Kamianets-Podilsky (former names - Kamianets, in 1795-1944 -
Kamianets-Podilsk) is a city in the historical Podil region in western
Ukraine, the center of the Kamianets-Podilskyi urban united territorial
community and Kamianets -Podilsky District in Khmelnytskyi Oblast on the
Smotrych River.
The city of Magdeburg law, one of the main
centers of the historical region of Podillia. Royal city as part of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, historically the main administrative and
territorial unit of Western Podillia, from March 22, 1919 to November
1920, the capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the former
regional center of the Kamianets-Podilskyi region (1921—1954),
intermittently the city was the center of: principalities , voivodeship,
viceroyalty, province, district, region, district. The center of the
Roman Catholic Church of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Diocese (1378) and the
Kamianets-Podilskyi Diocese of the Greek Catholic Church (2015). The
city is considered an important Ukrainian festival center in Western
Ukraine and the capital of Ukrainian aeronautics. It is a member of the
All-Ukrainian Association of Cities. It has its own coat of arms and
flag.
It is located in the south of the region, on the Podilsky
Highlands, along the Yarmolyntsi — Larga railway line with the
Kamianets-Podilskyi station.
Developed machine-building
(instrument-building, cable, auto-aggregate and other plants), food,
light industry, building materials industry, tourism. There are 10
universities, including 2 universities — the national Ohienka and the
state agrarian and technical.
There are also numerous historical
and architectural monuments in Kamianets-Podilskyi - the National
Historical and Architectural Reserve, the Historical Museum-Reserve, the
Fortress (XIV-XVI centuries, rebuilt in the XVII-XVIII centuries), the
Peter and Paul Cathedral Church (XVI century), wooden
Khrestovozdvizhenska church (XVIII century), etc.
By the
resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 26, 2001,
the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi was included in the list of historical
settlements of Ukraine.
The old castle (Kamenets-Podilskyi fortress) (In the south-western
outskirts of the city). 9:00-17:00. The city, located in the Smotrytsky
loop, is connected to the "big land" only by a narrow 9-meter isthmus,
in front of which a castle was erected at the end of the 14th century.
One of the most well-preserved fortresses in Ukraine. It is worth paying
attention to the Kovpak tower with keyholes for light artillery. UAH 10
Canyon of the Smotrych River. An unusual geological formation for
Eastern Europe: a vertical canyon 30-50 m deep, pierced by a river in
the rock.
Russian and Polish gates. Medieval hydrotechnical complex:
in case of danger, the channel of the Smotrych River was blocked at the
Russian Gate, and the canyon was filled with water.
Cathedral Church
of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1502–1517). A minaret stands in
front of the church, a unique artifact of the 27-year Turkish period in
the history of Kamianets, when the cathedral was turned into a mosque.
After the return of Kamianets to Poland, the top of the minaret was
decorated with a statue of the Mother of God.
Armenian Nikolaev
Church (1398).
Town hall building (XIV–XIX centuries).
St.
George's Church (XIX century).
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Soborna
Street, 2. Orthodox cathedral in the neo-Byzantine style.
Shoot with a bow and crossbow. A small shooting range is equipped on
the territory of the Old Castle, a shot costs 2 UAH.
Tour of the Old
Town and Castle. There are more than a hundred monuments of history,
culture and architecture in the city.
By train
From Kyiv by trains 177 and 623 (travel time - 7-9
hours). There are also two electric trains a day from Vinnitsa and eight
from Khmelnitsky.
Train Station.
By car
From Kyiv:
along the highways M-06, R-31, M-12 and H-03, through Zhytomyr,
Khmelnik, Letichev, and Khmelnitsky.
Taxi
Taxi "Hello" ☎ 067 946 41 41, 050 555 57 06, 063 281 40 40,
097 138 62 62.
Cheap
Mini-hotel "Villa Ruben", st. Skovoroda, 9. ☎
+38-067-3807911, 097-2120386, 03849-96318.
Average cost
Hotel
"7 days", st. Cathedral, 4. ✉ ☎ +38-03849-69069, 32302. Responsive staff
and comfortable conditions. Wi-Fi — 10 UAH per day. Double room with
three meals a day — 490 UAH.
The name of the city comes from the word "stone" or "stone", which is
related to the stony nature of the soil of the area. Since the 11th
century, the city has been known as Kamianets, in later sources and
chronicles a new, double name appears, it contains the second part,
which shows the historical location of the city - Podillia. Such a
phenomenon is widespread in this territory, for example, there are such
cities with designations of historical and geographical areas as
Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Skala-Podilskyi, Melnytsia-Podilskyi, Podilsk.
By the way, there are many references to the settlement in ancient
times, for example, Kamianets is mentioned 13 times in the Kyiv and
Galicia-Volyn chronicles. However, in the Volyn land and the Galician
land, and later in the Galicia-Volyn principality, there were several
cities with the names Kamianets - Kamianets-Volynskyi (now part of the
village of Myropil), Kamianets-Litovskyi (now the city of Kamianets,
Berestei Oblast, Belarus), Kamianets-Kashirskyi (now the city of
Kamin-Kashirskyi).
According to another hypothesis, the name
comes from the Daco-Roman city of Clepidava.
According to archaeological sources, the origin of Kamianets dates
back to the end of the 12th century — the beginning of the 13th century
[3]. It is this version that modern researchers prefer among the four
hypotheses about the foundation of Kamianets-Podilskyi.
In
ancient times
Archaeological finds and research prove that people
settled in the territory of modern Kamianets-Podilskyi long ago. These
were hunters' campsites, a village of ancient farmers.
On the
territory of the modern Old City, during excavations, objects from the
Tryplian culture (IV-III millennium BC) were found. In the first
centuries of our era, the territory of the future Kamianets and its
surroundings was inhabited by tribes of the Chernyakhiv culture, whose
main occupation was agriculture.
Roman coins of the II-III
centuries, found on the territory of the city and surrounding villages,
testify that the population of Middle Transnistria was in trade and
cultural relations with the inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea region
and Roman provinces.
The first mention of the city in Armenian
sources dates back to 1062 and speaks of Kamianets as an Armenian
trading station.
Galicia-Volyn Principality — the Kingdom of Rus
and the Lithuanian-Russian State
The city was a part of Kyivan Rus,
the territory of the modern city in the 12th-13th centuries was part of
Ponizya, or another name, Halytske Ponizya, a historical part of the
Carpatho-Dniester lands.
At the end of the 11th and the beginning
of the 12th century, the territory of the city belonged to the
Principality of Terebovlya, later, in the middle of the 12th century, it
became a part of the Principality of Galicia, which in turn became part
of the great Galician-Volyn State - the Russian Kingdom.
In the
13th-14th centuries it belonged to the Galicia-Volyn principality.
According to archaeological sources, Kamianets was formed as an early
feudal town with a clear distinction between crafts and agriculture,
with developed trade dating back to the end of the 12th and the
beginning of the 13th centuries, precisely during the times of the
Galicia-Volyn principality. Written sources about the history of
Kamianets from this period have not been preserved.
In 1240, it
was captured and destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars. The Golden Horde began
to rule the life of Podillia with the help of Baskaks and elected local
chieftains. Kamianets was the administrative center of the Kamianets
Tumen.
In the first half of the 14th century, Kamianets became
the center of the Podilsky principality headed by princes Koriyatovych.
Since 1362, it has been part of the Lithuanian-Russian state,
strengthening as an administrative center of Podillia.
During the
reign of the Koriyatovychs in Podilla, Catholicism began to penetrate
here. Thus, in 1370, the Dominican monastic order began to function in
Kamianets, a monastery was founded, and soon the Franciscans founded
their own monastery in the city. In 1378, the Pope issued a bull to
Prince Oleksandr Koriyatovych to establish a Catholic bishopric in the
city.
The Kingdom of Poland and the Commonwealth of Nations
In
1430, Kamianets was captured by Polish troops, and in 1434, the victory
of Poland ended the war between Polish and Lithuanian feudal lords over
the Podil lands, since 1463 it has been the center of the Podil
Voivodeship. Since then, Kamianets received the status of a royal city,
was transformed into a perfect and for a long time impregnable fortress
for enemies. On May 5, 1440, a Polish nobleman, Piotr Polyak, issued 2
documents in Kamianets-Podilskyi, which he signed as a Podilsky elder.
Prince Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, together with Albrecht Lasky, recruited
an army in the city for a campaign in Moldavia against Yakov Vasylaki's
master Heraclid (Despot).
