Ivano-Frankivsk


Ivano-Frankivsk, formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also hosts the administration of the Ivano-Frankivsk urban hromada. Its population is 227,827.
Built in the mid-17th century as a fortress of the Polish Potocki family, Stanisławów was annexed to the Habsburg Empire during the First Partition of Poland in 1772, after which it became the property of the State within the Austrian Empire. Throughout this time, it was within the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. The fortress was slowly transformed into one of the most prominent cities at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. After World War I, for several months, it served as a temporary capital of the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Following the Peace of Riga in 1921, Stanisławów became part of the Second Polish Republic. After the Soviet invasion of Poland at the onset of World War II, the city was annexed by the Soviet Union, only to be occupied by Nazi Germany two years later. With the liberation of Soviet Ukraine in 1944 and the shifting of borders, the city remained part of the Ukrainian SSR and was renamed in 1962 after Ivan Franko. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the city become part of newly-independent Ukraine.
Ivano-Frankivsk is one of the principal cities of the Carpathian Euroregion. There are elements of various cultures intertwined in the city's architecture, including the Polish city hall, the Austro-Hungarian city's business centre, the Soviet prefabricated apartment blocks at the city's rural–urban fringe, and others.

Name

The town was founded as a fortress known as Stanisławów where it was named after the Polish hetman Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki. Some sources claim it was named after his grandson Stanisław. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the name was transliterated as Stanislau in German, as the city became part of the Austrian Empire, and later Austria-Hungary; however, after the Revolutions of 1848, the city carried three different linguistic renderings of its name: German, Polish, and Ruthenian. Other spellings used in the local press media included Stanislavov and.
After World War II it was changed by the Soviet authorities into a simplified version Stanislav. In 1962, to honor the Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko on the city's 300th anniversary, it was renamed Ivano-Frankivsk or Ivano-Frankovsk . It is sometimes colloquially called Frankivsk Франківск. In several languages two names can be found in 21st century sources: one ending in /ivsk/ and one in /ovsk/. In English the city is "also known as" Ivano-Frankovsk. Poland clarified in 2010 that Iwano-Frankiwsk should be used instead of Iwano-Frankowsk.

History

The town of Stanisławów was founded as a fortress in order to protect the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from Tatar invasions and to defend the multi-ethnic population of the region in case of armed conflicts such as the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648. The fort was originally built next to Zabolotiv village, and Knyahynyn. The village of Zabolotiv and the land around it were purchased by Andrzej Potocki from another Polish nobleman, Rzeczkowski. Stanisławów was issued by Potocki and his declaration establishing the city with Magdeburg rights on 7 May 1662; but the city and its rights, however, were not recognized by the Polish Crown until 14 August 1663, when John Casimir had finally approved it. By 1672, the fortress had been rebuilt from wood to stone, brick, and mortar. Also a new large fortified Potocki palace was erected in the place of an older wood structure. Today this building serves as the military hospital. In the same year Jews were granted the right to become permanent residents, who could work, conduct commerce and travel in and out of the city as they pleased.
Originally the city was divided into two districts: Tysmenytsia and Halych. Sometime in 1817–1819 the neighbouring village of Zabolottya, that had a special status, was incorporated into the city as a new district, while Tysmenytsia district was divided into Tysmenytsia and Lysets districts. Each district had its main street corresponded with its name: Halych Street, Tysmenytsia Street which today is Independence Street, Zabolotiv Street – Mykhailo Hrushevsky Street and Street of Vasylyanok, and Lysets Street – Hetman Mazepa Street. Later the city was split into six small districts: midtown where the rich Catholic population and patricians lived, pidzamche, and four suburbs – Zabolotiv, Tysmenytsia, Halych and Lysets where the plebeians lived.
In October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed. In the early months of 1919 the city became a temporary capital of the West Ukrainian National Republic, while still recovering from World War I. All state affairs took place in the building of Dnister Hotel where the Act Zluky was composed and signed on 22 January 1919 by the Ukrainian People's Republic. The same year it was subjected to the Polish–Ukrainian and the Romanian-Ukrainian skirmishes eventually being annexed by Poland as part of the Second Polish Republic as the centre of the Stanisławów Voivodeship. It was occupied by the Romanian army for the summer months from 25 May to 21 August 1919. During the Polish–Soviet War in 1920, the Red Army took over the city for a brief period. After the Soviet retreat, Ukrainian troops loyal to Symon Petlura occupied the city for a few days. At this period of history the city was in complete disorder. It then became part of Poland until the start of World War II.
In the 1939 invasion of Poland by German and Soviet forces, the territory was captured by the Soviets in September 1939 and annexed to the Ukrainian SSR. Between September 1939 and June 1941, the Soviet regime ordered thousands of inhabitants of the city to leave their houses and move to Siberia, where most of them perished. Numerous people were taken out of the city prison and simply shot outside of the city when Soviet forces were leaving it in 1941. Ivano-Frankivsk was occupied by German forces from 2 July 1941 to 27 July 1944. There were more than 40,000 Jews in Stanisławów when it was occupied by the Nazis on 26 July 1941. The Stanisławów Ghetto was formed. During the occupation, more than 600 educated Poles and most of the city's Jewish population were murdered.
In early 1944, the city became part of the Soviet Union and was again renamed Stanislav. The Soviets forced most of the Polish population to leave the city, where most of them settled in the Recovered Territories. In 1962, the city was renamed Ivano-Frankivsk after the Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko.
During the post-war period, the city was part of the Carpathian Military District housing the 38th Army that participated in Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Until 18 July 2020, Ivano-Frankivsk was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and the center of Ivano-Frankivsk Municipality. The municipality was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast to six. The area of Ivano-Frankivsk Municipality was merged into the newly established Ivano-Frankivsk Raion.
Since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the city is often bombed by Russian forces. On 24 February and 11 March 2022, Ivano-Frankivsk was struck by Russian missiles during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Timeline

