High Castle Park. A free walk up Lviv’s highest hill: a grotto with stone lions, a viewing platform, alleys and flower beds

Castle Hill rising above Lviv
Hydrangeas in the High Castle park
The grotto with stone lions in the High Castle park
An autumn view of Lviv from the High Castle
A panorama of Lviv from the High Castle lookout
A railed terrace on the High Castle in autumn
The ruined walls of the High Castle
Castle Hill rising above LvivHydrangeas in the High Castle parkThe grotto with stone lions in the High Castle parkAn autumn view of Lviv from the High CastleA panorama of Lviv from the High Castle lookout

High Castle Park is a landmark of landscape art on Castle Hill, Lviv’s highest hill, where a princely castle once stood. It has shady alleys, formal flower beds, a gardener’s house, a grotto with stone lions and a viewing platform on the lower terrace. Entry is free, so you can come for a morning walk or in the evening.

Why visit

  • Castle Hill is Lviv’s highest point, 413 meters above sea level, where the princely High Castle once stood
  • An artificial grotto from 1841, its entrance guarded by stone lions that once stood by the old town hall
  • The lower terrace with shady promenades, formal flower beds with roses, lavender and peonies, and the gardener’s house of 1868
  • More than fifty species, forms and varieties of trees, shrubs and vines – from ginkgo and catalpa to copper beech
  • Memorials to Maksym Kryvonis and King John Sobieski, and a fragment of a princely-era defensive wall at the foot of the mound
  • Entry to the park is free, so it is great for morning and evening walks and family outings

Good to know

Price
Entry to the park is free; no tickets needed.
The mound is closed
The Union of Lublin Mound and its upper viewing platform are closed to visitors: the mound is eroding and needs reinforcing. The lower terrace, the alleys and the grotto are open.
What’s in the park
The gardener’s house of 1868, the artificial grotto of 1841 with stone lions, the viewing platform on the lower terrace, and memorials to Maksym Kryvonis and King John Sobieski.
Entrances
The main entrance is from Kryvonosa Street, a second one from Zamkova Street; paths also lead up the hill from Pidzamche.

Castle Hill is the highest point in Lviv, 413 meters above sea level. In the 13th century Prince Lev Danylovych built the fortifications of the High Castle here; later the stone castle served as the residence of the royal starosta and as a prison, and in the 19th century its walls were taken apart for building material. In 1835–1839 the hill was planted with trees, and that is how the park came about. The lower terrace is the heart of the park: promenades of old trees, formal flower beds with roses, lavender, peonies, irises and lilies, and the gardener’s house of 1868, surrounded by a magnolia, a catalpa, a copper beech and hydrangeas. Below stands an artificial grotto from 1841: its entrance is guarded by stone lions that once adorned the old town hall. The terrace also has a spacious viewing platform. The park has kept several memorial sites: a marker commemorating the capture of the castle by Maksym Kryvonis’s troops in 1648, a stone honoring King John III Sobieski’s victory over the Tatar army in 1675, and a fragment of the defensive wall at the foot of the mound. The dendrological collection numbers more than 50 species, forms and varieties of trees, shrubs and vines, including ginkgo, catalpa and black pines. Above the park rises the Union of Lublin Mound, raised in 1869–1900, with a TV tower beside it. The mound and its upper viewing platform are currently closed to visitors because it needs reinforcing; the lower terrace, the alleys and the grotto are open for walks. The main entrance to the park is from Kryvonosa Street, a second one from Zamkova Street, and paths lead up the hill from Pidzamche.