The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv presents a Viennese Neo-Renaissance monument of 1877-1881.

The building was designed by architect Hochberger for the Parliament (local self-government) of Halychyna. Since 1919, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the building has accommodated a university. The monumental building, rendered in the elegant style of Viennese Neo-Renaissance architecture of the first half of the 19th century, is a harmonious combination of architecture and sculpture. The entrance to the building is adorned with two large allegorical compositions, Education and Labour. Above, on the attic, stands a commanding sculptural group The Tutelary Spirit of Halychyna with the figures of Halychyna, the Dniester, and the Vistula. The façade of the building is decorated below with figures symbolizing Love, Justice, Truth, and Faith. The university’s façade is best viewed from the opposite square, near the monument to Ivan Franko. The front staircase, illuminated from the glass ceiling, is adorned with Neo-Renaissance ornamental patterns by the famous sculptor Leonardo Marconi. The building’s lobby has original wall-paintings of the early 1950s in the style of Stalinist Socialist Realism.

The University was founded on January 20, 1661 when the King John II Casimir of Poland issued the diploma granting the city's Jesuit Collegium, founded in 1608, "the honour of the Academy and the title of the University". The Jesuits had tried to create the University earlier, in 1589, but did not succeed. Establishing another college in Poland was seen as a threat by authorities of Kraków's Jagiellonian University, who did not want a rival and for many years managed to halt plans of the Jesuits.

King John II Casimir was a sympathizer of the Jesuits and his stance was crucial. The royal diploma was confirmed by another act issued in Częstochowa on February 5, 1661. Creation of the school was also stipulated by the Treaty of Hadiach. One of its articles stated that a Russian academy was to be created in Kiev and another one should be created in an unspecified location, most likely in Lviv, which was an important center of the Greek Catholic church. The Jesuit Collegium existed until 1758, when King Augustus III issued a decree, which described the Collegium as an Academic School, with two departments - theology and philosophy.

In 1772 Lviv was annexed by Austria (see: Partitions of Poland) and the Society of Jesus was dissolved by the government in Vienna. The school was renamed into Theresianum, i.e. State Academy. Twelve years later, Emperor Joseph II officially granted it a university status, with four departments - theology, philosophy, law and medicine. Most professors of the University were Austrian or German-speaking members of various of the Empire. Latin was the official language of the school, with Polish or Urainian were permitted only in certain classes.

In 1805 the University was closed, as Austria, then involved in the Napoleonic wars, did not have sufficient funds to support it. Instead, a high school was established. The university reopened in 1817; officially Vienna described it as an act of mercy, but reasons were different. The Austrian government were well-aware of the pro-Polish policies of Russian Emperor Alexander I and they wanted to counterbalance it. However, quality of education was not high; Latin was replaced by German and most professors were mediocre. The few good ones regarded their stay in Lviv as a springboard to other careers.

In 1848, when pan-European revolution reached Lviv (see: Revolutions of 1848), students of the University created two organizations - Academic Legion and Academic Committee, demanding that the school should be polonized. The government in Vienna answered with force, and on November 2, 1848, center of the city was shelled by the troops of General Hammerstein. Buildings in the University, especially the library. Soon afterwards, curfew was established and the University was temporarily closed.

The school was reopened in January 1850, with limited autonomy. After a few years the Austrians relented and on July 4, 1871 Vienna declared that Polish and Ruthenian languages became official at the University. Eight years later this was changed. The Austrian authorities declared Polish as official and Ruthenian and German as auxiliary. Examinations in two latter languages were possible as long as the professors spoke them. This bill created unrest among the Ruthenians, who were demanding equal rights. Finally, a Ruthenian student of department of philosophy, Miroslaw Siczynski murdered in 1908 the Polish governor of Galicia, Andrzej Potocki. After this event, both Poles and Ruthenians came to the conclusion that a separate, Ruthenian university should be created, but the lack of professors nipped these plans in the bud.

Meanwhile the Lviv University was thriving, becoming one of two existing Polish language colleges (the other one was the Jagiellonian University in Kraków). Its professors were famous across Europe, with such renowned names as Wladyslaw Abraham, Oswald Balzer, Szymon Askenazy, Stanislaw Zakrzewski, Zygmunt Janiszewski, Kazimierz Twardowski, Benedykt Dybowski, Marian Smoluchowski and Ludwik Rydygier.

From 1919 until September 1939, in the Polish Second Republic era, the university was known as John Casimir University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) in honor of its founder. The decision to name the school after the king was taken by the government of Poland on November 22, 1919.

The Jan Kazimierz University was the third biggest academic center of the country (after the universities in Warsaw and Kraków). On February 26, 1920, the University received from the Polish government the building formerly used by the Galician parliament, which has since been the university's main edifice. Its first rector in the Second Polish Republic was the famous poet Jan Kasprowicz.

In 1939, after the Polish September Campaign and the accompanying Soviet invasion, the Soviet occupiers permitted classes to continue. Until late 1939, the school worked in the pre-war Polish system. On October 18, however, the Polish rector, Professor Roman Longchamps de Bérier was dismissed, and he replaced by a prominent Ukrainian historian, Mykhailo Marchenko, grandfather of Ukrainian journalist and dissident Valeriy Marchenko. Marchenko was determined to transform the University of Lwow into the Ukrainian National University. On January 8, 1940, the University was renamed Ivan Franko Lviv State University.

People say that the Ivan Franko University is the heart and the symbol of the city. You can see it by flights to Lviv or Kiev.