Bilohiria

Bilohiria (Ukrainian: Білогір'я, translit. Bilohir'ia) (formerly known as Liakhivtsi) is an urban-type settlement in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of western Ukraine.[2][3] It serves as the administrative center of the Bilohiria Raion (district)</ref>, housing the district's local administration buildings. The town's population was 5,592 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census and 5,212 (2020 est.)[4] Nearby towns include Yampil (formerly Yampol or Iampol), Kremenets, and Kornytsya.

For the city in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, see Bilohirsk.
Bilohiria Liakhivtsi Ukraine

Білогір'я
Urban-type settlement
View of Bilohiria with the Dominican Cathedral in the background (ca. 17th century).
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 50°00′18″N 26°24′57″E
Country Ukraine
ProvinceKhmelnytskyi Oblast
DistrictBilohiria Raion
Founded1441
Town status1960
Area
 • Total8.6 km2 (3.3 sq mi)
Elevation236 m (774 ft)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 5,212
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code
30200
Area code+380 3841
Websitehttp://rada.gov.ua/

The town is located on the banks of the Horyn River, a tributary of the Prypyat.[5] The town of Bilohiria also administers the Bilohiria Settlement Council (Ukrainian: Білогірська селищна рада), whose jurisdiction also covers the villages of Karasykha and Trostianka.[5]

History

The region surrounding Liakhivtsi was known to be settled by at least the 12th century,[6] when residents of the Kyiv area migrated west to Volhynia and beyond.[7] The Mongol invasion of 1260 subjected the area to rule of the Mongol khan.[8] Lithuanian control over the region took place in the 14th century. The settlement of Liakhivtsi (Ukrainian: Ляхівці; Polish: Lachowce) was founded in 1441 on Bilohiria's modern-day territory.Yesiunin, Serhiy (March 27, 2011). "Bilohiria - pages through ancient history". Gazeta "Ye" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 20 May 2013.</ref> Jews were expelled from the region in 1495, but were allowed to return a few years later. The settlement received the Magdeburg rights in 1583.[9]

Polish influence increased over the 15th and 16th centuries, with Poland taking official control in 1569 with the Treaty of Lublin. Cultural life in Volhynia flourished under Polish rule, interrupted by the 1648 Chmielnicki Khmelnytsky Uprising massacres, which killed many Jewish residents. Additional settlements formed in the 1660s. Volhynia was transferred to Polish control in 1793, where it remained until the interwar period.

In 1885, Liakhivtsi was the administrative center of the Liakhivtsi volost of the Ostroh povit. During that time, the settlement's population consisted of 2,368.[10]

The Russian Empire Census of 1897 reported the town's population as 5,401. At that time, 3,890 of the inhabitants belonged to the Eastern Orthodox faith, while 1,384 were of the Jewish faith.[11]

In the 20th century, the region was populated by both ethnic Ukrainians and Poles, whose populations struggled against each other. At the same time, Germany and the Soviet Union that were struggling for influence in the greater region.[12] World War II brought these conflicts to the forefront. Nazi Germany occupied the region in June 1941. World War II ended in tragedy for the Jews of Lechowitz. German forces invaded Russia in June 1941, and within a year, murdered virtually the entire Jewish population of Lechowitz. A memorial [13] exists today in the forests outside of town, where 2,300 Jews from Lechowitz and nearby towns were murdered by German forces.[14] A small number of Jews from Lechowitz survived World War II.

The entire region fell under Soviet rule following the end of World War II. In August 1991, Ukraine became an independent state, and Lechowitz (Bilohiria) is part of that state.

The town was known by the name of Liakhivtsi (Lechowitz, Lyakhovtsy, Lechevitz, Lakhovce, Liakhovitz, etc.) until it was changed in 1949 when its status was upgraded to that of a rural settlement.[15] In 1960, Bilohiria received the status of an urban-type settlement. The Yiddish version of the town name was לעחיוויץ. After World War II, the Russian government renamed the town to Belogor'ye or Belogoria. The Ukrainian version of the name is Bilohir'ya or Bilohiria.

There are other towns named Liakhivtsi(or phonetically similar), including one in called Lyakhavichy in Belarus, a town called Lachowice in Poland, and one called Lechotice in the Czech Republic.

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See also
  • Yampil, the other urban-type settlement in the Bilohiria Raion

References
  1. "Bilohiria (Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Bilohiria Raion)". weather.in.ua. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  2. "Bilohiria, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Bilohiria Raion". Regions of Ukraine and their Structure (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. https://sites.google.com/view/lechowitz/home
  4. "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. "Bilohiria in time and space". bilogiryanvk.ucoz.ru/ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/volhynia
  7. https://www.britannica.com/place/Volhynia
  8. https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Kremenets/General_information_on_Kremenets/rusandpol.htm#_Toc503170026
  9. "Belogorye". stejka.com - Tourist portal of Ukraine (in Russian). Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. Волости и важнѣйшія селенія Европейской Россіи. По данным обслѣдованія, произведеннаго статистическими учрежденіями Министерства Внутренних Дѣл, по порученію Статистическаго Совѣта. Изданіе Центральнаго Статистическаго Комитета. Выпускъ III. Губерніи Малороссійскія и Юго-Западныя. СанктПетербургъ. 1885. — V + 349 с.
  11. Населенныя мѣста Россійской Имперіи в 500 и болѣе жителей съ указаніем всего наличнаго въ них населенія и числа жителей преобладающихъ вѣроисповѣданій по даннымъ первой всеобщей переписи 1897 г. С-Петербург. 1905. — IX + 270 + 120 с., (стор. 1-23)
  12. http://ukrainianpolicy.com/ethnic-cleansing-or-ethnic-cleansings-the-polish-ukrainian-civil-war-in-galicia-volhynia/
  13. https://sites.google.com/view/lechowitz/monuments
  14. https://sites.google.com/view/lechowitz/history
  15. Bilohiria, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Bilohiria Raion". Regions of Ukraine and their Structure (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2013
  • Media related to Bilohiria at Wikimedia Commons
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