The city's roots date back to theMiddle Ages. It was underLithuanian andPolish control for centuries. From 1653 to 1667, Vinnytsia was a regimental city of theHetman state, and in 1793, it was ceded to theRussian Empire. During the 1930s and early 1940s, the city was the site of massacres, first duringStalin's purges and then duringthe Holocaust in Ukraine and theNazi occupation. ACold War–eraairbase was located near the city. Currently, Vinnytsia is developing as one of the most comfortable cities for life in independent Ukraine.[5]
The name of Vinnytsia appeared for the first time in 1363. It is assumed that the name is derived from theProto-Slavic word "*věno" (вѣно), meaning "a bride price." This name can be explained by the fact that Vinnytsia and the surrounding land were captured byLithuanian DukeAlgirdas in the 14th century, and then, they were given to his nephews.[6]
In addition to the UkrainianВінниця (Vinnytsia), in other languages of the region, the name of the city isRussian:Винница,romanized: Vinnitsa,Polish:Winnica,Lithuanian:Vinica,German:Winniza,Romanian:Vinița andYiddish:וויניצע,romanized: Vinitse. English sources used the Russian-derivedVinnitsa from the early 19th century until the 1990s andWinnica orWinnicza (from Polish) before that, reflecting the ultimate political authorities of those respective eras.
Vinnytsia is located about 260 km (160 mi) southwest of the Ukrainian capital,Kyiv, 429 km (267 mi) north-northwest of theBlack Sea port city ofOdesa, and 369 km (229 mi) east ofLviv.
A long-lasting warm summer with a sufficient quantity of moisture and a comparatively short winter is characteristic of Vinnytsia. The average temperature in January is −5.8 °C (21.6 °F) and 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) in July. The average annual precipitation is 638 mm (25 in).
Over the course of a year there are around 6–9 days when snowstorms occur, 37–60 days when mists occur during the cold period, and 3–5 days when thunderstorms with hail occur.
Climate data for Vinnytsia, Ukraine (1991–2020, extremes 1900–present)
On 28 January 2022, Vinnytsia City Council announced Vinnytsia Green Deal by signing the Declaration and approving the Roadmap of measures for the implementation of its principles and approaches within the community.[12]
Vinnytsia has been an important trade and political center since the fourteenth century, whenFyodor Koriatovych, the nephew of theLithuanian DukeAlgirdas, built a fortress (1363) againstTatar raiders on the banks of theSouthern Bug. The original settlement was built and populated by Aleksander Hrehorovicz Jelec, ahetman under Lithuanian PrinceŠvitrigaila. Aleksander Jelec built the fort, which he commanded asstarosta afterwards.
After theSecond Partition of Poland in 1793 theRussian Empire annexed the city and the region. Russia moved to expunge theRoman Catholic religion. Catholic churches in the city, including what is currently the Transfiguration Cathedral, were converted toRussian Orthodox churches.
Vinnytsia on a 1910s postcard
In theRussian census of 1897, Vinnytsia had a population of 30,563. It was the third largest city inPodolia region afterKamianets-Podilskyi andUman. After railway connections were completed in 1871, Vinnytsia developed rapidly economically and infrastructurally. The city architect Hryhorii Artynov erected a number of buildings (a water tower, a theater, churches, hotels and mansions), which still shape the city image.
Soviet Vinnytsia became an industrial giant with an emphasis onsugar production, but in the shadow of its prosperity it experienced a devastating man-made famine occurred inSoviet Ukraine from1932 to 1933.[16]
Vinnytsia was occupied by German troops on 19 July 1941 duringWorld War II. While Vinnytsia had a pre-war Jewish population of over 34,000, only 17,000 of these Jews remained, with the rest of them successfully being evacuated to the interior of the Soviet Union beforehand.[18] Virtually all of the Jews who remained in Vinnytsia under Nazi occupation were subsequently murdered in theHolocaust.[18]Nazi atrocities were committed in and near Vinnytsia byEinsatzgruppe C. In 1942 a large part of the Jewish quarter ofYerusalimka was destroyed by Germans.[citation needed] Related to that period is one infamous photo,The Last Jew of Vinnytsia.
