Walking through Holoskivsky Cemetery from one end to the other is more than just a park stroll. Over 100 hectares, 150,000 burials, and no internal transportation — until this week.
What and Why
Lviv City Council announced the launch of free transportation services across the territory of Holoskivsky Cemetery — the largest in the city and one of the three largest in Ukraine. For this purpose, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter that Lviv received from German partners will be used.
«The cemetery's area — over 100 hectares — is a large territory, and it is very difficult for people to reach the graves of their relatives. Therefore, traveling to burial sites by minibus will significantly ease this process»
Lviv City Council Press Service
Priority will be given to elderly people, visitors in wheelchairs, and people with limited mobility. In fact, this is the first step toward implementing the «Strategy for a Barrier-Free Space of Lviv City Community until 2030»: back in November 2024, the city council's entrepreneurship commission included cemetery transportation in the action plan for 2025.
What Else Is Changing at Holoskivsky
The minibus is not the only news for this cemetery. Several projects are unfolding in parallel:
- Construction of a crematorium — the first in Lviv — is planned to be completed by the end of 2025.
- Remains will be transferred to the cemetery from Glory Hill following research and exhumation of Soviet burials.
- Work is underway to develop the access road from Mykolaichuk Street.
Details Still to Be Determined
The minibus routes, schedule, and operating mechanism are currently being developed by the city council — no specific launch dates have been announced. This is a standard situation for similar initiatives: the transport exists, but the logistics do not. The question is whether they will be ready by All Saints' Day and Commemoration Day in November — the first real test for the route, when the cemetery receives tens of thousands of visitors over several days.
