The Jesuits, having gained a foothold in Lviv in the early 17th century, launched the construction of their church in 1610. Italian constructor Jacomo Briano, having just returned from Italy, brought the first signs of a new architectural style – the Baroque – to our city. Thus, the Church of the Jesuits in Lviv, completed in 1630, was probably the first church in Eastern Europe built in the early Baroque style. Briano took the Church of the Gesù in Rome as an example for his creative work. The Church in Lviv became the third Jesuit church in the largest at that time European state Rzeczpospolita and the largest church in Lviv, able to accommodate 5,000 parishioners. The statues of the Jesuit saints can be found in the niches of the main eastern façade. Inside the church there are gravestones of the famous commander and defender of Lviv from the Tatars, Stanislaw Jablonowski, and the magnate Diduszycki’s family. The church interior is decorated with the numerous works of decorative painting and sculpture, dating back to the 18-19th centuries. Since 1773 the Jesuits had been banished from Lviv several times, and several times they had returned. At Soviet times a book depository was located in The Church. Since 2012 Sts. Peter and Paul Church was handed over to the religious community and is opened now to all visitors.