The commemorative coin issued by the National Bank of Ukraine is titled 'Garrison Church of Saints Peter and Paul' with a face value of 5 hryvnias (in a capsule). It is part of the series 'Spiritual Treasures and Architectural Monuments of Ukraine' and is dedicated to one of the sacred and unique landmarks of Lviv - the Garrison Church of Saints Peter and Paul (formerly the Jesuit Church), which embellishes the historical part of the city.
Construction of this church began in 1610 under the guidance of the Italian architect of the Jesuit Order, Giacomo Briano, and it was completed 20 years later in 1630. Adorned in Baroque attire and embellished with unique frescoes by Franciszek Eckstein, it became one of the largest churches in Lviv, accommodating up to 3,000 people during the Liturgy (while the city's population at that time was around 8,000 inhabitants). It also served as the garrison church of the city.
In 1946, during the Soviet Union era, the church was closed and was used as a paper warehouse. From the mid-1960s, it became a storage facility for the Vasyl Stefanyk Lviv National Scientific Library, which housed over 2.5 million books.
Only in December 2011, the doors of the church were reopened to believers, Lviv residents, and city visitors, providing an opportunity to witness the beauty of past centuries with their own eyes. The church was handed over to the Lviv Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The description of the coin is as follows:
On the obverse side of the coin, it features the small State Emblem of Ukraine with the inscription 'УКРАЇНА' (Ukraine) below it. In the center, there is a fragment of the interior of the central nave, with the denomination of the coin and the year of minting, '5 ГРИВЕНЬ/2021' (5 hryvnias/2021), on a mirrored background. On the bottom right, there is the logo of the Banknote-Mint of the National Bank of Ukraine.
On the reverse side of the coin, it depicts the facade of the church building. At the top left of the facade, there is a lion and the inscription 'ЛЬВІВ' (Lviv) below the lion. Along the left side in a semicircular arrangement, there are the inscriptions 'ГАРНІЗОННИЙ ХРАМ СВЯТИХ АПОСТОЛІВ ПЕТРА І ПАВЛА' (Garrison Church of Saints Peter and Paul).
Coin specifications:
Face value: 5 hryvnias
Material: nickel silver
Edge: ribbed
Diameter (mm): 35
Weight (g): 16.54
Year of minting: 2021
Mintage: 35,000