Lviv, formerly named Leopolis, Lemberg, Lwów and Lvov, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but has been hidden behind the Iron Curtain in Ukraine for many years. It is a city in which Hitler and Stalin were given free rein, resulting in the systematic destruction of a thriving Central-European culture. Most residents were expelled or murdered. Yet the buildings have been miraculously salvaged.

How does a city with such a magnificent past and gruesome decline, cope with the after effects? How do the current residents deal with that heritage?

Five Dutchmen become intrigued by this question. Documentary photographer Dolph Kessler penetrates with his photographs deep into the Lviv of today. Journalist Michiel Driebergen, urban planner Kees van Ruyven and philosopher Ruud Meij explore the history, the present and the future of Lviv in three fascinating essays. Herman Zonderland made an unique map supplement. Together, they created this book as a declaration of love for Lviv, an undiscovered pearl in the heart of Europe.