In the Middle Ages, Kamianets was a
craft and trade center, in terms of its development it was not inferior
to such cities as Lviv and Kyiv. The development of crafts and trade was
greatly facilitated by the grant of Magdeburg law to the city (1374) and
a favorable location at the crossroads of trade routes.
On
January 23, 1510, the city became the site of the conclusion of the
"Kamenets-Podilskyi Peace Agreement" between the Polish king Sigismund I
and the Moldavian master Bohdan III through the patronage of the
Hungarian king Władysław II.
On February 25, 1609, King Sigismund
III confirms and repeats the letter of Sigismund Augustus, issued on
March 15, 1553 in Krakow, according to which the inhabitants of the city
of Kamianets, Podilska land, of the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Armenian
rites are exempted from paying duties."Wolny od myta skarbowego".
Due to the constant Tatar-Turkish threat from the beginning of the
17th century, the city was called "Bramę do Polski" and "urbs antemurale
christianitatis", which roughly translates as: stronghold of
Christianity.
During the Polish-Turkish war in 1633-1634, the
city and its surroundings became the arena of battle. Mehmed Abaza Pasha
made an attempt to conquer Kamianets, counting on the involvement of
Polish troops in the Smolensk War. But on October 20-23, 1633, he
unsuccessfully fought a battle with an army of 20,000 near Panivtsi
against Stanislav Konetspolskyi with an army of 11,000, including 1,250
Cossacks from Zaporozhye.
In 1672, the city was captured by the
Ottoman Empire (according to some sources, this event influenced the
death of the Polish king Jan II Casimir). At that time, it became the
center of the Kamianetsk (or Podilsk) eyalet (Turkish region), and from
1681 to 1699 it was the center of the newly created Kamianets Metropolis
(part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople). Since 1699, in accordance
with the terms of the Karlovy Vary Peace Treaty, along with most of
Podillia, it was once again part of Poland. Marcin Kazimierz Kontskyi
was appointed by the king as the head of the commission that was
supposed to take Kamianets-Podilskyi from the Turks.
In 1700, the
first pharmacy was opened in the city, which was located at the Jesuit
college.
During the Verlan uprising in 1734-1735, the rebels
captured several settlements near Kamianets-Podilskyi, in particular
Zhvanets.
In 1757, Kamianets-Podilskyi became known as the center
of a fierce conflict that then raged between Talmudist Jews and
Frankists. The city was the residence of Bishop Mykola Dembovsky, who
sided with the Frankists. On October 17, an episcopal court was held in
the city, which, based on the results of the dispute, recognized the
victory of the Francoists. The court ordered the public burning of the
Talmud, as a harmful book, in the city bazaar.
In 1761, thanks to
the funds received on the basis of the resolution of the voivodeship,
walls were erected instead of palisades with the assistance of the Lviv
mayor Joachim Pototskyi.
In 1771 and 1774, Kamianets suffered
greatly from fires, as a result of which almost half of the city's
buildings were destroyed.
During free elections in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Kamianets-Podilskyi, as one of the most
influential cities of the state, had electoral rights along with such
cities as: Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Gdansk, Lviv, Vilnius, Lublin, Toruń
and Elblong.
Kamenets in New Times
In 1793, after the second
partition of Poland, Kamianets, together with the entire right-bank
Ukraine, was transferred to the Russian Empire.
From 1793 to
1797, it was the center of the Podilsk Governorate, from 1797 (until
1917) of the Podilsk Governorate. During the Franco-Russian war, the 4th
Cossack regiment was formed here.
In 1798, the Polish nobleman
Antony Zmiyowski founded a theater in the city. It was one of the oldest
Polish theaters.
In 1846, the famous Ukrainian poet Taras
Shevchenko visited the city. In the 1850s, prominent representatives of
Ukrainian literature Stepan Rudanskyi and Anatoliy Svidnytskyi studied
at the local theological seminary.
In the summer of 1862, there
was a big fire in the city, which destroyed about 40 buildings,
including the entire right side of Postova Street.
In 1867, the
Russian authorities liquidated the Kamianets-Podilskyi Roman Catholic
diocese.
With the completion of the construction of the
Novoplaniv bridge in 1874, the development of the New City began, where
state and city institutions and educational institutions were
concentrated.
According to the population census of 1897, 35,934
inhabitants lived in Kamianka, remaining the largest city of Podillia,
the industry was rapidly developing, and cultural life was raging.
At the end of the 19th century, Kamianets-Podilskyi was the
residence of the wealthy financier Yevzel Ginzburg, his offices were
located in the city on modern Troitskyi Street.
In the second
half of the 19th century, many Jews from Kamianets emigrated to the
United States, especially to the city of New York, where they organized
a number of societies.
The city at the beginning of the 20th
century
At the beginning of the 20th century, Kamianets was a city of
45,000 people, occupying the 65th place in terms of population among the
cities of the empire, with a developed industry at that time.
In
1906, the local association "Prosvita" was established in the city,
thanks to its activities, the study of the Ukrainian language was
introduced in primary and parish schools, and a branch was opened in
Mogilev-Podilskyi.
On March 14, 1914, the first train arrived at
the Kamianets-Podilsky railway station.
World War I
With the
beginning of the First World War, on August 4, 1914, Austro-Hungarian
troops captured Kamianets-Podilsk, but the offensive of the 8th Russian
army under the command of cavalry general O. Brusylov forced them to
retreat in 2 days.
During the war, the headquarters of the
South-Western Front, rear institutions, and hospitals were located in
the city.
Liberation competitions, the capital of the UNR, the
residence of the ZUNR
On the territory of Kamianets during the
liberation struggle of 1917-1921, it can be divided into three stages.
The first is the era of the Central Council from March 1917 to April
1918. The second is the era of Hetman Skoropadsky from April to December
1918. The third stage is the age of the Directory, which began in
December 1918 and lasted until November 22, 1919.
During the time
of the Ukrainian People's Republic, from March 1918, for two months,
Kamianets was a center of the Podilska land. In general, during the
liberation struggle of Ukrainians (1917-21), it was the main center of
formation of the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and from
March 22, 1919 to November 1920, it was the capital of the Ukrainian
People's Republic.
In 1919-1920, the government and ministries
worked in the city, money was printed, and foreign delegations were
received. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs operated a choral chapel,
which went on a world tour from there, where it enchanted American
listeners with the world-famous Christmas song "Schedryk" by Mykola
Leontovich, the English version of which is called "Carol of the Bells".
On July 30, 1919, a meeting of the leaders of the UNR and ZUNR was
held in the city with the participation of the missions of France,
England, and the USA (who had just arrived in the city). The Chief
Ataman reported on the plan to liquidate the Bolshevik government in
Ukraine, outlined the requirements for the Entente regarding the arming
and uniforming of the 500,000-strong Ukrainian army, and asked to push
Józef Pilsudski into a new offensive against the Bolsheviks.
On
October 25, 1919, during a joint meeting of ZUNR and UNR
representatives, General Myron Tarnavskyi reported that 7,000 UGA
soldiers remained in the ranks; as a result of the epidemic, lack of
supplies, discipline decreased sharply, desertion increased. Front-line
officers demanded an end to the war, to enter into negotiations with
Denikin or the Red Army.
On November 12, 1919, the last joint
meeting of the governments of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the
People's Republic of Ukraine took place in the city: it turned out to be
tense, and it was extinguished with a speech by the commander of the
Active Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic Volodymyr Salskyi. On
November 14, Dictator of ZUNR, Yevhen Petrushevich, sent the last
dispatch to the NCGA from Kamianets. After taking Mogilev-Podilskyi and
Bar by units of the White Russian Volunteer Army, Simon Petliura was
forced to offer the Polish army to take the city, which was done in the
morning of November 17, 1919.
In the same period, in 1918, the
State Ukrainian University was opened in the city, the first rector of
which was Ivan Ohienko (from 2008 - Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohienko
National University), by 1919 there were 1,400 students and 60 teachers.
.
Soviet occupation (1920-1940s), Holodomor (1932-1933)
During
the Polish-Soviet War, the city was surrendered to the Polish army on
the night of November 16-17, 1919, and from November 16, 1919 to July
12, 1920, it was under Polish administration.
With the entry of
the Red Army units into the city on November 16, 1920, Soviet power was
finally established here.
According to the Riga Peace Treaty of
1921, the territory of Podillia, together with Kamianets-Podilskyi, was
transferred to Soviet Russia, which determined its future as part of the
Ukrainian SSR for the next seven decades.
In 1919 - 1925, Yakiv
Galchevskyi, the commander of the Podil rebel group, conducted raids
near the city and in the Kamianets-Podil district.
