Zmiiv or Zmiyiv ( uk, Зміїв), Zmiev, or Zmeev (), also known as Gotwald ( uk, Готвальд) from 1976 to 1990, is a city in

Chuhuiv Raion Chuhuiv Raion () is a ''raion'' (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Chuhuiv. The population in 2021 was On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Khar ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.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 inv ...

. It hosts the administration of Zmiiv urban hromada, one of the

hromadas of Ukraine This is a list of all 1,469 Hromada, hromadas of Ukraine that were formed in 2020 (excluding Kyiv, Sevastopol and hromadas in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea). A hromada is designated ''urban hromada'' if its administration is located in a city; ...

. The population in 2001 was 17,063, rising to by 2021. The town is located 42 km from

as part of that year's administrative reform.

Toponymy

The name ''Zmiiv'' or ''Zmiyiv'' ( uk, Зміїв) is almost certainly derived from the Ukrainian word for snakes, ''Zmiji'' ( uk, Змії). In addition, there are at least five potential origins for the source of the name Zmiiv or Zmiev: # There is an old legend that in the dense forests and impenetrable swamps surrounding the town, there lived a winged many-headed serpent, the Zmii Horynych, who was harnessed to a large plough by Nikita Kozhemyak, and the Zmiiv ramparts were formed from the dump of this plough; # The river flowing into the was winding and resembled a snake; # A large number of reptiles lived in the surrounding swamps and forests; # Not far from the current Zmiiv was the capital of the Polovtsy - Sharukan, which was called ''змиевой'' in Russian, which somewhat translates to "city of the serpent" in English. # The so-called ''

Serpent's Wall Serpent's Wall ( uk , Змієві вали, translit=Zmiievi valy is an ancient system of earthen earthworks ( valla) located in the middle Dnieper Ukraine (Naddniprianshchyna)Kuchera, M. Serpent Walls (ЗМІЄВІ ВАЛИ)'. Encyclopedia of H ...

'', the remains of ancient defensive structures originating in the 10th century to protect middle

Dnieper Ukraine The term Dnieper Ukraine (: "over Dnieper land"), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' ...

from

pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

and

cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...

raids. In the area of Zmiiv, transport highways are laid along some ramparts. The ''

'' is recognized by most historians as the most likely source for the name of Zmiiv.

History

The oldest settlement at the location of modern-day Zmiiv dates back to the

1st millennium BC The 1st millennium BC, also known as the last millennium BC, was the period of time lasting from the years 1000 BC to 1 BC (10th to 1st centuries BC; in astronomy: JD – ). It encompasses the Iron Age in the Old World and sees the transit ...

. The area around Zmiiv saw numerous different people groups during its history, such as the

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Al ...

, Avars,

Polovtsians The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

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

, and

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

Igor Svyatoslavich Prince Igor Sviatoslavich the Brave or Ihor Sviatoslavych (Old East Slavic: Игорь Святъславичь, ''Igorĭ Svjatŭslavičĭ''; uk, Ігор Святославич, ''Ihor Svyatoslavych''; russian: Игорь Святослави ...

, prince of

Novgorod-Seversky Novhorod-Siverskyi ( uk, Новгород-Сіверський ) is a historic city in Chernihiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion, although until 18 July 2020 it was incorporated as a city ...

, waged wars with the Polovtsy, the Zmiiv settlement founded in 1180-1185 on the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

at the mouth of the river . In the mid-1500s an outpost was built there, and in the 1650s the Cossacks built a fort there to defend the vicinity against the Tatars. Zmiiv was a company town of the Kharkiv regiment from 1669 to 1765. It was ravaged by the Tatars in 1688, 1689, and 1692. Its Cossacks took part in the uprisings led by Ivan Dzykovksy (1670) and Kodratii Bulavin (1707–9). The new wave of settlement of the Wild Field lands, and in particular the lands of the Slobozhanshchina, dates back to the 1630-50s, when thousands of Ukrainians were forced to flee from massacre after unsuccessful revolts against the Polish authorities. 1640 is the official date of foundation of the city. But in the same year, the Tatars seized the city, which was captured by Cossacks Kondratii Sulima. In the 1650s, to the south of the Zmiiv appeared the Zmiiv Nikolaev Cossack Monastery, which was the castle of the old, wounded and other Cossacks. It is believed that the monastery was a treasure chest; it had 6,000 acres of land and numerous buildings. In 1656, was appointed as governor of Zmiiv by

