LAW

National law

Krasnoportko Oleksandra

The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

My native land. The history of Khmelnytskyi

Khmelnytskyi is a city in the west of Ukraine located on the banks of the Southern Buh River. It is an administrative center of the Khmelnytskyi region, an industrial, commercial and cultural center of such historical regions as Podillya and South Volhynia.

The population of Khmelnytskyi is about 268,000 (2016), the area - 93 sq. km. The territory on which Khmelnytskyi is located has been inhabited since ancient times. Objects of the Scythian period of the 7th-3rd centuries BC were discovered on the territory of the city. Originally it was a small settlement called Ploskir located at the confluence of the Ploska River with the Southern Buh. The date of foundation is unknown, as to the first mention, then it can be reliably said about the existence of Ploskir in the first half of the 15th century. At that time, most of Podillya, including Pobuzhye, went under the power of the Polish kingdom.

In 1431, the Polish king Wladyslaw II Jagiello gave the gentry privileges of the ownership of the Podillya land. Among the settlements mentioned in the documents of the royal chancellery, there was a settlement of Ploskir. During the reign of the next Polish king Wladyslaw III, the settlement was called Ploskirow. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648-1654, Ploskirow and its surroundings were repeatedly in the center of the battles of the Cossacks against the Polish troops. In 1672, Podillya passed under control of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1793, as a result of the Second Partition of Poland, the town and region passed under the authority of the Russian Empire. In 1795, the Podolia Governorate was formed. One of its counties became known as Proskurovsky with a center in the town of Proskurov. In 1806, in Proskurov there were 487 houses, of which only one stone house, shops - 68 wooden and 7 stone, mills - 2, Greco-Russian church, Catholic chapel, and two synagogues. The population of the town was 2,022 people.

In 1897, the town’s population was 22,855 people, including Jews - 11,369, Ukrainians - 4,425, Russians - 3,483, Poles - 2,824. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, such industrial enterprises as a tobacco factory, sugar factory, iron foundry, brickworks, breweries were opened in Proskurov.

In 1909, the population of the town reached 36,000. In August 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, Proskurov became a front-line town. A lot of well-known commanders of the Russian army visited it, among them was the commander of the 8th Army of the South-Western Front, General Alexei Brusilov.

In 1917-1920, Proskurov was part of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, as well as the Ukrainian State (April-December 1918). November 18, 1920, Soviet power was finally established in the town. Since December 1922, it became part of the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union.

March 15, 1941, the town became the center of the Kamyanets-Podilsky region. July 8, 1941, during the Second World War, Proskurov was occupied by the German troops. During the years of occupation, about 9,500 Jews, almost 60% of the Jewish population of the town, were killed. Tens of thousands of prisoners of war and civilians were also killed in a concentration camp near the town. March 25, 1944, Proskurov was liberated by the Soviet army.

January 16, 1954, Proskurov was renamed Khmelnytskyi (in honor of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi) and became the center of the Khmelnytskyi region. The area of the city was significantly increased. The local plant of transformer substations became the leading manufacturer of transformers for railway transport in the USSR, the plant “Kation” - one of the largest capacitor manufacturers in the country, Novator - the only manufacturer of aircraft special equipment for military use in the USSR.

The opening of such enterprises turned Khmelnytskyi into a major industrial center of Ukraine. The population grew significantly, the first higher educational institution - the Technological Institute (Khmelnytskyi National University) - was founded, the first trolleybus lines were built, new residential districts were built.

Since the mid-1960s, near Khmelnytskyi and on the territory of the region the combat positions of intercontinental ballistic missiles were unfolded. In 1970, the Khmelnytskyi Higher Artillery Command School was founded. In the 1990s, the National Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was opened on its basis.

After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, Khmelnytskyi became one of the largest shopping centers in Eastern Europe at that time. Today, there is a large market complex in the city that covers an area of more than 18 hectares and includes 24 separate clothing markets.

Museums and Churches

Khmelnytskyi Regional Museum of Local Lore. The museum is located in a modern building in the center of the city. In total, there are about 60,000 exhibits including medieval coins and ornaments from the times of Kievan Rus, a large collection of porcelain of the 19th-20th centuries, antique furniture, and utensils. Podil’s’ka Street, 12. Opening hours: 8:00-17:00. Day off: Monday.

Museum of the History of Khmelnytskyi. This small museum is located in the pedestrian zone. The exposition is devoted to the main events from the history of the city. There are about 2,000 exhibits. Proskurivs’ka Street, 30.

Khmelnytskyi Studio Museum of Photographic Art. Opened in 2010, it is the first museum dedicated to this topic in Ukraine. The exposition consists of more than 1,500 exhibits (cameras, lenses, magnifiers, light meters, and other accessories) that illustrate the development of photography and photographic equipment from the end of the 19th to the end of the 20th centuries. Exhibitions of photo artists from different cities of Ukraine are held here too. Proskurivs’ka Street, 56. Opening hours: 9:00-18:00. Days off: Sunday, Monday.

Also there is Taras Shevchenko Public Garden - a favorite resting place for locals and guests of Khmelnytskyi created in the late 19th century. The park area of 5 hectares has a regular layout. The main compositional center is the square with the monument of Taras Shevchenko (1992). The garden is decorated with bizarre metal sculptures created by the contemporary artist N. Mazur. Taras Shevchenko Movie Theater is also located here. Proskurivs’ka Street, 40.

The common is Monument to Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. One of the most extravagant monuments to the Ukrainian hetman in Ukraine. The bronze equestrian statue of the sculptor V. Borisenko and the architect N. Kopyl was installed in front of the Philharmonic Society, next to the building of the Khmelnytskyi regional administration in 1993. Despite the fact that the monument was very expressive and pompous, it caused a lot of criticism because of the unnatural posture of the horse and the general disproportion of the figures. Gagarina Street.