In those
years, the population of the city was dominated by Poles and Ukrainians.
However, as a commercial center, Kamianets-Podilskyi was a multi-ethnic
and multi-religious city with significant Jewish and Armenian
minorities. Under the Soviet regime starting in 1921, they were brutally
oppressed, many Poles were forcibly deported to Central Asia. Such mass
murders as the Vinnytsia tragedy took place all over Podilje, at that
time it was a somewhat specific border region with "bourgeois" Poland
and Romania. A large part of the former soldiers of the army of the
Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian Galician army lived in the
region and city.
In December 1927, Time magazine reported on mass
uprisings of peasants and workers in the south of Ukraine, around the
cities of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Mogilev-Podilskyi, Tiraspol and other
cities of Podillia, against the Soviet authorities. It was reported that
in these cities:
"All loyal troops were massacred and the
revolutionist flag was flown" translation: "All loyal troops were killed
and the revolutionary flag was flown."
The magazine was intrigued
when it found numerous reports from neighboring Romania that troops from
Moscow had been sent to the region and quelled the unrest, causing at
least 4,000 deaths. The magazine sent several of its reporters to
confirm these events, which the official Soviet press completely denied,
calling them outright lies. The uprising was caused by collectivization
and the disenfranchised urban environment caused by Soviet rule.
In 1928, the Old Fortress was declared a state historical and cultural
reserve by the Decree of the Ukrainian SSR.
In the 1930s, the
communist government dealt an irreparable blow to the architectural
value of the city, several important churches and structures were
destroyed, such as: the Armenian Church of St. Nicholas, the Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral, the Church of John the Baptist, the Church of the Holy
Trinity and the Carmelite monastery, which later transformed into the
Kazan Cathedral and destroyed.
During 1937-1941, the city was the
center of the Kamianets-Podilskyi region.
On May 12, 1941, the
regional center was moved from Kamianets-Podilskyi to Proskurov, after
which the city lost its significance as a regional center for good.
Historically, this was not a fair decision, during the transfer of
administrations from the city, significant material values and even
construction materials for the construction of new premises in the new
regional center were taken out of the city.
The Holodomor of 1932-1933, a terrible crime of the totalitarian
system, did not escape the city. Although the situation was somewhat
better than in other regions, this was largely due to the proximity of
the border with modern western Ukrainian territories. Given the border
status of Kamianechchyna, the population, especially from the villages
located on the Zbruch River, tried to move to the modern western
regions. There, Podolians exchanged their belongings for bread and
grain. There were many cases when people were hired for the opportunity
to eat or worked for bread. However, not everyone succeeded: along the
border with Poland along the Zbruch River and the border with Romania
along the Dniester River, barricading lines were set up in many places,
and Soviet punitive bodies were guarding the borders. The situation was
difficult in the city as well, according to data in 1932-1933, 585
people died of hunger in Kamianka. Kamianets-Podilskyi students wrote
about their lives in the newspaper in 1933:
"Today, our student
population in the city of Kamianets lives in extremely bad conditions
and does not know the reasons why these conditions were imposed on it.
The student body at the present moment is extremely outraged, but does
not show this outrage. But, when in the future the student body will be
hungry, cold and ragged, as it has been until now, this indignation will
manifest itself in strikes or demonstrations of protest against such a
life... They do not give bread in the canteen, they give bread in
student distribution centers, which have also taken a course to reduce
the norms of bread , from a pound went up to 150 g, and then it was not
there for 3 days... The struggle for existence in our way is a struggle
for bread."
In total, the number of people who died of hunger in
Kamianets-Podilskyi district in 1932-1933 was 2,533, and in
Kamianets-Podilskyi - at least 775 residents of the city. According to
estimates, the demographic losses of Ukraine as a result of the
Holodomor of 1932-1933 are about 4.5 million people, including 3.9
million — losses associated with excess mortality, and another 600,000 —
with a shortage of births.
Second World War. Resistance movement
On July 10, 1941, Kamianets-Podilskyi was occupied by units of the 17th
Army from Army Group "South" of the German army. On July 9, 1941, when
the Soviet troops retreated from the city, Novoplaniv bridge and a
number of strategically important industrial enterprises were mined and
blown up.
Before the war, more than 15,000 Jews lived in
Kamianets-Podilskyi, or 38.46% of the entire population of the city.
From July 21, 1941, a Jewish ghetto was created in the quarters of the
Old City. One of the first and largest manifestations of the Holocaust
was a mass killing on August 27-28, 1941 on the outskirts of the city,
the modern territory of the Zhovtnevy microdistrict. In those days,
23,600 Jews were killed, most of them were Hungarian Jews from 14,000 to
16,000, and the rest from 8,000 to 9,000 mainly from
Kamianets-Podilskyi, local Ukrainian Jews and Ukrainians. When the
ghetto was dissolved in August-November 1942, most of its inhabitants
were also killed.
Bombing of the city, fierce battles in March
1944 for liberation, turned it into ruins.
During the Second
World War, the city's population halved from 55,000 in 1940 to 26,000 in
1945. Irreparable damage was caused to the architectural heritage of
Kamianets-Podilskyi, before the offensive, the Soviet army carried out
massive artillery shelling of the city, 90% of the residential buildings
in the Old Town were destroyed, and the industrial base was completely
destroyed.
Resistance movement
The Soviet Union's annexation
of Western Ukraine in 1939 brought collectivization, deportations, and
arrests of dissidents, but also eliminated the border between Western
and Eastern Ukrainian lands. The governing body of the underground — the
Regional Executive of the OUN began to dispatch its members in the
eastern direction to investigate the situation and establish the
organization's cells.
Thus, a structural network of the OUN
functioned on the territory of the city: Kamianets-Podilsky District,
which belonged to the UPA-South.
In January 1942, the Nazis began
mass arrests and executions of Bandera residents in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
In December 1943, the UPA detachments from the "Bogun" group of the
UPA-North, which went to Podillia, were united into the "Kodak" raiding
group. In January-February 1943, the general military district of the
UPA-South was created on the basis of the group, and Vasyl Kuk-"Lemesh",
the former regional leader of the Southern Military District, was
appointed to command it.
In 1944-45, the 19th tactical division
of the Kamianets UPA, the Lysonya military district, and the UPA-West
military group operated in the territory of Kamianetschyna in 1944-45.
Later, the department was divided into two parts in the summer of 1945.
And self-defense bush units of the UPA from Ternopil Oblast also went on
raids.
According to various information, the Kamianets-Podilskyi
supra-district transmission line of OUN functioned until 1952, ensuring
the functioning of the communication line of the "Podillia" Regional
Transmission Line with the eastern regions of the country.
Soviet
occupation (1950s—1980s)
The Soviet authorities loved symbolic
meanings, and this time too, having taken the regional center from
Kamianets to Proskurov in 1941. On February 4, 1954, the name of the
region was also changed from Kamianets-Podilska to Khmelnytska, this was
officially timed to the anniversary, the 300th anniversary of the
Pereyaslav Council and the signing of an agreement with Muscovy by
Bohdan Khmelnytsky. And in fact, because of the badge, the number of
anti-Soviet sentiments among the townspeople of Kamianets, the support
and activities of the UPA, a large number of former soldiers of the army
of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian Galician army, as
the last capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
In the
post-war period, changes took place in Kamianets-Podilskyi: large
industrial enterprises appeared - cement, cable, and instrument-making
plants, new educational institutions were opened. In the 1960s and
1970s, the city turned into one of the industrial centers of Podillia.
In 1977, the Old Town together with the fortress was declared a
historical and architectural reserve.
In 1986, the population of
the city reached 100,000 people, according to which Kamianets moved from
the category of medium to large cities of Ukraine.
On October 16,
1990, a rally was held in the city in support of the students of Kyiv,
who announced a hunger strike as a sign of protest against the
government's policies. In the central square of the city, the demands of
the students to the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR regarding the
adoption of laws on local self-government and the non-signing of the
Union Treaty, and to the City Council regarding the raising of the
blue-yellow flag were approved. On October 16, the presidium of the city
council satisfied the students' demand and was the first in Khmelnytskyi
to raise the national flag.
After the restoration of Ukraine's
independence
Since 1991, Kamianets-Podilskyi has been a part of
independent Ukraine and is a significant economic, cultural, educational
and tourist center of the state.
On January 16, 1991, Pope Ivan
Paul II restored the Roman Catholic eparchy of Kamianets-Podilskyi,
which was liquidated under the Soviet regime.
