The Information Potential of Visual and Graphic Sources in the Study of Lviv’s Defense Complex in the 17th–18th Centuries

The purpose of the article is to review and systematize visual and graphic sources in the study of the defense complex of Lviv of the 17th–18th centuries, which are stored in the archival collections of memory institutions, and to determine their information potential. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and systematicity. General scientific, historical and source research methods were used: analytical, synthetic, logical, retrospective, historical and comparative, problematic and chronological. The methods of analysis, synthesis and classification are used to process scientific works and graphic sources, to group them by type, kind and information potential. Scientific novelty. The study analyses and systematizes historical sources on the fortification system of Lviv, namely visual and graphic materials. The visual and graphic sources are structured into four types that reflect important aspects of the city's defense capability. The division of cartographic sources by criteria in the study of the defense complex of Lviv in 17th–18th centuries according to their content, functional, technical, historical and contextual characteristics is proposed. Conclusions. The study has confirmed the significant information potential of visual and graphic sources, the analysis of which allows us to trace the peculiarities of spatial transformations of Lviv and the evolution of its defense complex in the general military and historical context of the city of17th–18th centuries. The systematization and proposed type-specific classification of visual sources, as well as the division of cartographic materials according to certain criteria in the study of the defense complex of Lviv, facilitates their further scientific use in the study of urban defense infrastructure.