Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...
, located in the west-central and south-western parts 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 ...
and in northeastern
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...
(i.e. northern
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
). The name derives from Old
Slavic ''po'', meaning "by/next to/along" and ''dol'', "valley" (see
dale
Dale or dales may refer to:
Locations
* Dale (landform), an open valley
* Dale (place name element)
Geography
;Australia
* The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean
;Canada
* Dale, Ontario
;Ethiopia
*Dale (woreda), district
;Norway
*D ...
).
Geography
The area is part of the vast
East European Plain
The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, a ...
, confined by the
Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and ...
River and the
Carpathian arc in the southwest. It comprises an area of about , extending for from northwest to southeast on the left bank of the Dniester. In the same direction run two ranges of relatively low hills separated by the
Southern Bug, ramifications of the Avratynsk heights. The
Podolian Upland, an elongated, up to high
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
stretches from the
Western and Southern Bug rivers to the Dniester, and includes hill countries and mountainous regions with
canyon-like fluvial valleys.
Podolia lies east of historic
Red Ruthenia, i.e. the eastern half of
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 ...
, beyond the
Seret River, a tributary of the Dniester. In the northwest it borders on
Volhynia. It is made up of the present-day Ukrainian
Vinnytsia Oblast and southern and central
Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The Podolian lands further include parts of adjacent
Ternopil Oblast in the west and
Kyiv Oblast
Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...
in the northeast. In the east it consists of the neighbouring parts of
Cherkasy,
Kirovohrad and
Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its admini ...
s, as well as the northern half of Transnistria.
Two large rivers, with numerous tributaries, drain the region: the Dniester, which forms its boundary with Moldova and is navigable throughout its length, and the Southern Bug, which flows almost parallel to the former in a higher, sometimes swampy, valley, interrupted in several places by rapids. The Dniester forms an important channel for trade in the areas of
Mohyliv-Podilskyi,
Zhvanets
Zhvanets ( uk, Жванець) is a village (a ''Village#Ukraine, selo'') in Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) of Khmelnytskyi Oblast in Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Zhvanets rural hromada, one of the hroma ...
and other Podolian river-ports.
In Podolia, "
black earth" (''chernozem'') soil predominates, making it a very fertile agricultural area. Marshes occur only beside the Bug. A moderate climate predominates, with average temperatures at
Kamianets-Podilskyi of ( in January, in July).
Russian-ruled Podolia in 1906 had an estimated population of 3,543,700, consisting chiefly of
Ukrainians. Significant minorities included
Poles and
Jews, as well as 50,000
Romanians, some
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
, and some
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
.
The chief towns include Kamianets-Podilskyi, the traditional capital,
Balta,
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
,
Bratslav,
Haisyn
Haisyn or Haysyn ( uk, Га́йсин, Haysyn; pl, Hajsyn; russian: Га́йсин, Gaysin) is a city in central Ukraine, the administrative center of the Haisyn Raion in Vinnytsia Oblast. Its population is It is located in the eastern part of ...
,
Khmelnytskyi,
Letychiv,
Lityn,
Mohyliv-Podilskyi,
Nova Ushytsia,
Olhopil,
Skala-Podilska,
Vinnytsia, and
Yampil. In Moldova, the major Podolian cities are
Camenca and
Rîbnița.
Podolia is known for its
cherries,
mulberries,
melons,
gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the e ...
s, and
cucumbers.
History
The country has had human inhabitants since at least the beginning of the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
period.
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...
mentions it as the seat of the
Graeco-
Scythia
Scythia ( Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
...
n
Alazones and possibly
Scythia
Scythia ( Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
...
n Neuri. Subsequently, the
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ...
ns and the
Getae arrived. The
Romans left traces of their rule in
Trajan's Wall, which stretches through the modern districts of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Nova Ushytsia and Khmelnytskyi.
During the Great
Migration Period, many nationalities passed through this territory or settled within it for some time, leaving numerous traces in archaeological remains.
Nestor
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...
in the
Primary Chronicle mentions four apparently
Slavic tribes
This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500.
Ancestors
*Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of Bal ...
: the
Buzhans and
Dulebes along the
Southern Bug River, and the
Tivertsi and
Ulichs
The Uliches or Ugliches ( ro, Ulici or ; russian: Уличи or , or ; uk, Уличі , or ) were a tribe of Early East Slavs who, between the eighth and the tenth centuries, inhabited (along with the Tivertsi) Bessarabia, and the territories a ...
along the Dniester. The
Avars invaded in the 7th century. Later the
Bolokhoveni occupied the same territory in the 13th-century.
Kingdom of Ruthenia and Polish Crown
Prince
Oleg of Novgorod extended his rule over this territory known as the ''Ponizie'', or "lowlands." These lowlands later became a part of the Rus' principalities of
Volhynia,
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, and
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 ...