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Alexei Mikhailovich Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

. At the end of 17th century, the Zmiiv was already a large enough settlement, surrounded by posts: Zamost, Zidki, and Sands. And if for some time he was a part of the Chuguev uyezd, then from 1657 he became the center of the newly created Zmiev uyezd. Sources also mention the weapons of the local fortress: in 1668 it had 7 large cast iron guns, 290 cores and a lot of gunpowder, with 2 shafts surrounding it and a system of underground passages. In 1688, 1692 and 1736, Tatar attacks were carried out on the city.Змиев // Географическо-статистический словарь: В 5 томах / Сост. П. П. Семёнов. — СПб., 1865. — Т. 2. — С. 281. The presence of settlements in Slobozhana under the rule of the Russian tsar and the strong oppression on the part of the church and the Cossack elders did not best reflect the mood of the freedom-loving settlers. Thus, in 1668, a rebellion broke out in a number of towns and cities in Slobozhanshchyna, which was headed by

Ivan Sirko Ivan Sirko ( uk, Іван Дмитрович Сірко, tr. , ; pl, Iwan Sierko, ; russian: Иван Дмитриевич Серко, translit=Ivan Dmitrievich Serko, ; c. 1610–1680) was a Ukrainian Cossack military leader, Koshovyi Otaman o ...

. During the fighting against government forces, the insurgents burned down the Zmiiv. In several clashes the rebels were defeated, many fled to the Right-bank Ukraine. 2 years later, in 1670, some towns in the Slobozhanshchina supported the rebels under the leadership of Stepan Razin, in particular, there were detachments of Zaporizhzhya and Don Cossacks commanded by

Stenka Razin Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (russian: Степа́н Тимофе́евич Ра́зин, ; 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1 ...

associate, Alexei Khromy. And the Zmiiv became the center of rebellion on the local lands. After the tsarist forces managed to suppress the rebellion, several dozen people were hanged on local roads. According to lord-colonel of Kharkiv cossacks regiment Kvitka, the Tatars' raids have stopped since 1736. In 1788, the Zmiiv Monastery was destroyed by order of

Tsarina Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mona ...

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. It was an administrative centre of Zmiev uyezd in

Kharkov Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From ...

Russian Empire 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. ...

. From 1891 to 1893, was built here. A local newspaper is published in the city since November 1930. Across 1932 and 1933, 559 victims of the

Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...

genocide in Ukraine were identified in Zmiiv and neighbouring , which has since been absorbed into the city. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Zmiiv was occupied by the

German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

from 22 October 1941 to 17–18 August 1943. In 1956, a was established here. Between 1976 and 1990, the town was renamed to ''Gotwald'' ( uk, Готвальд) after

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman from ...

, a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

politician.Готвальд // Большой энциклопедический словарь (в 2-х тт.). / редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. том 1. М., "Советская энциклопедия", 1991. стр.329 Zmiiv was the administrative centre of Zmiiv Raion, until 18 July 2020, when the

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

was abolished as part of the as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...

to seven. The area of Zmiivk Raion was merged into

Demographics

The population as of 1971 was 16,600.Змиев // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. том 9. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1972. By January 1989, it had grown to 20,031 people. In 2001, it was 17,063, and in January 2013, the population was 15,211.Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2013 року. Державна служба статистики України. Київ, 2013. стор.98
/ref> Most recently, it was estimated at in 2021.

Symbols

The current coat of arms of the Zmiiv may have been around as long as 220 years, used since at least the second half of the eighteenth century, if not as far back as 1803. The coat of arms is an example of a

canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial allus ...