Adolf Hitler sited his eastern headquarters,FührerhauptquartierWerwolf orWehrwolf, at the Wehrmacht headquarters[19] near the city. The complex was built in 1941–1942 by Russian prisoners of war. Many of them were subsequently killed.[20] Hitler's accommodation consisted of a log cabin built around a private courtyard with its own concrete bunker.[21] The complex included about 20 other log buildings, a power station, gardens, wells, three bunkers, a swimming pool, and wire and defensive positions.[22]
Hitler spent a number of weeks at Wehrwolf in 1942 and early 1943.[23] The few remains of the Wehrwolf site, described in one report as a "pile of concrete" because it was destroyed by the Nazis in 1944,[24] can be visited. Plans to create a full-fledged museum had not come to fruition as of August 2018.[25][26]
On 14 July 2022 the center ofthe city was attacked with three Russian cruise missiles. Missiles hit the local NeuroMed clinic and House of the Officers, which was currently used as a concert hall. Due to the strike 27 people[29] were killed (three children among them), 80 were hospitalized. The next day the Russian Ministry of defense said that the target was top-ranking Ukrainian military officers and representatives of foreign military industry companies.[30][31]
On 12 October 2022, a pilotVadym Voroshylov (call signKaraia) destroyed 5 "Shahed 136" drones near Vinnytsia. Due to damage to the plane, Vadym ejected in Vinnytsia oblast, having previously diverted the fighter jet from the settlement. For this, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.[32]
In 2023, the city of Vinnytsia opened a representative office to theEuropean Union, becoming the fourth Ukrainian sub-national administration or organisation to take up an offer to use office space in theEuropean Committee of the Regions (CoR).[33]
According to a survey conducted by theInternational Republican Institute in April–May 2023, 85% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 15% spoke Russian.[36]
Detail of the Vinnytsia clock towerVinnytsia State Pedagogical University
Educational institutions of the city of Vinnytsia:
58preschool education institutions[37] (56 communal, 1 state and 1 private forms of ownership). Electronic registration is available for enrolling children in communally owned pre-school education institutions;
45 institutions of generalsecondary education[38] (37 communal and 8 private forms of ownership).
8 institutions of state-owned professional (vocational and technical) education;
There are 4industrial parks[51] on the territory of Vinnytsia City Territorial Community that are included in the Register of Industrial Parks of Ukraine: Vinnytsia Industrial Park (with an area of 35.7 ha), Industrial ParkVinnytsia Cluster of Refrigeration Engineering (with an area of 19.27 ha), Industrial ParkWinter Sport (with an area of 25 ha), Industrial Park "VinIndustry" (with an area of 13.1 ha). The facilities of UBC Cool[52] (production of refrigeration equipment for food and beverages), KNESS[53] (production of solar panels) are already operating on the basis of industrial parks, HEAD plant[54] (production of equipment for winter sports) is under construction.
Vinnytsia is among the top five cities in terms of the number of specialists in IT.[55] This sector is represented, in particular, by the following companies: Gemicle, Playtika,[56] Onseo,[57] EPAM Ukraine,[58] Infopulse, Avenga, Ajax System, Sigma Software, Ciklum, N-iX, RIA Internet Group. The main office of LetyShops,[59] the largest cashback service in Ukraine, the leader in this market segment, is located in the city.
Also in Vinnytsia, the project of theInnovation and Technology Park ″Krystal″ is being implemented.
As part of the decentralized cooperation program between the city of Vinnytsia and Vinnytsia region with the city ofDijon, the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region, AgroVin agricultural cluster was created in March 2021.[60] The participants of the agrocluster are processing enterprises of the city of Vinnytsia, agricultural producers and specialized scientific institutions (Agrana Fruit Ukraine LLC, Vinnytsia Food and Gustatory Factory PJSC, Agroposluhtransservis LLC, Dibrova LLC, Organik-d LLC, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University, Institute of Fodder and Agriculture of Podillia National Academy of Sciences).
Vinnytsia Instrumentation and Automation Cluster[61] was created in February 2021 by local enterprises (Promavtomatyka-Vinnytsia LLC, Innovinprom LLC, Maitek Plus LLC, Grampis LLC, Tiras LLC, Vinaerogis LLC, and others) that work in the instrument-making industry and are engaged in the automation of production with the aim of creating competitive products, creating jobs for the best local graduates, promoting the definition and implementation of smart specialization of the city territorial community and the region.
