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The monument to Danilo Galitskiy

The monument to the founder of the Lviv city, to the son of the grand duke Roman Mstislavitch, famous political figure and military leader duke Danil Romanovitch Galitskiy is lacated in the center of the city on the ancient Galitska Square.

The duke was later pronounced the first King of galytsko-volyntskih land. Danil Galitskyi was born in 1201. He was the son of Duke Roman Mstislavitch, who was the representative of galitska branch of Riurikovitchei. When he was 12 the boyars elevated him to the Duke of Galitcha, but after only a year he was ousted as a result of royal intrigues. By the time he was 20 he was already the Duke of Volyn. By 1229 he united the acres of Volyn. By this time he was already known to be a talented military leader and fantastic politician. Ten years after that he returned to Galitch as its sovereign.

The Duke of Galithina lived In a very difficult time. He was forced to fight with Mongolian-Tatar conquerors, the neighbors from the West and he also had to suppress the intestine wars. He united the country by force. In 1245 he smashed the groups of Polish and Hungarian feudal lords and Galitskih boyars. It took him 40 years to finish the struggle for reunion of all Galitsko-Volyntskih lands. But not only did he fight he was also building new cities and he was encouraging the development of handcrafts. Everybody understood that Danil Romanovitch was turning into a great strategist and outstanding diplomat. He was looking forward to having a union with Western neighbors – Hungary, Austria and Poland. The way to do that was by organizing dynastic marriages.

In 1254 Danil Galitskiy received the King title given to him by the Pope. He was counting that this title will help hi to attract the neighbors to join him in the war against the Horde. The Pope announced the crusade against the Tatar but nobody joined him. Danil kept the title but put an end to the relationships with the Pope. He decided to fight them with his own forces. He began building the fortresses and was looking for the help from the western neighbors. The moment was favorable: after the death of Khan Batyi the intestine wars began in the Horde. Danil managed to win 5 years for the country without the Horde. But after that the Golden Horde regained its forces and again made everybody pay the taxes. The period of the reign of Danilo Romanovitch is marked by the highest level of cultural and economical development. Danil Galitskiy died in 1264.

The monument was installed in 2001 in honor of the 800 anniversary since the day Danil Galitskiy was born. The monument was created by sculptors Yarytch and Romanovitch, and also architect Tchurilo. The project won the contest with more than 20 other participants. More than 60 tons of granite and 9 tons of bronze were used to create the monument.

The monument represents Danilo Galitskiy sitting on the horse which is installed on the granite pedestal. The height of the monument is 10 meters. Anatoliy Kinah, ex prime minister of Ukraine, took part in the grand opening of the monument. He made a very memorable speech about the importance of this military leader, his contribution to the establishment of our nation.