. In the 13th century,
Bakota Bakota may refer to:
Places
* Bakota, Ukraine, a former settlement on the banks of the Dniester
* Bakota Bay, on the above site
* Bakota region (West Africa), home of Ewale a Mbedi in oral histories of Sawa ethnic groups
People
* Božo Bakota (bor ...
served as its political and administrative centre. During that time, the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
plundered Ponizie;
Algirdas (Olgierd), prince of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...
, freed it from their rule following his victory against the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragment ...
in the
Battle of Blue Waters of 1362, annexing it to his own territories under the name of ''Podolia'', which has the same meaning as Ponizie. Polish colonisation began in the 14th century.
After the death of the Lithuanian prince
Vytautas (Vitovt) in 1430, Podolia was incorporated into
Podolian Voivodeship
The Podolian Voivodeship, uk, Подільське воєводство or Palatinate of Podolia was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland, since 1434 until 1793, except for the period of Ottoman occu ...
of the
Polish Crown, with the exception of its eastern part, the Province of
Bratslav, which remained with Lithuania until its union with Poland in the
Union of Lublin of 1569. From 1672, Podolia became part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, when and where it was known as
Podolia Eyalet. During this time, it was a province, with its center being
Kamaniçe
Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
, and was divided into the
sanjaks of Kamaniçe,
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
,
Mejibuji and
Yazlovets (Yazlofça). It returned to Polish overlordship in 1699. The Poles retained Podolia until the
partitions of their country in 1772 and 1793, when the Austrian
Habsburg monarchy and
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...
annexed the western and eastern parts respectively.
Russian Empire
From 1793 to 1917, part of the region was the
Podolia Governorate (Russian: Подольская губерния
'Podol’skaja gubernija'' Ukrainian: Подільська губернія
'Podil’s’ka hubernija'' in southwestern Russia bordering with Austria across the
Zbruch River and with
Bessarabia across the
Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and ...
. Its area was .
In the 1772
First Partition of Poland, the Austrian
Habsburgs had taken control of a small part of Podolia west of the
Zbruch River (sometimes also called "Southern Podolia") around
Borschiv, in what is today Ternopil Oblast. At this time, Emperor
Joseph II toured the area, was impressed by the fertility of the soil, and was optimistic about its future prospects. Poland disappeared as a state in a third partition in 1795 but the Polish gentry continued to maintain local control in both eastern and western Podolia over a peasant population which was primarily ethnically Ukrainian whose similarity to the other East Slavs already subject to the Habsburg monarchy was showcased in a 1772 book by
Adam F. Kollár and was used as an argument in favor of annexation by the Habsburgs. The
Ternopil (Tarnopol) region of western Podolia was briefly taken by Russia in 1809 but reverted to Austrian rule in 1815. Within the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
, western Podolia was part of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria which, in 1867 with the formation of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, became an
ethnic Pole-administered autonomous unit under the Austrian crown. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, Austrian Podolia witnessed a large scale emigration of its peasant population to western Canada.
As to the Jewish community in Podolia, the
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Eu ...
or Jewish Englightenment reached it in the 19th century, introduced by Jews from Western Europe. Says I A. Bar-Levy (Weissman), author of the "
Yizkor Book
Yizkor books are memorial books commemorating a Jewish community destroyed during the Holocaust. The books are published by former residents or ''landsmanshaft'' societies as remembrances of homes, people and ways of life lost during World War II. ...
" for Podolia: "It brought an end to the cultural separation of Jews from the surrounding world. Jews began to learn modern sciences and languages, read world literature and participate in the cultural life of the nations among whom they lived."
Just as was the case in other areas of former Poland, Jews started to learn the language of the country they lived in and to write about secular subjects. The writers of the Haskalah in Podolia included: the forerunner
Isaac Satanow (1733–1805), Menachim Mendel Lapin, author and translator, Ben-Ami (Mordecai Rabinowitz), who wrote in Russian, and many others.
Between Poland and the Soviet Union
With the collapse of Austria-Hungary following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in November 1918, western Podolia was included in the
West Ukrainian People's Republic, but came under
Polish control in 1919 which was confirmed in the Poland–
Ukrainian People's Republic agreement in April 1920. Podolia was briefly occupied in 1920 by Soviets during the course of the
Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921)
* russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
. At same war, Poland briefly occupied eastern Podolia in 1919 and again in 1920. After the
Peace of Riga the Polish control of western Podolia was recognized by the USSR. USSR retained eastern Podalia. There were
pogroms during this period.
In Poland from 1921 to 1939, western Podolia was part of the
Tarnopol Voivodeship
Tarnopol Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo tarnopolskie) was an administrative region of interwar Poland (1918–1939), created on 23 December 1920, with an area of 16,500 km² and provincial capital in Tarnopol (now ''Ternopil'', Ukraine). The voi ...
