Lviv Chocolate Tour & Lions Hunt penned by Veronika in 2014 for In Lviv Tours

Tour Lviv for Chocolate and Lion Hunting by Veronica

Every Lviv tour must include... Chocolate Lions? Read on!

 History is the thing you can't skip while being in Lviv. But don't be scared, it's not that boring as you may imagine; it's not about memorizing years and places, ways of war or names of kings. In fact, there is only one king (he's also the only Ukrainian king) whose name you should remember - king Daniel of Galicia.

 Mongol invasion of Rus' in XIII century brought a lot of truth to our country; it made it clear who's fighting for the country and who's fighting for money. Lots of cities were destroyed while a sequence of war; some didn't even try to protect themselves. Almost the entire territory of Ukraine of those days was burnt to the ground, and Mongol army seemed to keep doing that until the very west borders.

 Meanwhile by the west borders nobody "never valued the poor seat of Lviv" and all that people who pretended to be the warriors to protect the city were worried only about their money in fact. This is the moment when Daniel (who was not king yet) "rose with so full of glory, that he dazzled all the eyes" of Mongol army. Let us skip the niceties of the war and be content with the fact that he confirmed the piece on the west lands and died.

 Daniel's son, Leo moved his father's capital from Halych to newly founded Lviv, what was named after him by the king Daniel. This is how the history of Lviv begun.

 Nowadays you can find about 4 thousand lions all over the Lviv in honorable memory of Leo I of Galicia. The variety of these animals is stunning: next to the Sykhiv cemetery there is lion height of 4 meters; there is a house on which you can find 99 lions on Svobody Prospect!

 On to the sweet stuff! Have no doubts, that if Willy Wonka came to Lviv he would become the most jealous person in the world. There is Serbska Street in the very centre of Lviv, which is a home for street musicians, singers and the best chocolate in the whole world. It is impossible not to notice this smell and this building - such a colorful place all covered with the tubes meant to transport chocolate. Of course, it is just a part of the design, but it is to wake your imagination up and as soon as you walk Serbska Street it will.

 Lviv Handmade Chocolate has long and beautiful history. It has been exporting to European countries since the XIX century until today. Imigine, how proud the workers must feel when they see a picture of a man holding a chocolate heart in his hand while proposing a woman to be his wife. You may find anything you want in the shop on Serbska Street: any kinds of chocolate, candies, cookies, hot chocolate and so on.

 But it's not about only Handmade chocolate on Serbska St. Let us not forget about Svitoch, which is traditionally Lviv production of chocolate during 130 years! Workers say, that recipes haven't changed since the very beginning, but they get improved every moment of making another chocolate bar.

 One more fact: since 2008 there is a celebration of Chocolate festival, which took place on Rynok Square earlier, but now is moved to the Palace of Arts. Ukrainian best chocolate masters welcome visitors to taste different kinds of truffles and candies, they also sell the things you will need later for sure: keys, screwdrivers and even mobile phones made of chocolate!

 There are almost four centuries of history of Lviv chocolate. During all these years is gives people a lesson: eating is not about not being hungry, but about feeling the pleasure of the taste and finding inspiration in it.

 Our founder writes in 2025 that the de facto Lviv Chocolate tour, inventively or more rather pre-emptively entitled "Lviv Chocolatour", will be bookable soon!