In the period from
1991 to 2000, the work of most industrial enterprises in the city was
partially or completely stopped. The years of mass unemployment,
impoverishment of the population and the prosperity of crime began.
Kamianets becomes one of the main criminal centers of the country.
Since 1993, the mass migration of the city's Jewish population to
Israel and the USA began. Thousands of Podolians in search of work and a
better life left the city and crossed the borders of the country.
On March 2, 2000, a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
approved the new boundaries of the city with a total area of 2,787.1
hectares.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression against
Ukraine in 2014, many Podolians went to the front as volunteers and
military personnel to defend Ukraine.
In 2015, the construction
of the European Square in the city center was completed, where the flags
of the European Union countries fly, according to officials, this will
be a confirmation of the European choice of the city and Ukraine.
As part of decentralization in 2020, a new district and the
Kamianets-Podilskyi territorial community were approved, which included
the following village councils: Dovzhotska, Zinkovetska, Rykhtivska,
Kolibaivska.
So, Kamianets-Podilskyi OTG united:
the city of
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Zinkivtsi
Dovzhok, Nagoryany
Ryhta,
Liskivtsi
Kolibaivka, Smotrych, Vilkhovets, Chervona Chagarivka
Khodorivtsi, Ostrivchany, Knyaginin
The possibility of building a
bypass road was discussed for a long time, because the main flow of
traffic moves through the city, because of which the residents and the
roads suffer. Modern problems for the city remain: the lack of a normal
railway connection and bypass road, which turns the city into a province
at the edge of the country.
The future development of the city in
the coming decades may depend on: the introduction of modern
energy-saving innovative technologies in the housing and communal
economy, the city's program of insulation of an entire multi-apartment
building, by the way, the city of Dolyna has a positive example in the
country, which should be adopted, where all institutions of the
budgetary sphere have been insulated and more than 30% of residential
buildings, development of communication routes and urban infrastructure
(bypass), development of the agrarian sector of the district and the
urban community, successful attraction of investments, grants,
charitable assistance, development of the district's tourism potential.
Euromaidan in the city
On December 1, 2013, city students from
the Ivan Ohienko National University, Podilsk State Agrarian and
Technical University and other educational institutions protested in the
city, marching in a column through the streets and forming a viche near
the city council, they expressed their anger at the authorities for
their arbitrariness.
In the future, many residents of the city
gathered every day for vigils under the city council to express their
protests against the regime and support the Euromaidan in Kyiv. The
largest rally in terms of numbers took place on January 26, 2014, about
2,000 people took part in it.
On January 27, 2014, the local
faction of the Party of Regions, which led the government, dissolved
itself.
A number of renamings were carried out in honor of the
fallen participants of Euromaidan, which is how Nebesnaya Hundred
Street, Euromaidan Heroes Park and a graffiti monument called
"Incendiary Dance" appeared on the wall of the "Druzhba" cinema. It was
also planned to build a memorial complex of the Heroes of the Heavenly
Hundred, like in Lviv, and despite the government's promise, the
memorial complex was not implemented.
The coronavirus epidemic in
the city
The city became one of the epicenters of the epidemic in
Khmelnytskyi region. Since March 12, 2020, Kamianets-Podilskyi has been
closed for quarantine: schools, kindergartens, higher education
institutions, theaters and cinemas. A stricter quarantine was introduced
in cafes and restaurants in the city.
According to the estimate of archivist Ivan Garnaga, more than 2,000
people lived in the city at the end of the 14th century. The estimate is
based on the charter of the Koriatovych princes from 1374, which fixed
200 lans for the city.
At the end of the 16th century,
10,000-12,000 people lived in the city (for comparison: 15,000 in Kyiv,
18,000 in Lviv).
After the Ottoman rule (1672-1699), the city's
population decreased almost 10 times: out of 700 houses, only 100 were
inhabited.
According to the first all-Russian urban census in
1840, the city had 14,700 inhabitants, in 1862 - 18,900, according to
the all-Russian census of January 28 (February 9), 1897 - 35,934, on the
eve of the First World War - 50,500.
As of February 1, 1921,
26,600 people lived in the city, in 1926 - 31,000, according to the
all-Union census in January 1939 - 36,400.
After the German
occupation (in 1941-1944), 11,000 residents remained in the city. Then
the population grew: on January 15, 1959 - 40.3 thousand, in 1966 - 50
thousand, on January 15, 1970 - 57, on January 1, 1976 - 77 thousand, in
1979 - 84 thousand.
On July 5, 1986, the hundred thousandth
Kamian resident (Vitaly Kravtsov) was born. According to the last Soviet
census in 1989, 102,200 people lived in the city, in 1990 - 103,000, and
in 1991 - 105,000.
According to the data of the first
all-Ukrainian population census in 2001, the population of the city was
99,610 people.
In 2014, the entire population of the city was
divided by age into the following categories: up to 14 years old —
12,767 people (12.6% of the total population of the city), from 15 to 24
years old — 16,494 people (16.3%), from 25 to 44 years old — 33,467
people (33%), from 45 to 59 years old — 21,145 people (21%), from 60
years old and older — 17,677 people (17.1%). Based on this age
distribution, it can be seen that Kamianets-Podilskyi is a young city:
the majority of the population is under 44 years old (62%).
Monitoring social trends, there is an increase in the burden on working
people by persons older than working age, in particular: children of
preschool age — 5,826 people. (5.7%), school-age children — 9,796
people. (9.6%), students — 18,504 people. (18.2%), working population —
22,534 people. (22.2%), registered unemployed - 1,375 people. (1.4%);
pensioners — 25,852 persons. (25.5%); other categories of the population
— 17,663 people. (17.4%).
Around the city there are numerous
villages, closely bordering the city.
Industry
Since Soviet times, industry has developed in
Kamianets-Podilskyi, in particular building materials and machine
building, the production of tools, as well as woodworking enterprises,
in particular furniture, light (sewing, in particular sewing wedding
dresses) and food (dairy) industries.
The main production
enterprises of the city include:
OJSC "Podilsky Cement" is one of the
largest cement producers in Ukraine;
"Kabelny Zavod" LLC is one of
the largest manufacturers in Ukraine of low-voltage, battery and
high-voltage wiring harnesses for cars, tractors and other equipment;
Kamianets-Podilsky Electromechanical Plant — manufacturer of low-voltage
switching equipment, electrical household and medical equipment;
OJSC
Kamianets-Podilskavtoagregat — carries out overhaul of tractor and
combine engines, repair of tractor electrical equipment and fuel
equipment, repair of radiators, repair and manufacture of spare parts
for agricultural machinery.
LLC "KVS-UKRAINE" is a modern seed plant
from the well-known international company KWS;
"Prettle-Cable
Ukraine" LLC — production of harnesses for passenger cars;
KP
"Miskteplovodenergia" — heat supply, hot and cold water supply and
drainage services;
"Modul-Ukraine" LLC — specializes in the
production of thin-sheet galvanized rolled steel with a thickness of
0.3-1.0 mm, painted galvanized rolled steel, galvanized and painted
metal profiles of various brands, building metal structures;
Kamianets-Podilskyi collective sewing enterprise — production, tailoring
and sale of men's outerwear: suits, jackets, pants, jackets, coats from
synthetic and woolen fabric;
Kamianets-Podilskyi meat processing
plant LLC — production of meat products, canned goods and sausages;
Kamianets-Podilske JSC "Gipsovyk" — production of building gypsum,
gypsum crushed stone, limestone flour for animal feed;
KP
"Spetskomuntrans" — transport services, household waste management
services and disposal of waste transported by own transport;
TDV
Kamianets-Podilskyi Electron Plant — manufactures and carries out
wholesale and retail sales of various equipment for medical and
commercial institutions, as well as for the needs of agriculture;
LLC
Kamianets-Podilskyi Combine of Building Materials - extraction of
decorative and building stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and clay slate;
PE "Pakt" is a cable manufacturer, producing more than 1,000 types of
cables of various brands;
"Ukrainian Crystal" LLC — bakery
production.
As of January 1, 2014, the total number of medium and
small business entities in the city was 2,269 units, of which 2,234 were
small enterprises and 35 were medium enterprises. As of January 1, 2015,
there are 4,206 individuals and 1,791 legal entities in the city. In
total, 26,142 people are employed in small and medium-sized businesses
of the city.
At the beginning of March 2019, a new power plant
with cogeneration gas plants with a capacity of 4.89 MW was put into
operation in Kamianets-Podilskyi, which allows for the production of
electric and thermal energy and should protect the city from emergency
power outages.
