They are the testimony of the approaching war.
In the center of Lviv in western Ukraine, the countless statues are now wrapped in foam, protective tarpaulins and fireproof fabrics to protect them from possible attack.
Of Neptune, which stands with three other sculptures inspired by Greek and Roman mythology on the Market Square, the central square of this city of 700,000 inhabitants, only the trident is still visible.
Amphitrite, Diana and Adonis suffered a similar fate.
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Throughout the city, an army of agents is striving to protect, with makeshift means, the rich cultural heritage that has earned Lviv an inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Sculptures from Greek and Roman mythology are protected in Market Square, the central square of Lviv.
DANIEL LEAL / AFP
At the origin of this movement is Andriï Saliouk, the director of the
Society for the Protection of Monuments
, which in normal times raises the awareness of the inhabitants and the authorities about the preservation of heritage.
"When the
'
hot phase
'
of the war arrived, an art historian came to tell me that if there was a bombardment, God protect us, we could lose the stained glass windows,"
he confided to AFP in his office, where several Ukrainian flags are hung and the insignia of many battalions fighting in the east of the country.
The heritage lover understands that there is no time to lose.
“We didn't wait for the government to do something, for someone to write a funding request.
I took out the money, we assembled a team and bought the materials,”
he continues, adding that he was supported by wealthy donors.
Protection of the statues around the Basilica-Cathedral of the Assumption, whose construction dates back to the end of the 14th century.
DANIEL LEAL / AFP
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Alongside Andriï Saliouk are art restorers but also construction entrepreneurs, good connoisseurs of construction sites.
It was they, for example, who advised on the materials to be used to protect the stained glass windows of the many churches in the city.
A cultural heritage enveloped
Andriï Potchekva is one of these restorers.
Hat on his head, this forty-year-old supervises the installation of panels to protect the stained glass windows of the Basilica-Cathedral of the Assumption, whose construction dates back to the end of the 14th century.
“We are well aware that we are not able to protect them from direct impact, but we try as much as possible to protect them from any light damage, whether it is a fire, a wave impact or small fragments,”
he confides, watching out of the corner of his eye the crane erecting the panels.
On one side of the cathedral, an imposing sculpture representing the Holy Sepulcher is already wrapped in moss and protective sheets, under the approving gaze of Liliya Onishchenko, head of cultural heritage protection for the municipality of Lviv.
"I have devoted my whole life to the protection of cultural heritage and (...) I would not want the results of our work to be destroyed by war"
, assures the 66-year-old woman.
Ukrainian soldiers walk past shrouded statues of the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, also known as the Latin Cathedral, in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022. DANIEL LEAL / AFP
In an Armenian church, a recently restored 14th century wooden altar has been dismantled and moved for protection,
“as in World War I”
.
According to Liliya Onishchenko, the city's museums have also sheltered their exhibitions.
After having started
“with the most fragile objects”
, Andriï Saliouk now wishes to take the next step.
“People ask us what we are going to do with the artwork inside the churches.
We would be happy to help them, to coordinate them, but we cannot do everything alone,”
he confides.