Kolomyia
Kolomyia, formerly known as Kolomea, is a city located on the Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in the west of Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Kolomyia Raion, hosting the administration of Kolomyia urban hromada. The population is
The city rests approximately halfway between Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi, in the centre of the historical region of Pokuttia, with which it shares much of its history. Kolomyia is a notable railroad hub, as well as an industrial centre. It is a centre of Hutsul culture. Until 1925 the town was the most populous town in the region. Before the Holocaust about half the town’s population was Jewish.
Etymology
The city has alternative names for it in other languages:- ;
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History
The settlement of Kolomyia was first mentioned by the Hypatian Chronicle in 1240 and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle in 1241 a time of the Mongol invasion of Rus'. Initially part of Kievan Rus', it later belonged to one of its successor states, the principality of Halych-Volhynia. On the order of Boroldai, the town fortress was burnt down in 1259. Since the mid-13th century it was known for its salt mining industry.Under Poland (1340–1498)
In 1340 it was annexed to Poland by King Casimir III following the Galicia–Volhynia Wars, along with the rest of the Kingdom of Rus'. Sometime in the 1340s, another fortress was erected there. In a short time the settlement became one of the most notable centres of commerce in the area. Because of that, the population rose rapidly.Prior to 1353 there were two parishes in the settlement, one for Catholics and the other for Orthodox. In 1388 the king Władysław Jagiełło was forced by the war with the Teutonic Order to pawn the area of Pokuttia to the hospodar of Moldavia, Petru II. Although the town remained under Polish sovereignty, the income of the customs offices in the area was given to the Moldavians, after which time the debt was repaid. In 1412 the king erected a Dominican order monastery and a stone-built church there.
Development
In 1405 the town's town rights were confirmed and it was granted with the Magdeburg Law, which allowed the burghers limited self-governance. This move made the development of the area faster and Kołomyja, as it was called then, attracted many settlers from many parts of Europe. Apart from the local Ukrainians and Poles, many Armenians, Jews, and Hungarians settled there. In 1411 the fortress-town was given away for 25 years to the Vlach Hospodar Olexander as a gift for his support in the war against Hungary. In 1443, a year before his death, King Wladislaus II of Poland granted the town yet another privilege which allowed the burghers to trade salt, one of the most precious minerals of the Middle Ages.Since the castle gradually fell into disarray, in 1448 King Casimir IV of Poland gave the castle on the hill above the town to Maria, widow of Prince Iliaș of Moldavia as a dowry. In exchange, she refurbished the castle and reinforced it. In 1456 the town was granted yet another privilege. This time the king allowed the town authorities to stop all merchants passing by the town, and force them to sell their goods at the local market. This gave the town an additional boost, especially as the region was one of three salt-producing areas in Poland, both not far from Kraków.
The area was relatively peaceful for the next century. However, the vacuum after the decline of the Golden Horde started to be filled by yet another power in the area: the Ottoman Empire. In 1485 Sultan Beyazid II captured Belgorod and Kilia, two ports on the northern shores of the Black Sea. This became a direct threat to Moldavia. In search of allies, its ruler Stephen the Great came to Kolomyia and paid homage to the Polish king, thus becoming a vassal of the Polish Crown. For the ceremony, both monarchs came with roughly 20,000 knights, which was probably the biggest festivity ever held in the town. After the festivity most knights returned home, apart from 3,000 under Jan Karnkowski, who were given to the Moldavian prince as support in his battles, which he won in the end.
In 1490, due to increased oppression of Ukrainians at the hands of the Polish, a series of successful rebellions was led by modern Ukrainian hero Petro Mukha, joined by other Ukrainians, such as Cossacks and Hutsuls, in addition to Moldavians. Known as Mukha's Rebellion, this series of battles was supported by the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great, and it is one of the earliest known uprisings of Ukrainians against Polish oppression. Besides Kolomyia, these rebellions saw the capture of other cities of Pokuttia, and reached as far west as Lviv, but without capturing the latter.
