Shpikhlir, Drohobych

The city of Drohobych in the Lviv region boasts a long history. It is home to the oldest saltworks in Ukraine, St. George's Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and many other interesting places. For example, the Drohobych granary (spychlir) is an architectural monument of national importance, a brick granary, a room where grain was stored, not far from the city center, at 16 Hrushevskoho Street. The monument's protection number is 380: № 380. It was built in 1778 by order of the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It was supposed to store grain reserves in case of, for example, a bad harvest year or war. The Drohobych spychlir is an architectural monument of national importance. Unfortunately, the spychlir is not in the best condition: the restoration of the brick building has been going on for 10 years, but only part of the roof has been replaced. The rest of the roof collapsed after a hailstorm in July 2012.

The stone granary was built in 1778 on the orders of the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the site of an older starosta barn. It is the only building that remains of the complex of outbuildings of the Drohobych starosta's estate located in this area. The granary was built to provide the city with grain reserves in case of a crop failure or military operations.

In 2004, a slow restoration of the monument began, including the restoration of half of the roof, but the other half collapsed in 2012 after a hailstorm. After that, the issue of restoring the monument became urgent, and both public organizations and volunteers joined the process.

In 2013, an estimate of the restoration work was prepared, and funds were allocated from the regional budget for research and engineering inspection of the building. The socio-cultural project "Shpikhlir Cultural Space" was created. It is planned to create a cultural and artistic space in the restored granary, including an ethnographic museum.

The granary building was built in the Baroque style of stone and brick. It is rectangular in plan and has two floors. The windows are small, adapted for ventilation, and the main façade has three doors, the middle of which is decorated with a modest relief pediment. The roof is high, four-pitched, has two tiers of dormers, and is supported by wooden brackets.

TheDrohobych spychlir is a unique example of an eighteenth-century outbuilding, the only one of its kind in Ukraine, which has been preserved in almost its original state. After the restoration, the spychlir in Drohobych is planned to become one of the centers of the city's cultural life. In the near future, they also want to create an exposition of the Drohobychchyna Museum dedicated to the development of crafts in the building. There are also groups on social media discussing ideas and methods for saving the Drohobych spychlir.

The shpikhlir is located at 16 Mykhailo Hrushevskoho Street, near the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Drohobych railway station is located nearby.