle Hill (Wysoki Zamek). In the following years, the settlement developed mostly between the High Castle Hill and the banks of the Pełtwa River.

In the earliest period of its existence, this fortified settlement was inhabited mainly by Germans, but in time also Armenians, Tatars, Poles and Jews started coming here. When the dynasty of the Galician princes died out, the grand-prince throne was now in the hands of one of the Masovian princes – Boleslaw Yuri II (Bolesław Trojdenowicz) who, after converting to Orthodoxy, was renamed George II (Jerzy II). Together with the Polish king, he concluded an agreement of succession which stipulated mutual succession in case neither of them had a son. Prince George II died in April 1340 and the reason for his death was most likely poisoning. Riots erupted in Lwów and King Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) set out, with no delay, to claim his succession rights. After capturing and looting Lwów, he returned to Poland and began trying to permanently annex both the Galicia and Vladimir Kingdoms. The lands, however, remained also in the scope of interest of the Lithuanians. In 1353, the Lithuanian Prince/?Duke (kniaź) Lubert plundered the city but in 1366, by the virtue of Polish-Lithuanian agreements, Red Ruthenia (Ruś Czerwona) was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland[1.1].

King Casimir the Great was interested in economic growth of his newly acquired lands (he gave them administrative autonomy and economic privileges), he advocated the settlement and tried to keep peace. What he also did was grant many religious liberties to Russians, Armenians, Jews and Saracens. In 1367 he supported the establishment in Halicz of a Latin archbishopric, which was relocated to Lwów in the 15th century. The city, rebuilt after Prince Lubert’s invasion, was relocated to the today’s downtown, surrounded by walls and moats and fortified with upper and lower castles. According to the regulations of the Magdeburg law, the head of Lwów was a village mayor (wójt) who, along with the aldermen, had legal competences towards the inhabitants and population from the neighboring regions. The city council, which was headed by the mayor, dealt with administrative issues[1.2].

The dynamic economic progress of the city was due to the storage right (Latin: ius stapulae)  granted in 1379 that obliged nonresident merchants to stay in the city for two weeks and sell their goods. The growth was somehow impeded by a fire from 1381 when almost all the wooden buildings burned down.

Another period of development took place during the reign of King Ladislaus Jagiello (Władysław Jagiełło) who granted the Lwów merchants a monopoly in trade on the so-called Vlach route  (the Moldavian lord (hospodar) swore the oath of fealty to King Jagiello). The population grew richer and it was visible in the change of building structures – more and more brick buildings were constructed, the fortification was extended, the square was paved, new churches were founded and new monasteries were established. In the 1330s, as a result of administrative changes in Ruthenia, Lwów became a seat of the Ruthenian Province whose governor became Jan Mężyk from Dąbrowa[1.3].

King Vladislaus III of Varna (Władysław Warneńczyk) turned out to be an especially merciful monarch who expanded his due storage right from 14 days to one year. Moreover, the king called the city the defender, shield and bulwark of Christianity.

Another huge disaster was caused by a fire which broke out on 3 June 1527 in one of the breweries and consumed nearly the entire city.  King Sigismund I (Zygmunt I) contributed significantly to reconstructing the city by exempting the residents, from all taxes and charges, during the time of the works, thanks to which they were able to repair all damages[1.4].   

The Polonization process was progressing and in the first half of the 16th century sermons in churches were delivered, alongside German, in Polish. At the beginning of the 17th century, even Latin was replaced by Polish in the municipal books. The Reformation had little influence on the inhabitants’ religiousness and its poor progress did not escape the notice of Pope Sixtus V who permitted the city to add three symbolic hills, which the papal coat of arms added to its own coat of arms[1.5].

The power of the patriciate that controlled the city was undermined by King Stephen Báthory (Stefan Batory) who, in 1577, reformed all the municipal authorities introducing a structure called the “40 men” (“40 mężów”), which was composed of middle-class merchants and craftsmen.

The 17th century brought a run of disasters for the city in the form of Tatar invasions and repeated fires. The biggest menace to the city was the attack of Chmielnicki’s troops which, encouraged by a series of victories in battles of Żółte Wody (Zhovti Vody), Korsuń and Piławce, entered Lwów on 6 October 1648. What frightened the population most was the occupation of the High Castle and slaughtering its defenders by the Cossack leader Maksym Olshansky (Maksym Krzywonos). Chmielnicki decided to stop the siege when he received 500,000 zlotys of ransom (he had demanded 120,000), yet, the people refused to turn over the Jewish co-residents. In 1655, Lwów inhabitants had another chance to see Chmielnicki’s army at the city’s walls. This time, he also contented himself with a ransom, but of a considerably smaller amount[1.6].