Park of Culture and Recreation named afterMykola Leontovych located in Vinnytsia city between the streets Soborna (center), Mahistratska and Khmelnytske Shose.
The park is 40 hectares.
There are numerous monuments (soldiers in Afghanistan, Sich Riflemen, killed police officers, victims of NKVD's purge), and the Alley of outstanding countrymen are objects of leisure and recreation: a summer theater, a stadium, an ice club, a city planetarium, a fountain, a chess club, Mini-Vinnytsia open air museum, numerous attractions and gaming machines.
For more than 70 years of its history, the Central Park has always been a place of celebrations and recreation for the residents and for holding local/municipal events and holidays. It became a fine tradition to hold folk festivals and all major holidays in the Park, in particular on the City Day, Europe Day, Independence Day, and more.
Fountain Roshen[63] is the only one in Ukraine and the largest floating fountain in Europe, built in the riverSouthern Buh in Vinnytsia City near Campa Isle (Festivalny Isle)
Saint Nicholas Church is considered to be the oldest building in the city — built in 1746 in the place of older one;
Baroque Church of the Holy Virgin Mary Angelic, built in 1748—1761 asCapuchin monastery;
The NationalPirogov's Estate Museum and church where hisembalmed body preserved. Built in 1866—1885, opened for visitors as a museum in 1947;[64]
The Literary and Memorial Museum of a “great Sun Worshiper”, a classical author of Ukrainian literatureMykhailo Kotsiubynsky, built in 1860-1890th and opened for visitors as a museum in 1927;[65]
Vaksman family's real estate, built in 1915 inArt Nouveau style. Address: 24, Symona Petliury Street. Built by architect Moisey Aaronovitch Vaksman. Architectural landmark;
TV Tower Vinnytsia — the tallest guyed tubular steel mast in the world, built in 1961;
The new Greek Catholic Church at South Bug river, built in 1993—1996;
Baptist Church ″Evangelical House″– reportedly one of the largest Evangelical Church buildings in Europe, built in 1996;
Seventh-day Adventist Church, built in 2000th;
Multimedia Fountain Roshen, built in 2011, it is considered one of the largest floating fountains in Europe.[66] It is the major multimedia attraction in the city.
In the city, numerous historical buildings are being repaired and new ones are being built.
There is arailway station in Vinnytsia,Vinnytsia railway station, which is a part ofSouthwestern Railways. In 2013 it was named among 10 biggest railway stations in Ukraine.[67] The current Vinnytsia railway station was built in 1952 and is the 4th railway building in Vinnytsia. The previous three were destroyed.[67]
Vinnytsia is an important transport hub for internal and external railway connections. Most of the international trains which cross through Ukraine have a stop in Vinnytsia. For example, trains to Przemyśl (Poland) and from Sofia (Bulgaria), Chisinau (Moldova), Bratislava (Slovakia), Belgrade (Serbia), Budapest (Hungary) transit through Vinnytsia.[67] For internal railway connections, Vinnytsia is also an important transport point for trains heading to Western Ukraine (Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi), the South (Odesa), as well as to Central Ukraine (Kyiv).
Trams in VinnytsiaAn unofficial transit map of Vinnytsia featuring tram, trolleybus, bus and minibus (marshrutka) routes
The tram is the most popular public transport in Vinnytsia. There are six tram routes in Vinnytsia:[68]
Number of the route
Route starting and ending point
1
The railway station (Zaliznychnyi vokzal) – Elektromerezha.
2
Barske Shose – Vyshen'ka
3
Vyshen'ka – Electromerezha
4
Barske Shose – the Railway station (Zaliznychnyi vokzal)
5
Barske Shose – Elektromerezha
6
The railway station (Zaliznychnyi vokzal) – Vyshen'ka.
The most trams in Vinnytsia are donations from theVerkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), the public transport operator ofZürich, Switzerland. In the early 2000s, the VBZ donated its 1960sKarpfen andMirage rolling stock to Vinnytsia, and they will do so again in 2022 with 35Tram 2000 vehicles. The Swiss trams retain their blue and white liveries in Vinnytsian service.[69]
Since 2015, "Vinnytsia Transport Company" began manufacturing VinWay trams based on Tatra KT4SU wagons and VinLine trolleybuses. As of 2024, 10 modernized trams and 31 trolleybuses are running in the city.[70]
As for the 2022, the city's healthcare system is represented by more than 40 treatment and preventive medical institutions, 16 of which are communally owned by the city of Vinnytsia. There are more than 60 private medical institutions.
