Mostyska ( uk, Мости́ська, pl, Mościska, both in the ''plural''), is a small city in

Yavoriv Raion Yavoriv Raion ( uk, Яворівський район) is a raion in Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Yavoriv. It was established in 1939. Its estimated population is . On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a relational adjective—in English translating to a noun adjunct w ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

) of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. It hosts the administration of Mostyska urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: . The city is located in western portion of Sian Lowland near the border with Poland ().

History

The names ''Mościska'' and ''Mostyska'' share a common etymological Slav root "most", which means "bridge", or the place associated with "river crossings". In 1340, Mostyska, together with the territory of

Red Ruthenia Red Ruthenia or Red Rus' ( la, Ruthenia Rubra; '; uk, Червона Русь, Chervona Rus'; pl, Ruś Czerwona, Ruś Halicka; russian: Червонная Русь, Chervonnaya Rus'; ro, Rutenia Roșie), is a term used since the Middle Ages fo ...

, was annexed by Polish King

Kazimierz Wielki Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

, and the town remained in Poland for over 400 years, until 1772 (see Partitions of Poland). Mościska, as it was called, was in the

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

region, and the

Ruthenian Voivodeship The Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: ''Palatinatus russiae'', Polish: ''Województwo ruskie'', Ukrainian: ''Руське воєводство'', romanized: ''Ruske voievodstvo''), also called Rus’ voivodeship, was a voivodeship of the Crown ...

. In 1404, King Wladyslaw Jagiello granted it a

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

town charter. Mościska was the seat of a

starosta The starosta or starost ( Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. T ...

, and the town was severely damaged several times destroyed during

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

, Turkish and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

n raids. In the late 18th century, when it was part of Austrian

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, the population of Mościska was 2,200, with a large

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

minority. During the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

, Mościska was a county seat in Lwow Voivodeship, with its population reaching 5,000. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

in late September 1939, Mościska was seized by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. Thousands of its ethnic Polish population were sent to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

. In June 1941, the town was captured by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

, and the city remained under German control until July 1944. In the autumn of 1945, the deportation, or so-called "repatriation", of Poles began (see Polish population transfers (1944–46)), which lasted until 1948. As a result, most ethnic Poles were forced out of the town, together with monks from the foundation monastery of the

Redemptorist The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

fathers. This was the redemptorists' "Mother house", which had been re-established in Poland for a third time in 1883 following the order's expulsion by Napoleon in 1809. Most of the priests left in the summer 1946, taking with them the holy icon and everything they were allowed to carry with them, including sculptures and clothes. Those who remained were arrested in May 1948 by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, and two of the priests sent to Siberia. Afterwards, the complex of the monastery was turned into a warehouse. Currently, it serves as a hospital. Today, Mostyska is one of main centres of the

Polish minority in Ukraine The Polish minority in Ukraine officially numbers about 144,130 (according to the 2001 census),

. In 1989, a regional office of the Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land was opened. At present Poles make up 36% of population. In 2002, a Polish-language middle school was opened with 250 students. Until 18 July 2020, Mostyska was the administrative center of Mostyska Raion. As part of the administrative reforms of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven, this raion was abolished in July 2020 and its area was merged with

In popular culture

Mostyska is mentioned regularly in repertoire of Ukrainian music band "Kurwa Matj".

Notable people associated with Mostyska

* :pl:Jan Legowicz, philosopher * :pl:Mikołaj z Mościsk (Nicolaus Moscicensis), mystic * Bernard Łubieński, Redemptorist priest and preacher *

Heinrich Alfred Barb Heinrich Alfred Barb (1 January 1826 – 2 June 1883) was a Galician academic, university director, civil servant, interpreter and author who received recognition both from his native Austro - Hungary and overseas for his contribution to the Arts ...

, director of the

Vienna Academy The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di S ...

and Persian scholar *

Jozef Kisielewski Jozef or Józef is a Dutch, Breton, Polish and Slovak version of masculine given name Joseph. A selection of people with that name follows. For a comprehensive list see and .. * Józef Beck (1894–1944), Polish foreign minister in the 1930s ...

, writer

References

{{Authority control Cities in Lviv Oblast Lwów Voivodeship Cities of district significance in Ukraine

History

In popular culture

Notable people associated with Mostyska

See also

References