. Eastern Podolia remained in the
Ukrainian SSR and between 1922 and 1940, in the southwestern part, the
Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created.
In 1927 there was a massive uprising of peasants and factory workers in Mohyliv-Podilskyi,
Kamianets-Podilskyi,
Tiraspol and other cities of southern Ukrainian SSR against Soviet authorities. Troops from Moscow were sent to the region and suppressed the unrest, causing around 4000 deaths, according to US correspondents sent to report about the insurrection, which was at the time completely denied by the Kremlin official press.
In 1939 after the signing of the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...
between
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939, the area became part of Soviet Ukraine. Many local inhabitants were deported to
labour camps. Following
German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, most of Podolia was occupied by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the
Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The area of Podolia between the Southern Bug below Vinnytsia and the Dniester was occupied by
Axis Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
as part of
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
.
Starting in July 1941, the Jewish inhabitants were subjected to mass extermination by shooting in a German campaign carried out by four ''
Einsatzgruppen'' ("operational groups") specially organized for the purpose. Reliable estimates including German, Soviet, and local records indicate that upwards of 1.6 million, perhaps as many as 2 million, Jews were murdered in this fashion. Most were buried in mass graves, but there were also instances of communities being forced ''en masse'' into community buildings or synagogues that were then burnt, or herded into local mines that were subsequently dynamited.
In 1944 the Soviets regained Podolia and in 1945, when Poland's eastern border was formally realigned along the
Curzon line, the whole of Podolia remained in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Most remaining Poles and Jews fled or were expelled to the
People's Republic of Poland.
Culture
The Podillia's folk icon-painting tradition is well known in Ukraine. Its manifestation are long home
iconostases painted on canvas in the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries. Red, green and yellow colours prevail, the faces of the saints are a little bit long, their eyes almond-like. On these iconostases, the most venerated family saints were painted. The collections of Podillya's folk iconostases are possessed by
Vinnytsya Art Museum and The
Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons in the
Radomysl Castle
Radomysl Castle is a historical and cultural complex created in 2007–2011 by Olga Bogomolets, a Ukrainian doctor and public activist. The castle's center is an old flour mill built in the town of Radomyshl (Zhytomyr region, Ukraine) ...
.
[Богомолець. О. "Замок-музей Радомисль на Шляху Королів Via Regia". — Київ, 2013]
Notable people
*
Wawrzyniec Dayczak (1882–1968), architect and activist
Gallery
File:Vinnytsia-orthodox-church-1.jpg, Vinnytsia
File:Хмельницкий. Здание на перекрёстке..jpg, Khmelnytskyi
File:Twierdza w Kamiencu Podolskim.JPG, The fortress of Kamianets-Podilskyi
File:5. Головний корпус УНУС (мур.), вулиця Інститутська, 4 (Умань).JPG, The main building of Uman National University of Horticulture
File:PervMR.jpg, Pervomaisk city council
File:Rybnitsa.jpg, Rîbnița as seen from across the Dniester river
File:POL województwo podolskie IRP COA.svg, Emblem
File:Kamenetz-Podolsk City Hall at night.jpg, Kamianets-Podilskyi City Hall at night
File:Kamianets-Podilskyi-Park-Fountain.jpg, A nice park with a fountain near the Kamianets-Podilskyi's old town quarter
File:Kamianets-Podilskyi Old Town street.JPG, An old street in Kamianets-Podilskyi's old town quarter. Recently restorational works are being conducted in the city.
File:Тріумфальна арка.jpg, Arch of triumph in Kamianets-Podilskyi
File:Zalischyky_panorama1.jpg, Zalishchyky
References
*
*''The Road From Letichev'', Chapin & Weinstock, Writers' Showcase 2000
External links
*
Volodymyr Kubijovyč
Volodymyr Kubijovyč, also spelled Kubiiovych or Kubiyovych ( uk, Володи́мир Миха́йлович Кубійо́вич, translit=Volodymyr Mykhailovych Kubiiovych; 23 September 1900, Nowy Sącz, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria – 2 ...
,
Ihor Stebelsky
Igor ( be, Ігар, Ihar ; russian: Игорь, Igor' ; sr-Cyrl, Игор ; uk, Ігор, Ihor ; ) is a common East Slavic given name derived from the Norse name Ingvar, that was brought to ancient Rus' by the Norse Varangians, in the fo ...
,
Mykhailo ZhdanPodilia in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993). It was slightly updated in 2010.The Official Site of the Radomysl Castle
* Petrov N. (1891
Podolia. A Historical Description(Подолия. Историческое описание) at
Runivers.ru in
DjVu and
PDF formats
{{Authority control
Podolia
Historical regions
Historical regions in Ukraine
Geography of Vinnytsia Oblast
Geography of Khmelnytskyi Oblast
History of Vinnytsia Oblast
History of Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Holocaust locations in Ukraine