Lwów was besieged again in 1672 when the Turkish army, after conquering Kamień Podolski, approached the city. The history repeated itself and Lwów was forced to pay ransom or else it was certain that it would be besieged[1.7]. Because of that, the reputation of the city as an unconquerable stronghold strengthened. King John II Casimir Vasa (Jan Kazimierz Waza) sheltered himself within the city walls during the Swedish Deluge, 1656, when he fought not only with the invaders but also with the country traitors who allied with them. King John Casimir did not forget the support he received on the side of the Lwów citizens. He showed his gratefulness by supporting the idea of creating an academy in the city in 1661, the academy that was later to become the university named after the king.

The democratization of the city also progressed. The Armenians and Ruthenians who sat on the so-called general session from the year 1662 were let to power.

The misfortune laden 17th century came to an end with the Swedes plundering the city in 1704. The Swedes, who came under the leadership of Karol XII, intervened in the defense of their ally Stanisław Leszczyński against its rival to the Polish throne – Augustus I, Elector of Saxony (August Wettyn) and his Russian supporters. Lwów, a stronghold unconquered until the reign of King Casimir the Great, collapsed under the pressure of a few hundred Swedish soldiers[1.8].

In the 18th century, the city was most often invaded by the Russian army, which was replaced by the Austrian troops in 1772. Lwów, having been made the capital city of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, became at once the Austrian administrative center. One of the first initiatives of the new authorities was removing the city fortification which limited its industrial development, the church cemeteries were liquidated, eighteen Roman Catholic, seven Eastern Catholic and three Armenian churches were secularized. The Polish schools were closed and the university was Germanized[1.9].

In 1809, the city was temporarily seized by the troops of the Duchy of Warsaw which succumbed to the Russian army which, in turn, returned the city to the Austrians. Lwów, as the capital city of the empire’s province, gained many benefits. The municipal factories developed quickly, financial institutions were established, transportation was improved –Lwów was connected by a rail line with Kraków in 1861. The city became a mainstay of the Polish national culture – the Ossolineum operated from 1817 – it was a scientific institute, which constituted an institutional sector for the research on Polish culture and history[1.10]. In 1842, the rich landowner Stanisław Skarbek’s foundation established a theater which became a center of the cultural life of Polish Lwów and which was eventually named after its founder. Also observable was an intense growth in the number of underground organizations which were called into existence to prepare the country for an uprising and which were all completely disbanded in 1848 when the very city suffered greatly during the bombardment conducted by the Austrian troops.

The new era of the city’s history started with the year 1861 when the Galicia Sejm was established and in 1867 when Galicia was granted autonomy. The first Poles to hold the office of the Galicia governor were Wacław Zaleski and Agenor Gołuchowski who, from as early as 1848, effectively advocated the Polonization process within the official apparatus. To commemorate the times of national splendor, the Union of Lublin Mound was built on the summit of the Lwów High Castle on the 300th anniversary of the Union of Lublin.

The years from 1890 to 1914 were the period of the greatest prosperity of the city. At that time, marvelous villa estates were constructed in the southern part of Lwów; in the very center, on the other hand, many modern public utility objects were created. In 1878, a water-supply system and sewage line were installed in the city and since 1858 the Lwów streets were lit with gas lamps. In 1900, a power plant was set up in Lwów and the first streetcar appeared in 1894[1.11].

A period of intensive growth of the city stopped with the breakout of World War I, accompanying hostilities and refugee migrations. In 1918, the city was temporarily occupied by the Ukrainians who intended to make Lwów the capital of their country but after a three-week battle it was recaptured by the Poles[1.12].

The rank of the city decreased and it became the seat of the Lwów Province authorities. Thanks to its favorable location, Lwów retained its status as an important center of trade and industry as well as began to play an important role as a center of Polish culture. In 1921, the Eastern Trade Fairs (Targi Wschodnie) were organized for the first time, in 1930 a broadcasting station was activated and the programs aired on it, especially “Lwów’s Merry Wave” (Polish “Wesoła lwowska fala”), merited a legendary status.

The unrestrained progress of the city was impeded by World War II. The defenders of Lwów managed to prevent the first attacks of the Wehrmacht but surrendered the city to the Soviet troops on 18 September. The new owners started their ruling from jailing thousands of Polish soldiers and officers. The Russian-German “friendship” ended in 1941, after the Nazi troops had started an offensive action against the lands occupied by the Soviets. When the Germans seized Lwów, they made the first steps towards extermination of the remaining Polish intelligentsia which survived the Soviet occupation. Among others, they murdered forty people connected with the John Casimir University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) including Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and Kazimerz Bartel. The last attempt of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) troops at retaking the city were made in July 1944 and ended with a fiasco. Lwów came under the control of the Soviets for more than 45 years. Only as late as 1991, a blue-yellow flag was displayed over the Lwów city hall – Lwów became one of the capital cities of the independent Ukraine district.