A good example for imitation of the interaction of
business authorities is the creation of an industrial park on the
territory of the city, for example, as in the city of Slavuta, the first
industrial park "Slavuta" in the territory of Khmelnytskyi region.
According to Anatoly Tkachuk, director of the Institute of Civil
Society, those communities that will wisely cooperate with internally
displaced persons, i.e. IDPs, give them the opportunity to stay in the
community, allocate land, premises, housing, will receive only
advantages in the long run, the same applies to displaced enterprises .
There are already examples where communities received additional income
to local budgets. At the local level, it is necessary to think about the
future and prepare relevant documentation. For example, "Territorial
community development strategy". In order to receive financing for
projects, certain planning documents must be prepared. Therefore, if the
community, the city has no plans, there will be no resources and
funding.
Trade
There are several supermarkets in the city: 3
"Silpo" (makes home delivery), 3 "ATB", 2 "Nai-Nai", "Bulka" and
"Mriya". Also, Yuvileyny shopping center, where the Technopolis
household appliances store is located, as well as the Foxtrot household
appliances store. Since 2011, the construction and economic hypermarket
of the "Epicentr" network, as well as the "Ars" hypermarket, have been
operating in the city. The furniture trade is represented by the "Yusk"
network.
There are several markets in Kamianets-Podilskyi
("Kamyants-Podilskyi", "Zherelo-1", "Cheremushki", "Dynasty"), including
automobile and auto parts, an extensive network of trade and household
service enterprises.
In 2019, information appeared that a
full-fledged shopping and entertainment center "Brama" could be built in
the city, the rental area will be 11,250 square meters, parking for 230
spaces. The anchor tenants of the new mall will be a food supermarket,
clothing department stores and a children's entertainment center, the
implementation of such a project should improve services in the city's
trade sphere.
Transport
In 2021, the "Ukraine 30.
Infrastructure" forum discussed the possibility of building a new
section of the Kamianets-Podilskyi — Khotyn — Chernivtsi railway line,
as well as the modernization of the Kamianets-Podilskyi — Khmelnytskyi
section. But after launching the Hyundai train connecting
Kamianets-Podilskyi — Chernivtsi, by which it would be possible to get
from Kyiv to Chernivtsi in five to six hours, and to Kamianets-Podilskyi
even faster.
The city does not have a large airport, there is
only an airport for small aviation. The nearest airport with
international flights is located in the city of Chernivtsi and abroad in
the city of Suceava.
Intra-city and suburban passenger transport
is mainly carried out by route transport, there are several taxi
services, including those with electric cars. Periodically (since 1975),
the question of introducing a trolleybus connection in the city is
raised - although the start of implementation is currently a curtailed
project. In today's realities, not understanding the reality of
completing the trolleybus connection, eco-activists call on the
authorities to purchase ecological medium-sized electric buses for city
routes.
Construction
During the years of Ukraine's
independence, more than 100 new residential high-rise buildings were
built in the city. Although the construction boom almost stopped in the
90s, since 2000, the number of residential high-rise buildings has been
increasing. The city's construction market is represented mainly by
local construction companies, although there is a growing demand for
more modern housing with elements of the Scandinavian style and demand
for modern buildings and developers from other cities. Most of the
construction is characterized by chaos and point building around the
city, there are no new micro-district buildings, with the exception of
the Nova Budova residential complex.
According to the new general
plan by 2030, the construction of high-rise residential buildings is
foreseen: in the block between Danyla Halytskyi, Pryvokzalna, and Ivan
Mazepa streets (instead of OJSC Kombinat Hliboproduktiv), through the
release of a special purpose area (military warehouses) within the
boundaries of Severovaya, Heroiv Mariupolya streets, Hrushevskyi and
Khmelnytskyi avenues highway, as well as along Matrosova Street, by
changing the purpose (special purpose land), a residential development
and a new modern school are planned.
The city's tallest buildings
are concentrated in the center, and will tentatively form the city's
"downtown" and its "skyline" in the future.
Hotel "7 Days" is the
first 12-story building in the city and the tallest so far, its height
is more than 40 meters. It was put into operation at the beginning of
1986.
The "PKB ASU" building is a 12-story building at 46 Hrushevsky
Avenue, commissioned in the early 1990s, now used as office space for
rent.
The multi-story building is a 12-story residential building at
31 Molodizhna Street, built by JSC Podilsky Cement for its employees in
the mid-1990s.
The multi-story building is a 12-story residential
building at 5 Molodizhna Street, built by JSC Podilsky Cement for its
employees in the mid-1990s.
The multi-story building is a 12-story
residential building at 3A Molodizhna Street, built by JSC Podilsky
Cement for its employees in the mid-1990s.
High-rise building is an
11-story residential building at 24 Danyla Halytskogo Street, built by a
construction company in the mid-2000s.
The construction of
multi-apartment housing for IDPs as of the end of 2022 has not been
decided. The local government has not presented a vision for solving the
problem, there is no project, budget, cost estimate, or allocated
territory in the city for such construction. For example, the state has
several programs to provide IDPs with housing, but in order for the
community to receive money from the state budget for new construction,
it is necessary to allocate a plot of land and develop visions, such are
the requirements of the "Fast recovery plan" program with the Big
Construction logo. In the spring of 2022, it was reported that the land
department was preparing sessional decisions - on granting a permit for
the development of a project regarding the allocation of a plot of land
(about 5 hectares) in the village of Pershotravnevo for low-rise
residential construction for internally displaced persons, but it is
currently unknown how this initiative will be implemented.
Kamianets-Podilskyi is one of the most popular tourism destinations,
both foreign and domestic, in particular in the form of so-called
weekend tours. There is a Tourist Information Center in the city, which
is engaged in tourist promotion of the city[50], there are several
tourist companies and operators, both national and local, who are able
to offer the organization and conduct of interesting tours, sightseeing
and special excursions on the spot.
The city has developed a
tourist logo with its own slogan: "Kamyants - the city of treasures"
with the activation phrase "Find your treasure in Kamianets".
Over the centuries, Kamianets-Podilskyi has developed as a city with a
unique architecture of various styles and a rich cultural heritage. Its
planning with significant differences in the terrain creates a variety
of landscapes.
A tour of the historic Old Town will allow you to
familiarize yourself with the architectural ensemble of different eras
and cultures. The fortifications and the fortress are rightfully
considered the architectural pearl of Kamianets-Podilskyi. This is a
famous monument of fortification art of Eastern Europe, which is
included in the "7 Wonders of Ukraine"
From Kamianets-Podilskyi,
you can go on country excursions, nearby is Karmalyukova Mountain, which
Kobzar himself visited, by the way, Tovtra Verbetska botanical reserve
near the village of Humentsiv, visit the unfinished infrastructure
project of the viaduct in Panivtsi, and the remains of the castle and
palace. Sunbathe on the Dniester River in the summer in the village of
Velyka Slobidka or ride a kayak or catamaran in the village of Ustya.
Admire the views of the rocky precipice of the Ternava River canyon and
the Vrublivetskyi forest, and within the entire district is the large
and beautiful Podilski Tovtry National Park.
Not far from the
city in the southern direction are such cities as: Khotyn (30 km) and
Chernivtsi (90 km), which, together with Kamianets-Podilskyi, form a
tourist cluster called "Podilsko-Bukovinsk necklace". An interesting
place for recreation is the ski resort Sonyachna Dolyna, which operates
all year round, near the village of Boyany (75 km). Unfortunately, a
similar idea was not implemented in the territory of the Kamianetska
district.
In the eastern direction, there is the historical area
of Bakota (55 km) and the Bakota Bay, the Sovyny Yar landscape reserve,
and for tourists who like little-known tourist places, the view from the
banks of the Dniester near the village of Subich or the Kitayhorod
exposure can be a find.
In the western direction, you can go
along road T 2002 to the underground cave of Kryshtaleva and the
Kryvchen Castle in the village of Kryvche (65 km), visit the remains of
Zhvanetsky Castle and the Church of the Holy Trinity with the remains of
the Fortress of the Holy Trinity in the village of Okopy, and on the
return road along P24, explore the town of Borshchiv , the remains of a
castle and churches in the city of Skala-Podilska. The town of Chortkiv
with its remains of Chortkiv Castle and the beautiful Upper Vistula
Gothic Church of St. Stanislaus is also unusual in name on this side.
Tourists may be interested in the Atlantis cave in the village of
Zavalya and the nearby fortification structure Kudrynetsky Castle in the
village of Kudryntsi, which are also located in the west of the
district.
