Thanks to the fact that during World War II the main battle for the city was fought in the southern suburbs, most of Lviv’s historical buildings and monuments were preserved. That is why today it is so rich in architectural sights. One of the gems of the city that did not suffer during the war was the Potocki Palace, which is often called the most luxurious, magnificent and rich palace in Lviv.
Potocki Palace is located in the very heart of Lviv: on Kopernika Street in the historical center of the city just a few minutes’ walk from Svobody Avenue, where you can see quite a few other architectural treasures. Here in the second half of the XIX century began to actively settle nobility because of the relative remoteness from the city noise and dense greenery. At the same time, a small estate was built here by Alfred Jozef Potocki, a representative of one of the most influential Polish dynasties, who was the Minister-President of Cisleitania in 1870-1871. In 1880, a luxurious palace appeared on the site of the manor, which was completed under the leadership of his son Roman.
The Potocki Palace immediately became a spectacular decoration of Lviv and one of its most beautiful buildings, and today, 130 years later, it remains so. According to the project of the architect from France Ludwig de Verny and under the direction of the Polish architect Julian Cybulski was built a magnificent building, stylistically reminiscent of French castles in the style of classicism. Light, graceful, light, it charms at first sight with its beauty and sophistication embodied in every detail and architectural element. The figurative framing of tall slender windows, balustrades and molded consoles, arched portico with Ionic columns and molding over the front entrance — all this creates overall harmony, architectural laconism of the palace.
In plan, erected of brick and covered with plaster, the palace resembles the letter «H», above the three main floors — another attic. 
The palace is surrounded by a beautiful park, which was very large until the beginning of the XX century, but was significantly reduced due to the multi-storey construction that actively developed around it. Today the view of the palace is open only from Kopernik Street, from which the monumental front gate with two wings decorated with a cartouche leads to the building. After appreciating the external splendor of the building any tourist can get acquainted with its inner beauty: on the first floor there is an exhibition of the interiors of the palace’s state rooms and antique furniture, and on the first floor there is the Museum of European Art, presenting an exhibition of works by European painters of the XIV-XVIII centuries. There are also various exhibitions in the basement of the palace, and in the backyard is open an interesting and unusual exposition — in the scale of 1:50 here architect I. Kachor created models of castles of Lviv region.
When you get to the Potocki Palace, it is impossible not to admire its beautiful interiors in the style of the French King Louis XVI: each of the grand halls, where the owners of the palace received guests, is richly decorated with stucco, colored marble, paintings, gilding, inlays of precious stones, expensive varieties of natural wood. 
All interiors are perfectly preserved, as well as many pieces of furniture from the original palace furnishings, which perfectly conveys the atmosphere that reigned in the building in the XIX century. After admiring the furnishings, every guest of the palace who is not indifferent to painting will be interested in visiting the exposition of the Museum of European Art on the second floor of the building.
The Museum of European Art was opened in the Potocki Palace in the early 2000s. It is one of the branches of the Lviv Gallery of Art, the activity of which began in the late XIX century thanks to the initiative of the Lviv intelligentsia, who embodied the idea of creating a museum of Western European art in the city. Today Lviv Art Gallery is one of the richest museums in Ukraine, and the collection of European art housed in the Potocki Palace is one of the most valuable funds of the gallery. Visiting the museum, you can see the works of painters from different European countries, painted in XIV-XVIII centuries.
Thanks to the fact that the palace is perfectly preserved and has never been reconstructed, its visit leaves the most vivid impressions. Even the difficult fate, which affected all palaces of Lviv and other architectural sights of Ukraine during the Soviet regime, did not damage it — apparently, its representatives simply did not raise their hand to destroy and spoil such beauty, which happened, unfortunately, very rarely. In the post-war years, the building played the role of the Palace of Pioneers, then it housed research institutes, then since 1972 it became the Palace of solemn events (in the Hall of Mirrors were held registration of marriages). In 1973-1974 it was even restored. Today the doors of the Potocki Palace are open to every guest of Lviv, which is a unique opportunity to touch the most beautiful things in this amazing city.