<p>In this picture is the hotel “Russia” (“De Russie”) in front of the pieces of the old structure. In 1793, the site of the current hotel contained the inn “Under the three hooks”; publicist and undisputed scholar of Lviv, Stanislaw Schnür-Peplowski characterized it as a cheap inn, which thanks to this factor was popular in use. In 1811 the owner George Hoffman built a new hotel “De Russie”, which had two entrance gates on the side of the square and a beautiful orchard. In 1875 architect Edmund Keller built a theatre hall in the orchard for the German society “Frohsin”, up until 1894 this place was host to exhibits, carnivals, meetings. In April 1899 the hotel building was demolished, already the following year, the architectural-construction union of architects Ivan Levynskyi and Jozef Cybulski put up the new building of the luxury hotel “George”, built by the plans of Viennese architects Hermann Hellmer and Ferdinand Fellner. The opening took place 8.01.1901. The hotel had 93 rooms, 32 of which were apartments. The new hotel had hot and cold water, telephones, central heating, and an electrical elevator. A regular room cost 6-12 zl. per night; “Luxe” – 13-24 zl.   The first class restaurant and café were frequented with great popularity. Before the First World War the “George” became the property of a union of private businesses, concession of the hotel and restaurant belonged to the triumvirate of Leopold Pir, Stanislaw and Michal Borowski, and Wladyslaw Orzechowski.</p>