Halych ( , , , ) is a
historic city on the Dniester River
in western Ukraine
.
The town
gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of
Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early
14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to
Lviv
. In 1340-1772, the province comprised the
Ruthenian Voivodeship.
Today Halych is a small city and is located right next to the
former capital of the Galicia Kingdom although it preserved its
former name.
It also is the administrative center of the Halytsky Raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
(province).
It lies
26 km north of the oblast capital, Ivano-Frankivsk
. Halych's population is estimated at
6,406.
Name
Old Polish postcard with a view of
Halych
The city's name, though spelled identically
"
Галич" in modern
East Slavic languages, is pronounced
Halych in
Ukrainian and Galich in
Russian.
The Russian transliteration should not be
confused with Galich,
Russia
. In
Polish
the name is rendered "Halicz"; in the
Yiddish language, "העליטש" ("Helitsh" or
"Heylitsh"); in
Latin, "Galic"; in
Hungarian, "Halics."
The origin of the Slavic toponym "Halych" is after the Khwalis or
Kaliz who occupied the area from the time of the
Magyars. They were also called
Khalisioi in
Greek, and
Khvalis (Хвалис) in Russian.
Historians formerly
believed it was Celtic, related to
many similar place names found across Europe such as "Galaţi
" (Romania
), "Gaul" (France
) and
"Galicia
" (Spain
).
Another version postulates "
hals", "
salt", at the root of "Halych", as the salt trade was a
substantial economic factor in the medieval history of Halych.
Max Vasmer and modern
Slavists generally agree that "Halych" is an
adjective derived from the
East Slavic
word for "
jackdaw," "
halka." This
bird featured in the town's
coat of
arms (but not in the
Árpád
coat of arms, when
Corvinus is
a raven) when it was part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Local folk legend would have it that the name "Halych" comes from a
legendary "Prince Halychyna," the first ruler of these lands. In
fact, a
kurgan referred to by locals as
"Halychyna's tomb," excavated in 1996, contained a ritual
cremation site and a
bronze
weapon and
gold disc that
could have belonged to a noble leader.
Old Halych
Oldest archaeological artifacts from the territory of Halych are
classified to
Neolithic period 40
000 years ago. More systematic findings from a wide number of
archaeological cultures dated from 5500 BC till nowadays indicate
that population of local terrains was virtually perpetual for some
past 7000 years. According to excavated finds population of Halych
became especially significant from 8-9 c. AD.
Written mention of Halych by Slavic chronicles dates back to 1138.
Most comprehensive records about Halych are found in the
Hypatian Codex of the
Primary Chronicle.
In 1141 Prince
(knyaz) Volodymyrko Volodarovych
(1104–1152) who united the competing principalities of Przemyśl
, Zvenyhorod and Terebovlya
into the state of Halychyna transferred his capital from Zvenyhorod,
to Halych making it the seat of his Rurikid
dynasty and considerably expanding the settlement.
Interestingly, local officials attribute the first written mention
of Halych to the year 896.
The opinion is supported by a record found in
Gesta Hungarorum, court chronicles
of the Hungarian
king Béla
III (dated by beginning of 13 century though). The
chronicles describe a stay of Hungarian tribes led by
Prince Álmos in Halych on their way
through
Slavic land to
Pannonia. The claim is not supported by serious
scholars. Similarly, another curious date for the first written
mention, 290 AD (with a reference to "
Getica" by
Goth Jordanes) is not accepted
by majority.
The first dynasty of Halych, descending from
Vladimir of Novgorod, culminated in
Yaroslav Osmomysl (1153–1187)
before going extinct in 1199. The same year
Roman the Great founded the new
Rurikid dynasty, uniting
Halychyna and
Volhynia
into the more powerful principality of
Halych-Volhynia. The
Mongols under
Batu Khan
took the capital in 1241, when the famous
King Danylo was its ruler.
Thereafter the town
steadily declined, eventually ceding supremacy to the newly-founded
Lviv.
This 16th-century wooden church from
Krylos exemplifies traditional wooden architecture of
Galicia.
The excavations of 1933-42 (Jaroslaw Pasternak), 1951-52 (Karger
M.K., Aulikh V.), and 1955 uncovered remains of houses, workshops,
fortifications, and ten churches built of white stone. Pasternak's
excavations established that ancient Halych originated on the spot
of today's village
Krylos (located 5 km
north of modern Halych) as early as the 10th century. In 1936
Pasternak also discovered remains of an eleventh to twelfth century
three-
apse cathedral with burial tomb of Prince
Yaroslav Osmomysl in it. The
cathedral is ascribed to the Cathedral of the Dormition previously
known only from
Chronicles, known
to have been a sepulchre of the earliest Halychian princes.
The sheer
size (37,5 by 32,4 m) of the cathedral (the second largest
mediaeval church on the territory of present-day Ukraine, smaller
only to St. Sophia Cathedral
in Kiev), suggests that ancient Halych was the seat
of a diocese. Most likely the
cathedral was built in 1157 and destroyed in 1241 by
hordes of
Batyi Khan, then
rebuilt again and last time mentioned in 1576.
It is believed that the early Halychian architectural style,
thoroughly permeated with
Romanesque influences from the West,
had been transferred further north-east.
The builders of
temples in Halych are believed to have also been responsible for
the extant Pereslavl
Cathedral and Church of
Intercession upon Nerl
. The foundations of the Assumption Cathedral
(1157) are still to be seen. The only surviving medieval church is
that of
Saint Pantaleon, originally
constructed at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, but much
rebuilt in the 17th century and controversially reconstructed in
the 1990s. The archaeological excavations (1989-2005 under
direction of Yuri Lukomsky) at the terrains of Krylos and Halych
continue.
New Halych
Nativity church (14th-15th
century)
Gradually, old Halych depopulated to the point that its only
mid-14th century inhabitants were the
Metropolitan of Halych and his staff.
The
present-day town is situated about 3 miles (5 km) away from
the ancient capital of Halychyna, on the spot where the old town's
riverport used to be located and where prince Lubart of Lithuania
constructed his wooden castle in 1367.
Its main historical monument is the church dedicated to the
Nativity of Mary. Originally built
at the turn of the 14th and 15th century, it was restored in 1825.
Also of interest is an equestrian monument to
Danylo of Halych, opened in 2003 to mark
the 750th anniversary of that prince's coronation as the king of
Ruthenia.
Tourist attractions
References
- Pasternak J. Die neuentdeckte mittelalterliche Kathedrale in
Krylos. – Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, 1938, Bd. 3,
S.
- Big list of references
External links
Gallery
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