Khmelnytsky region (until February 4, 1954 - Kamenetz-Podolsk) is a
region in western Ukraine. It was created on September 22, 1937 by a
decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR with a center in
the city of Kamenetz-Podolsky.
The area of the region is 20.6
thousand km2 (3.4% of the territory of Ukraine). Population - 1264.7
thousand people (01/01/2019). The center of the region is the city of
Khmelnitsky. The region consists of 1452 settlements, including 13
cities, 24 urban-type settlements, 5 settlements and 1410 villages.
Khmelnitsky
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Medzhybizh
The area is rich in medieval sights of defensive and church architecture - castles, fortified churches, churches and palaces. A significant part of this heritage is concentrated in Kamyanets-Podilsky, the historical capital of Podolia. On the territory of the Khmelnitsky region there are: 105 monuments of archeology (of which 12 are of national importance), 2442 monuments of history (of which 4 are of national importance), 341 monuments of architecture and urban planning (of which 230 are of national importance), 474 monuments of monumental art (of which of them - 1 of national importance). The List of historical settlements of Ukraine, approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 26, 2001 No. 878, includes 24 settlements of the Khmelnytsky region: Antoniny, Belogorye, Volochisk, Gorodok, Gritsev, Derazhnya, Dunaevtsy, Izyaslav, Kamenetz-Podolsky, Krasilov, Letychiv , Medzhybizh, Novaya Ushitsa, Captive, Satanov, Slavuta, Smotrych, Staraya Sinyava, Starokonstantinov, Khmelnitsky, Black Island, Shepetovka, Yampol, Yarmolintsy
The territory of the region is located between 48°27' and 50°37' north latitude and between 26°09' and 27°56' east longitude. The length of the region from north to south is 220 km, and from west to east - 120 km. It borders in the northwest with Rivne, in the northeast with Zhytomyr, in the east with Vinnitsa, in the south with Chernivtsi, in the west with Ternopil regions.
Most of the central part of the region is occupied by the Podolsk
Upland (the prevailing heights are 270-370 m), along which the
watersheds of the Dnieper, the Southern Bug and the Dniester pass. In
the north-west, the Volyn Upland (heights up to 329 m) enters the
region, and in the north - the Polesskaya lowland (heights 200-250 m).
The southwest is crossed by the Toltrovy Ridge, on which the highest
point of the region is located - Mount Velikaya Bugachikha (409 m).
Karst landforms are widespread here, caves (Atlantis, Zaluchanskaya)
come across. The extreme south has a ridge-like surface, dissected by
canyon-like valleys of the tributaries of the Dniester. The level of the
Dniester reservoir (121 m) is the lowest elevation.
Hydrography
120 rivers over 10 km long each flow through the territory of the
region. The largest are the Dniester (the length within the region is
160 km) with tributaries Zbruch, Smotrych, Ushitsa; Southern Bug (length
within the region - 120 km) with tributaries Buzhok, Volk, Ikva; rivers
of the Dnieper basin - Horyn, Sluch, Khomora.
Lakes are few. They
are found mainly in the Goryn basin. The largest reservoir is the
Dniester. 1858 ponds and reservoirs were built, mainly in the basins of
Goryn and the Southern Bug, in particular Shchedrovskoye (1258 ha),
Novostavskoye (1168 ha), Kuzminskoye (765 ha).
Stone tools at the Golovchintsy-1 site, located near the village of
Medzhybizh near the outer border of the ancient Quaternary terrace of
the Southern Bug, were found in the fossil soils of the Shiroka stage,
which were formed at least 900 thousand - 1.2 million years ago. The
oldest layers with archaeological finds at the Medzhybizh A site
probably have a similar age. Evidence of the use of fire by people in
Medzhybizh A is the hearths in its upper layers - one of the oldest
discovered in Eastern Europe. The time of functioning of the upper
layers of Medzhibozh 1 (layer 16a) and Medzhibozh A (layer 1) refers to
the interval of 380-400 thousand years ago. The Luka-Vrublevetskaya site
on the left bank of the Dniester also belongs to the Lower Paleolithic
(Middle Acheulean). A typical mycoccus is characterized by single finds,
including a typical heart-shaped biface from the Smotrich River on the
outskirts of Negin.
The cemeteries in Ilyatka belong to the
culture of spherical amphoras.
In Luka-Vrublevetskaya, the
remains of a settlement dating back to 4000-3000 BC were found. e.,
which refers to the early stage of the Trypillia culture (a single
burial in a dwelling). In the vicinity of the city of Polonnoe, a
two-layer settlement of the Eneolithic-Bronze Age with ceramics of the
Trypillia culture of 4-3 thousand BC was found. e. and ceramics of the
Bronze Age 2 thousand BC.
The Chernyakhov culture includes a
settlement on the Goryn River in the village of Lepesovka.
In the
XI-XIII centuries, between the upper reaches of the Southern Bug and
Teterev, there was Bolokhov land. The sword from Karabchiev is one of
the most beautiful ancient Russian swords found near Kamenetz-Podolsky,
dates back to the 10th - first half of the 11th century. The hilt of the
sword is of the European-Russian type, the ornament is of the Byzantine
type. The Tihoml settlement of the 12th century is located on the site
of the ancient Russian city of Tihoml in the basin of the Goryn River.
In 1144, the Chernigov prince Izyaslav Davydovich occupied Ushytsa,
which then belonged to the Galician prince Vladimir Volodarevich. In
1159, Ivan Rostislavich Berladnik besieged Ushitsa with the Polovtsy and
Berladniks, but went to Kyiv to help Izyaslav Davydovich. In the city of
Polonne, not far from the Church of St. Anne, they found a 12th-century
lead letter with a Cyrillic text.
Not far from Kamenetz-Podolsky,
a treasure was found of 297 fragments of concave coins of the 13th
century of the Byzantine type.
Kamenetz-Podolsky in 1434-1793 was
the center of the Podolsky Voivodeship as part of the Lesser Poland
Province of the Polish Crown.
The Podolsk governorate in the
Russian Empire was formed in 1793.
In 1796, the Podolsk
governorship was transformed into the Podolsk province.
The
region was allocated on September 22, 1937 from the Vinnitsa region.
Until April 26, 1954, it was called the Kamenetz-Podolsk region. The
administrative center of the region was originally the city of
Kamenets-Podolsk (aka the city of Kamenetz-Podolsk from August 9, 1944).
But on May 12, 1941, the administrative center of the region was
transferred to the city of Proskurov, and the region remained
"Kamenets-Podolsk" until 1954, when Proskurov was renamed Khmelnitsky.
Heroes of the Soviet Union
Bader, Chaim Volkovich (1920-2003) -
Soviet philologist, writer and journalist, one of the leading scholars
of Yiddish culture in the USSR.
Gertsy, Yuri Viktorovich (born June
1, 1946, the village of Ryabiyevka, Volochissky district, Khmelnitsky
region) - Russian statesman, head of the Federal Service for Labor and
Employment (Rostrud) in 2008-2013.
Kondratyuk, Nikolai Kondratievich
(1931-2006) - opera singer, People's Artist of the USSR (1978).
Levitsky, Alexei Yakovlevich (born 1931) - opera singer, Honored Artist
of the RSFSR (1962), People's Artist of the Russian Federation (1996).
Melnikova, Tamara Mikhailovna (born 1940) is a Russian museum worker,
teacher, and literary critic. Director of the FGUK "State Lermontov
Museum-Reserve" Tarkhany "" since 1978. Honored Worker of Culture of the
RSFSR.
Manyak, Vladimir Antonovich (1934-1992) - Ukrainian writer,
poet, prose writer, publicist, public figure. Member of the Union of
Writers of Ukraine, the Union of Writers of the USSR (1967).
Matvienko, Valentina Ivanovna (born 1949) - Russian statesman, governor
and chairman of the Government of St. Petersburg in 2003-2011, chairman
of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation since 2011.
Mazur, Alla Grigorievna (born September 16,
1965) is a Ukrainian journalist. Presenter of the information program
TSN on the Ukrainian channel "1 + 1".
Meikher, Nadezhda Alexandrovna
(born 1982) - Ukrainian singer, TV presenter. Soloist of the famous
Ukrainian female pop group "VIA Gra".
Ponomarev, Alexander
Valerievich (born 1973) - Ukrainian pop singer, People's Artist of
Ukraine.
Stepankov, Konstantin Petrovich (1928-2004) - theater and
film actor, People's Artist of the USSR (1977).
Shvets, Vladimir
Alexandrovich (1949) - Honored Journalist of Ukraine, Member of the
Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
Ukupnik, Arkady Semyonovich (born
1953) is a Russian composer, pop singer, producer of the Kar-Man group,
Honored Artist of Russia.
Lesya Nikityuk (born 1987) is a Ukrainian
actress, TV presenter of the Eagle and Tails program on the Russian
channel Friday!
Tatarintseva, Olga Alekseevna (1967) - artist.