by On the website “Photos of Old Lviv”, rare pictures of the “luxurious” roads of Lviv from the early 20th century appeared. Contrary to the widespread belief that all of Lviv was neatly paved with cobblestones, in reality, if you “turned the wrong way,” the road turned into a dirt track.
As the local publication writes, at the International Highway Races in 1929, the route ran along a 20-kilometer stretch of road to Stryi. The organizers were forced to use watering equipment to dampen the start and finish because the starting cars raised so much dust that spectators in the stands could not see anything.
Moreover, the press of the early 1930s repeatedly mentioned that at the legendary Lviv Grand Prix there could have been significantly more foreign participants if it weren’t for the terrible roads leading to Lviv. Some participants, seeing the state of the roads, turned back, and those who did make it deserved respect just for managing to reach the finish line. So, what were Ukrainian roads like 100 years ago:
