Halich

Halych ( uk, Га́лич ; ro, Halici; pl, Halicz; russian: Га́лич, Galich; german: Halytsch, ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; yi, העליטש) is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the Principality of Halych, the historic province of Galicia (Halychyna), and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local rulers moved to Lviv.

Nowadays, Halych is a small town located only on one part of the territory of the former Galician capital, although it has preserved its name. It belongs to Ivano-Frankivsk Raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (region). It hosts the administration of Halych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Halych lies north of the oblast capital, Ivano-Frankivsk. Population: .

Name

The city's name, though spelled identically in modern East Slavic languages (Галич), is pronounced ''Halych'' in Ukrainian and ''Galich'' in Russian. The Russian transliteration should not be confused with the Russian town of Galich. In Polish the name is rendered ''Halicz''; in the Yiddish language ''Helitsh'' or ''Heylitsh'' (העליטש); in Latin, ''Galic''; in Hungarian, ''Halics''; in Romanian, ''Halici''.

Local folk legend would have it that the name "Halych" comes from a legendary "Prince Halychyna", the first ruler of these lands. In fact, a kurgan referred to by locals as "Halychyna's tomb", excavated in 1996, contained a ritual cremation site and a bronze weapon and gold disc that could have belonged to a noble leader. Max Vasmer and modern Slavists generally agree that "Halych" is an adjective derived from the East Slavic languages, East Slavic word for "jackdaw" ("''halka''"). This bird featured in the town's old coat of arms.

History

The oldest archaeological artifacts from the territory of Halych are classified to Paleolithic period 40,000 years ago. More systematic findings from a wide number of archaeological cultures dated from 5500 BC till nowadays indicate that population of local terrains was virtually perpetual for some past 7,000 years. According to excavated finds, the population of Halych became especially significant from 8–9 c. AD.

Local officials attribute the first written mention of Halych to the year 896. The opinion is supported by a record found in the Gesta Hungarorum, which are court chronicles of the Hungary, Hungarian king Béla III of Hungary, Béla III from the beginning of the 13th century. The chronicles describe a stay of Hungarian tribes led by High Prince Álmos, Prince Álmos in Halych on their way through Slavic peoples, Slavic land to Pannonia. The claim is not supported by serious scholars. Similarly, another curious date for the first written mention, 290 AD (with a reference to "''The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, Getica''" by Goths, Goth Jordanes) is not accepted by majority.

Old Halych (Princely Halych)

The most comprehensive records about Halych are found in the Hypatian Codex of the Primary Chronicle. The Old Halych is also being referred to as Princely Halych ( uk, Княжий Галич, Knyazhyi Halych) in some Ukrainian sources in order to distinguish it from the contemporary city. Today Old Halych as a settlement of the Old Ruthenia (Rus) is an archaeological landmark on a territory of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.Baran, V.D.
Halych (Ancient) (ГАЛИЧ (ДАВНІЙ))
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. Located in confluence of Dniester and its tributaries, the Old Halych appeared on the basis of several early settlements and trading sites of White Croats, that in 12–13th centuries were merged into one urban-like system. The central part of the human settlement with the Dormition Cathedral and princely chambers was fortified with powerful vallums and moats and was located over Lukva River (Dniester's tributary) at the place of contemporary village of Krylos.

The first dynasty of Halych, descending from Vladimir of Novgorod, a Rurikids, Rurik family branch known as Rostislavichi, culminated in Yaroslav Osmomysl (1153–1187) – after whose rule Béla III of Hungary briefly conquered the Principality in 1188—before going extinct in 1199. The same year Roman the Great founded the new Rurikid dynasty, uniting Halychyna and Volhynia into the more powerful principality of Halych-Volhynia. In 1141 Prince (knyaz) Volodymyrko Volodarovych (1104–1152) who united the competing principalities of Przemyśl, Zvenyhorod and Terebovlya into the Principality of Halych, state of Halychyna transferred his capital from Zvenyhorod to Halych making it the seat of his Rurikid dynasty and considerably expanding the settlement.

The Mongols under Batu Khan took the capital in 1241, when the famous Danylo of Halych, King Danylo was its ruler. Thereafter the town steadily declined, eventually ceding supremacy to the newly founded Lviv.
The excavations of 1933–42 (Jaroslaw Pasternak), 1951–52 (Karger M.K., Aulikh V.), and 1955 uncovered remains of houses, workshops, fortifications, and ten churches built of white stone. Pasternak's excavations established that ancient Halych originated on the spot of today's village Krylos (located 5 km south of modern Halych) as early as the 10th century. In 1936 Pasternak also discovered remains of an 11th to 12th century three-apse cathedral with burial tomb of Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl in it. The cathedral is ascribed to the Cathedral of the Dormition previously known only from Primary Chronicle, Chronicles, known to have been a sepulchre of the earliest Halychian princes. The sheer size (37,5 by 32,4 m) of the cathedral (the second largest mediaeval church on the territory of present-day Ukraine, smaller only to Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv), suggests that ancient Halych was the seat of a diocese. Most likely the cathedral was built in 1157 and destroyed in 1241 by Golden Horde, hordes of Batu Khan, then rebuilt again and last time mentioned in 1576.

It is believed that the early Halychian architectural style, thoroughly permeated with Romanesque architecture, Romanesque influences from the West, had been transferred further Vladimir-Suzdal, north-east. The builders of temples in Halych are believed to have also been responsible for the extant Pereslavl Cathedral and Church of Intercession upon Nerl.