In the northern direction, there are interesting places
such as the Maliyevets Park in the village of Maliivtsi and the Burbun
waterfall in the village of Lysets. The Round Church-Rotunda of Ivan the
Theologian in the village of Shatava and the Pokrovsky Church-fortress
in Sutkivtsi are considered unusual objects of the region. A beautiful
architectural work is the brick Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph the
Betrothed, located in the village of Podlisny Mukariv. An incredible
place for recreation in this direction is the balneological resort of
the city of Sataniv, Sataniv Castle, with the Medobory Nature Reserve.
Botanical monuments of nature
Ailant Vochy (L. Ukrainky St.),
Aylant Vochy-1 (Y. Sitsinsky St.), Aylant Vochy-2 (Y. Sitsinsky St.),
Biogroup (Vidrodzhennya Square), Biogroup (Ogienka St.), Biogroup (Str.
. Soborna), Biogroup (Shevchenka Street), Biogroup of Exotic Trees,
Western Biota, Eastern Biota (Dry-Khmari St.), Eastern Biota (48 L.
Ukrainky St.), Eastern Biota (59 L. Ukrainky St. ), Oriental biota
(pyramidal shape), European beech, Red-leaved beech, Canadian bunduk,
Ginkgo biloba, Black walnut (Gagarina St. and Gunska St.), Black walnut
(Dry-Khmari St.), Black walnut (Uralska St., Park "Hunski Krynytsia"),
Common Oak (Tankists' Park), Common Oak (Shevchenka St.), Rock Oak (L.
Ukrainka St. and Drahomanov St.), Rock Oak (D. Halytskogo St.), Rock Oak
(park named after Vasiliev), petiole oak (L. Ukrainka St.), petiole oak
(Shevchenka St.), catalpa, Japanese catalpa (L. Ukrainka st.), Japanese
catalpa (Suvorova st.), Ginala maple, sharp-leaved maple (form
bullet-shaped a), Silver maple, Felt linden (street Hagenmeistera), Felt
linden (Soborna St.), European linden, split-leaf form, European linden,
Crimean linden, Large-leaved linden, Square (Shevchenko St.), Black pine
(Panivetska St.), Black pine (Molodizhny Square), Japanese sophora
(Soborna St.), Japanese sophora (Ogienko St.), Japanese sophora
(Sitsinsky St.), Japanese sophora (Vassiliev Square), Japanese sophora
(Tatarska St.), Berry yew (L. Ukrainky St., 52), berry yew (L. Ukrainky
St., 56), berry yew (Shevchenka St.), western thuja (Molodizhny Square),
western thuja (Heroiv of the Heavenly Hundred), western thuja (33
Shevchenko St.), Western thuja (39 Shevchenka St.), Western thuja (Y.
Sitsinsky St., 2), Western thuja (biogroup), Tulip tree, Prickly spruce
(1 Holoskivske Shosse St.), Prickly spruce (Hunski Krynytsia Park ),
Prickly spruce (9 Soborna St.), Prickly spruce (32 Khmelnytske Shose
St.), Prickly spruce (30 Shevchenko St.), Prickly spruce (Columbica
form), Prickly spruce (Syza form) (L street Ukrainky, 71), Yalyna
Kolyuch a (form siza) (street L. Ukrainky, 83), Prickly spruce (gray
form) (Shevchenka St.), Prickly spruce (gray form) (Molodizhnyi Square),
Yalivets Virginskyi (5 Gunska St.), Yalivets Virginskyi (L. Ukrainky St.
), Common ash (weeping form).
Geological monuments of nature
Smotrytsky canyon (of national importance).
Botanical gardens
Botanical Garden of Podilsk State Agrarian and Technical University (of
national importance).
Zoological parks
Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Ecology
The main polluters of the environment are spontaneous
landfills in various areas of the city and the central city open
landfill without waste sorting. And atmospheres: automobiles and
industrial facilities, especially those that work with gypsum. Several
ecological associations of activists operate in the city, the main tasks
of which are to solve environmental problems, namely: problems of
landfills, bad water, deforestation and household waste.
For the
past several years, there have been talks about launching a full-fledged
waste sorting line at the central city landfill and a waste processing
plant. The project cost of the plant is approximately 18 million euros.
So there were appeals from citizens, both in writing and with the help
of electronic petitions, for the implementation of this ecological
object, which is very necessary for the community.
Kamianets-Podilskyi is a significant cultural center of the region
and the country; there are numerous museums, cultural institutions and
sightseeing facilities, various cultural and festival events are held
here.
The city is called the "city of seven cultures" (even in
the 2000s, a cultural festival of the same name is held) because of the
number of nationalities that lived in it and contributed to its
development. At different times, Ukrainians and Poles, Jews,
Lithuanians, Turks and Tatars, Armenians lived on the territory of
Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Institutions of culture and tourism
The
Kamianets National Historical and Architectural Reserve and the
Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve are located and
operate in Kamianets-Podilskyi. There are also numerous museums and
objects open for excursion service:
The Old Fortress (Zamkova St., 1;
open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the summer, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
in the winter) - in the dungeons and towers of the fortress, expositions
have been opened that recreate the pages of its history. In the premises
of the fortress there are: the department of ethnography, the exposition
of the defense of the fortress against the Turks (in the dungeon of the
Western casemates), the exposition of the imprisonment of Ustym
Karmelyuk (in the Papal tower), the well (in the Black tower), the
exposition of throwing weapons (in the underground eastern gallery) .
The Town Hall (1 Polsky Rynok St.; open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in
the summer, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the winter) — there are
exhibition halls that house the Museum of Money and the exposition of
Magdeburg law. In the dungeon, an exposition on the history of the
judiciary in Podillya in the 16th and 17th centuries has been recreated.
Cathedral (Tatarska St., 20; open seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m.) — in the active church of the Cathedral Church of the Holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, tours of the history of the architecture of
this church and the history of the works of art that are in it are
conducted during the time free from the service.
Art Museum (11
Pyatnytska St.; open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the summer, from
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the winter) — The museum collection includes
more than 120,000 exhibits. Among the exhibits, a special place belongs
to the works of Western European and Russian fine art of the 18th-20th
centuries, canvases of Ukrainian painting, in particular the itinerant
artist of the beginning of the 20th century V. Rozvadovsky, works of
artists of the 1960s-70s, paintings by O. Gren and contemporary artists
of Podillia. The department has both permanent and temporary
exhibitions.
The Department of Archeology (opens from 10:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m. in summer, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in winter) — opened in 2001;
located in an architectural monument of the 17th century, in a former
Armenian trading house. The collection (numbering over a thousand items)
of archaeological materials, which was started in the 19th century by
the founders of the museum in Kamianka, is presented. The new exposition
acquaints museum visitors with materials that introduce the viewer to
one or another era and testify to the population of Podillia since
ancient times. In the exhibition, the dwelling of an ancient person is
reproduced, tools and household items are reconstructed in their
conventional use. A lapidary of pagan idols was located in the
courtyard. The museum has an exhibition hall of modern fine art.
The main cultural institution of the city is the city House of Culture
(20 Shevchenko St.). Also in the city are the youth center "Yunist", the
city children's art school, the cinema "Druzhba", 9 libraries, in
particular the scientific library of Kamianets-Podilskyi National
University named after Ivan Ohienko, the Kamianets-Podilskyi city
central library, children's and youth library.
At the end of 2007
- at the beginning of 2008, during a regional cultural campaign, the
"Seven Wonders of Kamianets-Podilskyi" were determined.
Festivals
Kamianets-Podilskyi is also known as an important Ukrainian festival
center - various cultural events, ethnographic, historical and other
festivals take place here. Currently, more than 10 permanent festivals
are held in the city.
Loud celebration of the opening of the
tourist season every spring has already become traditional for the city.
Thanks to numerous historical and cultural monuments and, first of all,
the Kamianetsk fortress, various historical reconstructions are popular
in the city - the defense of the city against the Ottoman invasion,
medieval battles and tournaments, as well as on the City Day "Kamenets
Ancient is the Heart" Podillia".
Well-known large-scale events
regularly held in the city are the folklore-ethnic multicultural "Feast
of Seven Cultures", the artistic "Respublica", and thanks to the
specialized festival, Kamianets-Podilskyi has become one of the
country's main centers for air navigation.
The action of Volodymyr Belyaev's novel-trilogy "The Old Fortress"
takes place in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi.
An artistic
description of the defense of Kamianets against the Turks is given in
Henrik Sienkevych's novel "Mr. Volodievsky".