  • 1650–1662: establishing a private fortress of Potocki
  • 1662–1772: Stanisławów, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
  • 1772–1815: Stanisławów, Austrian Monarchy,
  • 1815–1918: Stanisławów, Austrian Empire, then Austria-Hungary,
  • November 1918 – May 1919: Stanyslaviv, West Ukrainian People's Republic,
  • May 1919 – September 1939: Stanisławów, Poland, seat of the Stanisławów Voivodeship,
  • October 1939 – June 1941: Stanyslaviv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,
  • July 1941 – August 1944: Stanisławów, seat of the Stanislau Kreis, District of Galicia, General Government,
  • August 1944 – 9 November 1962: Stanislav,
  • 9 November 1962: renamed as Ivano-Frankivsk, oblast seat, Ukrainian SSR,
  • 1991–present: Ivano-Frankivsk, independent Ukraine

    Geography

The city is situated in the Carpathian region northeast of the mountain range, sitting approximately above mean sea level. One of the several main geographical features is the Vovchynets Hill also known as the Vovchynets Mountains. The hill reaches 300- above sea level and is part of the Pokuttya Highland. Around the hill Bystrytsia River branches into Bystrytsia of Nadvirna, Bystrytsia of Solotvyn, and Vorona. The last two rivers serve as a natural border between the Pokuttya Highland and Stanislav Basin. The Vovchynets Hill is located just outside and northeast of Ivano-Frankivsk. Located southeast from the Stanislav Basin in the direction of the Prut Valley is the Khorosnen Highland. The highest point of that highland is Mount Hostra,.
The closest neighboring city is Tysmenytsia, less than to the east. Other cities that lie in the radius of are Tlumach, Nadvirna, Kalush, and Halych. The city also administers five adjacent villages that surround it: Mykytyntsi, Krykhivtsi, Vovchynets, Uhornyky, and Khryplyn.

Climate

As is the case with most of Ukraine, the climate is moderate continental with warm summers, and fairly cold winters. The following climate data provided is for the past 62 years. The average number of days with precipitation is 170 spread almost equally throughout a year. Most precipitation takes place during the winter months and least in early autumn. Thunderstorms occur mostly in summer months averaging around 25 annually. Ivano-Frankivsk averages about 296 days of fog or misty days with about 24 per month.