Zhovkva Жовква | |
|---|---|
 Main market square | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Zhovkva Zhovkva location on a map Show map of Lviv Oblast Zhovkva Zhovkva (Ukraine) Show map of Ukraine | |
| Coordinates:50°3′18″N23°58′36″E / 50.05500°N 23.97667°E /50.05500; 23.97667 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Lviv Oblast |
| Raion | Lviv Raion |
| Hromada | Zhovkva urban hromada |
| Founded | 1597 |
| Town rights | 1603 |
| Founded by | Stanisław Żółkiewski |
| Named after | Stanisław Żółkiewski |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.64 km2 (2.95 sq mi) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 13,852 |
| • Density | 1,810/km2 (4,700/sq mi) |
| Postal code | 80300—80304 |
| Area code | +380 3252 |
| Sister cities | Kraśnik,Poland |
Zhovkva[a] is acity inLviv Raion,Lviv Oblast (region) ofwestern Ukraine. Zhovkva hosts the administration ofZhovkva urban hromada, one of thehromadas of Ukraine.[1] Its population is approximately13,852 (2022 estimate).[2]
A village namedVynnyky was mentioned at the site in 1368 and was part of theKingdom of Poland under thePiast dynasty.[3] The town was founded in 1597 as aprivate fortified town and namedŻółkiew after its founder, one of the most accomplished military commanders in Polish history,hetmanStanisław Żółkiewski. LikeZamość, which was founded by Żółkiewski's mentorJan Zamoyski, Żółkiew was built on an idealRenaissance city plan. Due to its strategic location at the intersection of important trade routes, the town prospered.[4] In 1603 it was granted town rights by KingSigismund III Vasa.[3][5] From its earliest days, the population was a mix ofPoles,Armenians,Ukrainians, andJews. Great Jewish scholars from Zhovkva includeAriah Judah Leib Sirkin andBetzalel HaLevi of Zhovkva.
In the 17th century, it became the royal residence for KingJohn III Sobieski ofPoland, and a hub of religious life, arts and commerce.[4] In 1676, King of France,Louis XIV, visited Żółkiew and awarded the Polish King with theOrder of the Holy Spirit.[5] The city was the site of celebrations after the victoriousBattle of Vienna of 1683, and in 1684 the Polish King was awarded there with papal gifts, sent by PopeInnocent XI.[5]
As a private town of Poland, Żółkiew was the property of the Żółkiewski, Daniłowicz,Sobieski andRadziwiłł families.[3][5] During this period, most of the city's landmarks were built, including theZhovkva Castle andSt. Lawrence's Church, both founded by Stanisław Żółkiewski, the Dominican church, founded by Teofila Sobieska, the fortress-likeGreat Synagogue, co-financed by King John III Sobieski, and the foundations of the king's sons: the Saint Lazarus church founded by princeJames Louis Sobieski and theHoly Trinity Church, founded by princeKonstanty Władysław Sobieski.[4]
In 1711,Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian national hero who found refuge in Poland after the fall of theRákóczi's War of Independence againstAustria, visited the town.[6]
From theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772 until 1918, the town (namedŻółkiew) was part of theAustrian monarchy (Austrian part ofAustro-Hungary after thecompromise of 1867), head of the district with the same name, one of the 78Bezirkshauptmannschaften inAustrian Galicia province (Crown land)in 1900.[7]
TheWest Ukrainian People's Republic, established on November 1, 1918, included the whole Zhovkvapovit (county).[8] The town came under Polish control in May 1919, seven months after the re-establishment of independentPoland, confirmed by theParis Peace Conference in June 1919 and thePeace of Riga in 1921. It was a county (powiat) seat located in theLwów Voivodeship. In theinterwar period the 6th Cavalry Regiment of the Polish Army, named after hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, was stationed in the town.
In 1939, following theSoviet invasion of Poland, Żółkiew, together with the rest of Poland'sKresy Wschodnie, wasoccupied by theSoviet Union.[3] The Soviets destroyed the statue of KingJohn III Sobieski, located in front of the town hall and the statue of the city founder hetmanStanisław Żółkiewski, located in the park. In June 1941, the Soviets executed 34 people, Ukrainians and Poles, in a prison organized in the formerŻółkiewski castle, as part of theNKVD prisoner massacres.[5] A few people managed to escape the massacre, including a German prisoner of war.[5]
From 1941 to 1944, Zhovkva was occupied byGermany.[3] At the beginning of the occupation, Jews numbered around 4500 and were almost half the town's population. Fewer than 100 of the city'sJews survived theHolocaust. In 1942, Germans, assisted by Ukrainian police, deported 3,200 Jews to theBelzec extermination camp.[3] Many others were killed by Germans, assisted by Ukrainian police, in the vicinity of the city, and the rest were taken to theJanowska concentration camp.[3][9] The synagogue was blown up by theNazis in 1941, leaving only the outside walls. In 2000, the building was declared one of the world's most endangered sites by theWorld Monuments Fund.[4] A restoration campaign began in 2001, supported by WMF's Jewish Heritage Program and other sources, which is ongoing.
From July 1944, it was occupied by the Soviets again and in 1945 it wasannexed by the Soviet Union. It became a part ofUkrainian SSR within the USSR in 1944. As a result of the actions of both the Ukrainian nationalists of theUPA and the Soviets, almost all Poles left the city in 1944–1946.[10] In 1951, the town was renamedNesterov after the RussianWorld War IaviatorPyotr Nesterov who became the first to performaerial ramming in the history of aviation near Zhovkva in 1914. The name Zhovkva, which is the Ukrainian version of the historic Polish name, was restored in 1992, afterUkraine became independent from the Soviet Union.
Until 18 July 2020, Zhovkva was the administrative center ofZhovkva Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Zhovkva Raion was merged into Lviv Raion.[11][12]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 7,867 | — |
| 1931 | 10,348 | +31.5% |
| 2022 | 13,852 | +33.9% |
| Source:[13] | ||
Distribution of the population by native language according to the2001 census:[14]
| Language | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 13 046 | 97.97% |
| Russian | 243 | 1.82% |
| Other or undecided | 27 | 0.21% |
| Total | 13 316 | 100.00 % |
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TheCollegiate Church of St. Lawrence, a domed church from the 17th century founded byStanisław Żółkiewski and built by a group of Italian architects, was turned into a warehouse under Soviet rule. After Ukraine declared independence in the early 1990s, the church was restored.[4] The church contains the sarcophagus of the city's founder Stanisław Żółkiewski.
The town center of Zhovkva was declared a heritage site in 1994, and restoration work is now under way.[4]Zhovkva Castle, the town's oldest and largest building, former residence of hetmanStanisław Żółkiewski and KingJohn III Sobieski, is being converted into a culture and conference hall.[4]
The woodenHoly Trinity Church built in 1720 by Polish princeKonstanty Władysław Sobieski, was listed in 2013 as aWorld Heritage Site byUNESCO, as a part of the composite siteWooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
Relics ofSaint Parthenius, 3rd-century Christian martyr fromRome were moved to Zhovkva in 1784. They are kept at the local Church of Holy Heart of Jesus, run by Ukrainian Greek-Catholic monks of the Basilian order.
ARenaissance architecture fortified synagogue, built between 1692 and 1698, and co-financed by Polish KingJohn III Sobieski, is located in the town.