The life of the city
of Kamianets-Podilskyi and the local theological seminary is described
in detail in the novel-chronicle "Lyuboratskyi" by the Ukrainian writer
Anatoliy Svidnytskyi (1834-1871), who was once a student of this
seminary.
The city of Kamianets-Podilskyi and its description are
also mentioned in the series "Irka Khortytsia-superwitch!", in the books
"The Enchanted Quest" and "Magic without Rules" by Ilona Volynska and
Kyryl Koshcheev.
In 2014, the literary and artistic almanac
"Phoenix" was launched in Kamianets-Podilskyi to support the Ukrainian
literary process.[57]
Cinema
Kamianets has a long tradition of
operating cinemas. As early as 1901, the first mobile cinemas arrived in
the city, and at the end of the same year, two small cinemas "Illusion"
and "Oskop" were already operating.
As of 2020, there are 2
cinemas in the city:
"Druzhba" cinema;
Cinema "Cinema" (MC
Yunist);
To popularize cinema, the international film festival
"Brukivka" is held in the city.
The city in the movies
The
city of Kamianets-Podilskyi is famous not only for its architectural and
cultural diversity, tourist attractions and festivals, but also for the
fact that over a hundred famous films and TV series were filmed in the
city over the past 100 years. By 1920, 7 short films were shot, and
after the Second World War, film crews from Oleksandr Dovzhenko's studio
and Odesa Film Studio came to the city almost every year.
1938 — Shchors, feature film, directed by Oleksandr Dovzhenko
1955
— "Anxious Youth", a feature film, directed by Oleksandr Alov and
Volodymyr Naumov
1957 - "Orlyatko", a feature film, directed by
Eduard Bocharov
1958 — "Born by the Storm", feature film, directed by
Yakov Bazelyan and Artur Voytetskyi, Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio
1963 — "An employee of the National Insurance Company", a feature film
based on the novel of the same name by Oleksandr Lukin and Dmytro
Polyanovsky, directed by Boris Volchek
1967 - "Commissar", feature
film, directed by Oleksandr Askoldov
1974 — "Old Fortress", a
7-episode feature film based on the trilogy by Volodymyr Belyaev,
Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio
1978 - "D'Artagnan and the Three
Musketeers", feature film, directed by Jungwald-Khilkevych
1982 —
"The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe", a film based on the novel by
the English writer Walter Scott, directed by Serhiy Tarasov
1983 —
"Black Castle of Olshansky", TV movie, based on the novel of the same
name by Volodymyr Korotkevich, directed by Mykhailo Ptashuk
1986 —
"Ustym Karmelyuk", 5-episode feature film, director Hryhoriy Kokhan,
Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio
1994 — "Island of Love", TV series,
directed by Oleg Biyma
2003 - "Dad", a feature film, directed by
Volodymyr Mashkov
2005 — "Nine Lives of Nestor Makhn", 12-episode
feature film, directed by Mykola Kaptan
2006 - "Let's break through",
the film takes place during the Orange Revolution, directed by Ivan
Kravchyshyn
2006 — "Bohdan-Zynovii Khmelnytskyi", a Ukrainian film
about the historical events of Khmelnytskyi, directed by Mykola
Mashchenko
2007 — "Taras Bulba", a historical drama film, adaptation
of the novel by Mykola Gogol, starring Bohdan Stupka, "Lenfilm" film
studio
2012 — "He Who Walked Through the Fire", director Mykhailo
Illenko, production center "Insite-media"
2013 — "Ivan Sila", a
Ukrainian children's feature film, directed by Victor Andrienko
2013
— "Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors", Ukrainian youth mystical thriller,
directed by Lubomyr Levytskyi
2015 — "Unbreakable", a biographical
historical-dramatic film, directed by Serhii Mokrytskyi
2022 -
"Battle for Ukraine", a short feature film about the war in Ukraine,
directed by Andrii Zayets
All major religious groups in Ukraine are represented in the city, a
large part of Kamianets residents are Catholics, many are Orthodox.
Roman Catholic Church
The Kamianets-Podilskyi diocese with its
center in Kamianets-Podilskyi was founded in 1378 and covers the
Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions. The cathedral of the diocese is the
Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The diocese is subordinate to
the Lviv Metropolis. According to the directory, as of 2011, there were
about 250,000 Catholics and 158 priests in the diocese.
Orthodox
Church of Ukraine (OCU)
The Kamianets-Podilsky eparchy is one of the
oldest in southwestern Ukraine. In 1998, the eparchy celebrated the
600th anniversary of the founding of the oldest church in Podilsk - St.
Michael's in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
In 2015, the Kamianets-Podilskyi diocese was restored, which was
destroyed more than 200 years ago by the Russian Empire. Separated from
the territory of the Ternopil-Zboriv archdiocese.
In Kamianets-Podilskyi, various types of sports are developed - the
material base for this is the municipal multi-functional stadium named
after Tonkocheeva, Motobolny stadium, sports facilities and halls of
city universities.
City sports teams — 5 football teams,
including Impulse, 4 volleyball teams, 1 motorball team, 2 basketball
and handball teams each.
Football
The first football team from
the city FC "Dynamo" Kamianets-Podilskyi twice became the champion of
the region in 1939 and 1940.
In 1960, the city team "Podillya"
Kamianets-Podilskyi was created. This team became the champion of the
region until 1967.
FC "Ratusha" is a team that represented the
city in the first league in the second round of the 1995/96 season. The
most attended home match was the game against FC Dynamo-2 — 6,500
spectators.
FC "Fortetsia" is a team that has been participating
in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast football championship since 2016.
In
August 2017, the team reached the final of the Regional Cup, where they
lost 3-0 against FC Sluch (Starokostyantiniv). So far, this is the best
result of the restored team from Kamianets-Podilskyi.
There is
hope that the team will develop and declare itself in a professional or
amateur league, since the city has not had a big football for a long
time.
American Football
The city has American football teams,
the men's Titans and the women's Titanides, which play their games in
the city's central stadium.
Motoball football
The "Podillia"
motorcycle club is one of the symbols of the city.
Achievement:
"Podillia" wins the championship of the Ukrainian SSR in 1980.
Podillia won the first league of the USSR championship in 1981.
"Podillia" played in the top league of the USSR from 1982 to 1991.
King Danylo Halytskyi (1201-1264) - King of Russia, Prince of
Halytskyi, Prince of Volodymyr, Grand Duke of Kyiv, defended Ponizzia
(Podillia) from Tatars, national hero of Ukraine.
Mykhailo
Yukhimovych Alperin (1956—2018) is a jazz pianist, composer, and
teacher.
Mykola Platonovych Bazhan (1904—1983) is a Ukrainian writer,
philosopher, public figure, translator, poet. Academician of the Academy
of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (since 1951), Honored Scientist of the
Ukrainian SSR (since 1966), Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR (since
1964), People's Poet of the Uzbek SSR.
Berezina Inna Viktorivna (born
in 1972) is an artist-pedagogue, art critic.
Belyaev Volodymyr
Pavlovich (1907—1990) is a Russian and Ukrainian writer: prose writer,
film playwright.
Bogatskyi Pavlo Oleksandrovych (1883—1962) —
Ukrainian writer, journalist, literary critic, literary and theater
critic, bibliographer, editor, political and military figure, active
member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, chief of the Kyiv militia,
chief of the Kosha of the Republican Guard under the Ministry of
Internal Affairs UNR in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Mykhailo Yosypovich
Weller (May 20, 1948 —) is a Russian writer and philosopher.
Mykyta
Pavlovich Godovanets (1893-1974) is a Ukrainian poet-biker, a victim of
Stalinist repressions.
Gordzievskyi Prokopii Vasyliovych (1872-1931)
was an archpriest, a Ukrainian public and church figure in Khabarovsk
and Harbin, graduated from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary.
Anton Martynovych Hrabchenko (1894—1931) was a lieutenant colonel of the
Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Greim Mykhailo Yosypovych
(1828—1911) was an artist-photographer, numismatist.
Ilchik Lyubava
Oleksandrivna is a Ukrainian athlete, master of sports in taekwondo,
seven-time champion of Ukraine, winner of various stages of the World
Cup and European Cup.
Mykola Sylvestrovych Karabinevich (1889—1937)
was a figure of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, an
archbishop. He studied here in the theological seminary.
Ustym
Yakymovych Karmalyuk (1787-1835) is a Ukrainian national hero, the
leader of the insurgent movement in Podillya in 1813-1835 against
national and social oppression.
Andriy Ivanovich Klantsa (born in
1980) is a cardiac surgeon and health care organizer, scientist, Honored
Doctor of Ukraine (2013), Doctor of Science.