, as it depicts a serpent ( uk, змій) with a golden crown on its head. On 21 September 1781, the coat of arms of the city was not officially approved by the Senate of the Russian Empire and

in one day with all the coat of arms of the county cities and the provincial centre of Kharkiv and Voronezh governorships, because the Zmiiv was not then a county town. The coat of arms is "old", that is, historical, and made long before its approval. A distinctive feature of the "old" coats of arms was the only field of the shield - with the coat of arms of the city itself (without the coat of arms of the governorate / provincial center at the top). It was officially approved on 21 September 1803 personally by Tsar

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

. The red box of the coat of arms depicts a "golden serpent twisting upwards and a crown worn on its head" showing the name of the city and the abundance of snakes in the vicinity. In 1863 K Kene drafted the emblem of the city: On a red shield a golden serpent twisting in a pillar; in the free part of the shield the coat of arms of Kharkiv province; the shield is topped with a silver tower crown and surrounded by gold spikes connected by an Alexander ribbon. On the coat of arms of the city of the 18th century, the artist depicted a creeping snake, unlike the coat of arms of the beginning of the 19th century, which depicts a standing snake. The modern coat of arms was approved by the City Council in the 1990s. It, like the coat of arms of the early 19th century, depicts a snake standing. File:Хар губ Змиев 1803 из Винклера.jpg, Coat of Arms with official description of 1803 File: Zmiev1.gif , 1863 Coat of Arms.
The B.Ken Project File: Герб_Змиева_(1803).png , Modern coat of arms

Geography

Zmiiv is situated on the right bank of the

Seversky Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

River at the confluence of the right-hand tributary of the .

Economy

Ukr Zmiiv Museum of Local Lore 3 2020 SU-HS

The is the largest company in town. Zmiiv also has a , packaging works, construction materials plant, publishing company, and some repair shops. It also has a large agricultural sector with a dairy plant, food-processing plant, as well as several dairy and pig farms. The "Mayak" enterprise, which produces heating boilers, was founded in 1991.

Transportation

Zmiiv is served by the , which opened in 1910 on Ukraine's Southern Railway. The station is served by a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

known as

elektrichka Elektrichka (russian: электри́чка, p=əlʲɪˈktrʲitɕkə; uk, електри́чка, elektrychka) is a Soviet and Eastern bloc commuter (regional) mostly suburban electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespr ...

, connecting

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Merefa Merefa () is a city in eastern Ukraine. It is located in Kharkiv Raion (district) of Kharkiv Oblast (province). Merefa hosts the administration of Merefa urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History It was a village in ...

, and

Izium Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban hr ...

with intermediate stops. Zmiiv has a bus station, which serves as a terminus for local bus routes. Zmiiv also has a regular bus connection with Kharkiv.

Sports

Zmiiv has one

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club playing in the Kharkiv Oblast Premier League, FC Mashynobudivnyk Zmiiv.

Points of interest

* Ionospheric Observatory of the Institute of ionosphere (

Monuments

Gallery

File:Zmiiv View.jpg, Zmijiv skyline File:Зміїв - стара будівля 2.JPG, Old building File:Зміївська центральна районна лікарня - Поліклінічне відділення 1.JPG, Zmiiv central hospital File:Ukr Zmiiv Museum of Local Lore 1 2020 SU-HS.jpg, Zmiiv Museum of Local Lore File:Ukr Zmiiv Church of the Holy Trinity 1 SU-HS 2020.jpg, Church of the Holy Trinity File:Zmiiv Railway Station. Station Building 3.jpg, Zmiiv railway station File:Ukr Zmiiv Instalation I love Zmiiv 2020 SU-HS.jpg, Installation "I love Zmiiv" File:Ukr Zmiivsky Kruchy 6 SU-HS.jpg, Zmiiv cliffs

Notable residents

Igor Volk Igor Petrovich Volk (russian: Игорь Петрович Волк, ; 12 April 1937 – 3 January 2017) was a Soviet test pilot and cosmonaut in the Buran programme. Military and test pilot Volk became a pilot in the Soviet Air Forces in ...

, cosmonaut and test pilot * Ruslan Polovinko, helicopter pilot and lieutenant, awarded the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan

References

External links

Towns of Kharkiv Region

Zmiiv portal

History of Zmiiv
{{Authority control Cities in Kharkiv Oblast Kharkov Governorate Cities of district significance in Ukraine Cities and towns built in the Sloboda Ukraine