Vinnytsia Regional Clinical Hospital named after Mykola Pirogov of Vinnytsia Regional Council was founded in Vinnytsia in 1805 as the first municipal hospital, and under the name of Mykola Pirogov has been operating since 1917.Today, the hospital is a multidisciplinary, highly specialised, curative and preventive health care institution, whose mandate is to provide medical assistance to patients in 22 specialized areas. 12 clinical departments and cycles ofVinnytsia National Medical University named after Mykola Pirogov are located in the centers and departments of the hospital.
Vinnytsia Regional Clinical Treatment and Diagnostic Center for Cardiovascular Pathology is a specialized medical facility that provides routine and emergency medical care to patients with diseases of the circulatory system. The institution has 5 departments and a clinical diagnostic laboratory, where 186 medical workers work. The operating units of the center provides coronary angiography (diagnostics of heart vessels), stenting of damaged arteries, open heart surgery.[74]
FC Nyva Vinnytsia (former "Locomotive") was created in 1958. During the Soviet Union, "Niva" from Vinnytsia was on good terms, not among the best, but it showed decent results against the background of other clubs of theUkrainian SSR. Vinnytsia won the championship of the republic twice, in 1964 and 1984, and in 1972 and 1973 Lokomotiv even won theCup of Ukraine. On 2 January 2021, Niva player Artur Zahorulko became the club's president.[75]
Vinnytsia is the base of the Ukrainian field hockey. 2 leading Ukrainian teams are registered here: "Hockey Club Olympia-Kolos-Sequoia" (HC OKS-SHVSM)[76] and "Dynamo-ShVSM-VDPU".
Vinnytsia is known for playing sports such as basketball. There are two professional teams: the women's "Vinnytsia Lightnings"[77] and the men's "Vinnytsia Bisons". "Vinnytsia Bisons" is a fairly well-known brand in Vinnytsia and Ukrainian sports. This men's basketball team twice won silver medals and once - bronze of the higher league of the championship of Ukraine in 2018.[78]
In 2006, the first American football championship of Ukraine took place, in which "Vinnytsia Wolves" took second place. In 2013, 6 "Wolves" players were invited to be selected for the national American football team of Ukraine. Three of them became part of it. In 2014, the team started playing in the higher league, where they played in the group stage with Kyiv "Bandits", Odesa "Pirates" and Kyiv "Vityaz". 2017 — silver medalists of the ULAF Championship of Ukraine. The youth teams of the Vinnytsia Wolves sports club, which formed the basis of two national flag football teams of Ukraine, became participants in the New Generation Bowl 2022 and returned home with achievements. The U15 national team won the silver cup of the tournament, and the U17 team won the bronze.[79]
Serhii Bohachuk — Vinnytsia boxer, WBC Continental Americas title holder;[83]Viacheslav Uzielkov — WBA Intercontinental light heavyweight boxing champion, politician and TV-presenter;Roman Holovashchenko — international (2009—2010) and intercontinental champion (2017—2018) according to the IBO version, world champion according to the GBC version (2009—2010), European champion according to the IBF version (2016);
Nikolay Pirogov (1810–1881) originally from Moscow, an Imperial Russian doctor, founder offield surgery, spent his later years in Vinnytsia; his home is a museum;
Olya Polyakova (born 1979) a Ukrainian singer, actress, TV presenter and comedian;
Werwolf (Wehrmacht HQ) – the codename used for one of Adolf Hitler's World War II Eastern Front military headquarters. It was one of the most easterly ever used by Hitler in person.
^"Podolia".Jewish Virtual Library. AICE. Retrieved31 December 2020.
^Gembarzewski, Bronisław (1925).Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831 (in Polish). Warszawa: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej. p. 26.
^"Kardeş Şehirler".Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi Basın Koordinasyon Merkez. Tüm Hakları Saklıdır. Archived fromthe original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved27 July 2013.
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