Koriyatovich Yuriy
(1374-1400) was the prince of Podil, the prince of Moldavia, built the
fortress city of Kamianets and granted the right of Magdeburg, he is
considered the eldest son of Prince Koriyat Gedyminovich.
Koriyatovych Oleksandr (?—1380/1392)) was the Prince of Podil, Prince of
Volyn.
Koriyatovych Kostyantyn (?—ca. 1390) — Prince of Podilsk,
offered the Pope to establish a Roman Catholic parish in
Kamianets-Podilsk.
Fedir Koriyatovych (ca. 1331-1414) was the prince
of Podil, prince of Carpathian Rus.
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych
(1877-1921) was a Ukrainian composer, choir conductor, pianist, teacher,
collector of musical folklore, public figure.
Volodymyr
Kostiantynovych Lubkivskyi (?-1921) — lieutenant colonel of the Army of
the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Mazurenko Marko Yerofiovych
(1871—1929) was a corporal general of the Army of the Ukrainian People's
Republic.
Mantulyak Mykola Vasyliovych (1889—?) — lieutenant colonel
of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Merleni Iryna
Oleksiivna (1982 —)— honored master of sports of Ukraine in freestyle
wrestling, Olympic champion, bronze medalist of the Olympics; world
champion, European champion.
Negoda Borys Mykhailovych (1944—2020) -
Honored Artist of Ukraine (Decree of the President of Ukraine dated
April 20, 1999).
Nikoliv Yakiv Ivanovich (1898 — ?) is a Ukrainian
public figure in Shanghai (China).
Ivan Ivanovich Ohienko (1882-1972)
is a Ukrainian scientist, metropolitan (since 1944), political, public
and church figure, linguist, lexicographer, church historian, teacher,
active member of the Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society (since 1922).
Brother of great-grandfather Serhiy Bubka.
Petlyura Simon Vasyliovych
(1879—1926) was a Ukrainian statesman, military and political figure,
publicist, literary and theater critic. Organizer of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces. Member of the General Staff of the Ukrainian SSR (from June 28
to December 31, 1917) in the position of General Secretary for Military
Affairs. Chief Ataman of the troops of the Ukrainian People's Republic
(from November 1918). Head of the Directorate of the Ukrainian National
People's Republic (May 9, 1919 - November 10, 1920). Uncle of Patriarch
Mstislav.
Mykolay Pototskyi (ca. 1512/1517/20—1572) was a Polish
nobleman, nobleman, military man, ruler of the Kingdom of Poland,
general (chief general) of the Podilsky lands.
Potocki Michal
Franciszek (?—1760) is a Polish nobleman, military man, statesman,
philanthropist.
Stephan Pototsky (1568-1631) was a Polish nobleman,
military officer, Polish Commonwealth government official,
philanthropist.
Jakub Pototskyi (1554—1613) was a Polish nobleman,
military officer, and official of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Olena Mykolaivna Reuter (1898 — ?) was a Ukrainian public figure in
Harbin (China) in the 1930s and 40s.
Arkady Oleksandrovich Rybytskyi
(1867-1931) was a colonel of the Army of the Ukrainian People's
Republic.
Role Jozef Antoniy (1829—1894) is a Polish-Ukrainian
historian-writer, a corresponding member of the Krakow Academy of
Sciences, an honorary member of the Podilsk Academy of Sciences, a
member of the Podilsk Diocesan Historical and Statistical Committee.
Stepan Vasyliovych Rudanskyi (1834-1873) is a popular Ukrainian poet and
translator of ancient literature. The author of classic satires on
international and anti-imperial themes. Professional doctor.
Sayevich
Mykola Mykhailovych (1885—1944) was a military officer of the UGA, the
commander of the Warden's camp in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Yukhym
Yosypovych Sytsynskyi (1859-1937) is a historian, archaeologist and
cultural and public figure of Podillia, an Orthodox priest, a member of
the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler (since 1896), an active
member of the National Academy of Sciences (since 1899) and the
Ukrainian Scientific Society in Kyiv (since 1906).
Borys Yosypovych
Sulkovskyi (1881—?) was a colonel of the Army of the Ukrainian People's
Republic.
Pavlo Danylovych Tsybulskyi (1917-1984) is a Ukrainian
writer. Member of the Union of Writers of Ukraine (now the National
Union of Writers of Ukraine) since 1958.
Chekhovych Oleksandr
Oleksandrovych (1870—1936) was a Ukrainian military lawyer, lieutenant
general of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Mykola Antonovych
Chirskyi (1902—1942) was a Ukrainian poet and playwright, a sergeant in
the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Leonid Zakharovych
Shtein (1934—1973) was a Ukrainian chess player, international
grandmaster, and honored master of sports.
Shimon Okolskyi
(1580-1653) was a Dominican monk, a noble chronicler and memoirist, a
famous heraldist and preacher.
Jan de Witte (1709—1785) — military
general, fortification engineer, commandant of Kamianets-Podilskyi,
architect of Dutch origin;
One of the most important persons
associated with Kamianets-Podilskyi is Ivan Ohienko. The child nurtured
by him in the most difficult conditions of 1918-1920 —
Kamianets-Podilskyi State Ukrainian University — became the first center
of Ukrainian education, science, and culture in Podillia. Both of the
current universities operating in the city — Kamianets-Podilskyi State
University and Podilskyi State Agrarian and Technical University —
derive their lineage from Ohienko’s brainchild: the first — from the
university opened on October 22, 1918, the second — from the one opened
in the same University on October 22, 1919, Faculty of Agriculture. And
if today Kamianets-Podilskyi is rightly called a university city, then
the primary merit in this is one of the founders and the first rector of
Kamianets-Podilskyi State Ukrainian University, Ivan Ohienko.
Among the famous travelers, political, military, religious and cultural
figures who visited Kamianets and left written references about it, the
following should be mentioned: the Burgundian ambassador Gilbert de
Lanois (1386-1462); Polish chroniclers Jan Dlugosz (15th century),
Martyn Kromer and Maciej Stryjkowski (16th century); the French explorer
and archaeologist Blaise de Vigener, the Italians Giovano Botero and
Alessandro Guagnini (70s of the 16th century); the ambassador of the
Austrian Emperor Rudolf II to the Ukrainian Cossacks, Erich Lyasota (end
of the 16th century); the traveler and religious figure Tryfon
Korobeynikov (end of the 16th century); from Leopold I, the ambassador
Augustyn Mayerberg (50-60s pp. XVII century); of the Turkish traveler
Evliy Celebi (50 pp. XVII century); Frisian nobleman Ulrich von Werdum
(early 1770s pp. XVII century); of the Turkish Chaush of Elhaj Mehmed
(70s pp. XVII century); Irish medical scientist Bernard O'Connor
(personal physician of the English ambassador to Poland, Lord Rochester
- 90s of the 17th century); English military engineer Archibald Glover
(early 18th century); the French artist Johann Heinrich Muntz (80s of
the 18th century); of the Dutch military engineer Franz de Vollan
(beginning of the 90s of the 18th century).
In various periods of
the 20th and early 21st centuries, the lives and works of writers M.
Godovanets, L. Dmyterk, V. Belyaev, scientists V. Smoliya, I.
Vishnevskyi, D. Martyniuk, artists O. Grena, B. Nehody.
Many
famous personalities of Ukrainian culture, for example, Taras Shevchenko
visited the area, Mykola Leontovych studied music theory and choral
singing, as well as statesmen, military and political figure Simon
Petliura, Ukrainian commander Myron Tarnavskyi, public came to
Kamianets-Podilskyi - politician Yevhen Petrushevich, President
Volodymyr Zelenskyi with a working visit. And representatives of the
cultures of other nations, Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon of Lithuania,
the last king of Poland Stanislav-August Poniatowski, writer Adam
Mickiewicz, artist, writer Napoleon Mateusz Tadeusz Orda and many other
famous figures.
From September 16, 1939, the city housed the headquarters of the
Kamianets-Podilskyi Army Group of the Ukrainian Front during the Polish
campaign of the Red Army.
In September 2012, the 11th
pontoon-bridge battalion of the Ukrainian army was established in the
city on the basis of the faculty of military training of KPNU named
after I. Ohienko.
On November 30, 2015, the 48th
Kamianets-Podilskyi engineering brigade was established, stationed in
Kamianets-Podilskyi, which is deployed on the basis of the former 275th
Rohachov-Tallinn weapons and equipment storage base.
As of 2018,
the 48th is the only engineering brigade in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.