An English language website for a city of ideas, history, music, and culture
Tvoe Misto Media-Hub is now offering English-language stories and reporting from Lviv, population 724,000, the cultural capital of Ukraine and a city where tradition and innovation cooperate.
Lviv is known for its innovative tech spirit, exuberant street-singing, jazz-filled cafés, buzzing coffeehouses, elaborate restaurants, and frequent festivals celebrating a cuisine and culture nourished by the region of Ukrainian Galicia and the Carpathian mountains. A popular tourist destination for foreigners and Ukrainians alike, Lviv has a unique ethos as the world’s only majority Greek Catholic city, the nexus of East and West. On holidays the cobbled streets of the pedestrian-focused centre are filled with people wearing the traditional embroidered garb of the Ukrainian people: the vyshyvanka.
Named for Leo («Lion»), the son of the great 13th century king Danylo of Galicia, Lviv is sometimes called the city of lions, coffee, and rain – reflecting great things commonly encountered here, the lions in the form of a staggering number of statues and carvings; the rain sometimes in the form of snow; and the coffee, brought by invading Turkish armies, in many formats.
Located amid large hills including the High Castle and emanating from its stately central tower, the city of Lviv is a 90 minute flight to both Kyiv and Vienna, with many train connections around Ukraine and beyond. A crossroads city that has weathered many invasions, Lviv was a place of dissidence, art, and learning during the years of Soviet oppression. Together, these elements make Lviv a place of conversation and ideas whether in the Ukrainian language or in English.
Our Journalism: Through this website we invite you to learn about this ancient city and to engage with its ideas, artists, innovators, and thinkers. Since 2014, inspired by Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, or Euromaidan, Tvoe Misto (Ukrainian for «Your City») has served the people of Lviv with its unique form of public forum journalism, through which we keep open the public square by hosting regular problem-solving forums designed to solve one local problem at a time. We call this a journalism of decision. Each session hosted in our modern studio within 17th century walls is in essence a Mini-Euromaidan: democracy at work, powered by citizens.
We are independent, funded by a mix of advertising and by a group of citizens in many professions, the Friends of Tvoe Misto.
Tvoe Misto English is edited by Joe Lindsley, an American journalist who on Ukrainian Independence Day 2019 came to Lviv with American friends looking for their ancestral roots. Captivated by the Tvoe Misto public-forum model, he returned in 2020, the pandemic hit, and he has stayed, enjoying how Lviv reminds him of his favorite U.S. cities: the heritage of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the innovation of Austin, Texas.
Our sections define the key attributes of Lviv:
Food & Drink: From mushrooms and dumplings to coffeehouse culture, find here practical info on where to eat and drink, as well as stories about the natural, local cuisine of our region of Ukrainian Galicia. From Monday to Friday, you'll also find our Business Lunch listing of citywide midday meal deals.
Soul & Culture: Lviv is a city of festivals, fine architecture, traditions, philosophy, dissidents, and a history both noble and tragic as the crossroads of empires. As the global center of Greek Catholicism, with the sound of chant echoing daily on the cobblestones, it is also a unique mixture of east and west.
Travel & Nature: This city of forests is full of places to find fresh air. Plus, learn about day-trips, local country life, and places to visit from mountain to sea throughout Ukraine, the largest country completely in Europe.
Wealth & Democracy: Find out how democracy and enterprise are flourishing in this Ukrainian city. With more than 450 IT companies, Lviv is a center of global outsourcing, but it's also home to many creative entrepreneurs. Tvoe Misto's public forums contribute to a strong civil society, where people govern themselves through conversation: a shining example of Ukraine’s civil society and strengthening democracy.
Lviv Live Music: Music abounds here, in the streets, squares, clubs, Opera House, Philharmonie, theatres, and festivals. Here we'll tell the stories of the city's musicians and the traditional and modern music of Ukrainian Galicia. Find what’s playing each day.