Decline
With the death of Stephen the Great of Moldavia, the neighbouring state started to experience both internal and external pressure from the Turks. As a consequence of border skirmishes, as well as natural disasters, the town was struck by fires in 1502, 1505, 1513, and 1520.Under Moldavia (1498–1531)
, needing financial support in his battles against the Teutonic Knights, used the region as a guarantee in a loan which he obtained from Petru II of Moldavia, who thus gained control of Pokuttia in 1388. Therefore, it became the feudal property of the princes of Moldavia, but remained within the Kingdom of Poland.After the Battle of the Cosmin Forest, in 1498, Pokuttia was conquered by Stephen the Great, annexed and retained by Moldavia until the Battle of Obertyn in 1531, when it was recaptured by Poland's hetman Jan Tarnowski, who defeated Stephen's son Petru Rareș. Minor Polish-Moldavian clashes for Pokuttia continued for the next 15 years, until Petru Rareș's death.
Polish–Ottoman wars
The following year, hetman Jan Tarnowski recaptured the town and defeated the Moldavians in the Battle of Obertyn. This victory secured the city's existence for the following years, but the Ottoman power grew and Poland's southern border remained insecure.In 1589, the Turks crossed the border and seized Kolomyia almost immediately. All the burghers who had taken part in the defence were slaughtered, while the rest were forced to pay high indemnities.
The town was returned to Poland soon afterwards, but the city's growth lost its momentum.
In 1620, another Polono-Turkish war broke out. After the Polish defeat at Țuțora, Kolomyia was yet again seized by the Turks. In 1626 the town was burned to the ground, while all of residents were enslaved in a jasyr.
After the war the area yet again returned to Poland. With the town in ruins, the starosta of Kamieniec Podolski fortress financed its reconstruction – slightly further away from the Prut River. The town was rebuilt, but never regained its power and remained one of many similar-scaled centres in the area.
Khmelnytskyi Uprising
During the Khmelnytskyi Uprising in 1648–54, the Kolomyia county became a centre of a peasant unrest led by Semen Vysochan. The rebels' centre was a town of Otynia. With the help of incoming Cossack forces, Vysochan managed to overtake the important local fortress of Pniv and eventually managed to take under its control most of cities and villages in the region providing great support for the advancing Cossack forces of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Soon however with advancing Polish troops, Vysochan was forced to retreat to the eastern Podillya where he continued to fight under commands of Ivan Bohun and Ivan Sirko.In the 17th century the town`s outskirts saw another peasant rebellion led by Oleksa Dovbush. The rebels were known as opryshky.
Partition of Poland – Jewish history
As a result of the first of Partitions of Poland, Kolomyia was attributed to the Habsburg monarchy. More details about the history of Galicia can be read in the article Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.However, as it provided very little profit, Kolomyia was sold to the castellan of Bełz, Ewaryst Kuropatnicki, who became the town's owner. The magnate financed a new Our Lady's Church, but he lacked the financial means to accelerate the town`s growth.
Prosperity returned to the town in the mid-19th century, when it was linked to the world through the Lemberg-Czernowitz railroad. In 1848 in Kolomyia was built a public library which was one of the first in eastern Galicia. In 1861 there was opened a gymnasium where studied among others Petro Kozlaniuk, Vasyl Stefanyk, Marko Cheremshyna. By 1882 the town had almost 24,000 inhabitants, including roughly 12,000 Jews, 6,000 Ruthenians, and 4,000 Poles. Until the end of that century, commerce attracted even more inhabitants from all over Galicia. There were established publishers and print houses. Moreover, a new Jesuit Catholic church was built in Kolomyia, as it was called by German authorities, along with a Lutheran church built in 1874. By 1901 the number of inhabitants grew to 34,188, approximately half of them Jews.
20th century
In 1900 the Jewish population was 16,568, again nearly 50% of the town's population. The Jewish community had a Great Synagogue, and about 30 other synagogues. In 1910 Jews were prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages. In 1911 they were prohibited from salt and wine occupations.After the outbreak of World War I, the town saw fierce battles between the forces of the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary. Jews were abused for supposedly supporting the Austrians, and many Jewish homes were ransacked and destroyed. The Russian advance occupied the town in September 1914. In 1915 the Austrians retook the town.
As a result of the collapse of Austria-Hungary, both the town itself and the surrounding region became disputed between renascent Poland and the West Ukrainian People's Republic.