Kolomyia

Kolomyia is a magical corner of the natural Carpathian landscape. It is also an important spiritual, cultural, artistic, commercial and economic centre of the region with a rich and glorious history, which attracts scholars and artists from all over Ukraine and abroad.

Kolomyia is a principal part of the historical region known as the Pokuttia, with the population of 70,000 people. First mentioned in 1241, it was granted the rights of Magdeburg law in 1405. Salt was mined here from the Middle Ages, and Kolomyia became an important salt-trading center (with special privileges granted by the Polish king Casimir IV).

Because of its proximity to the Moldavian border, the town suffered frequent attacks by the Moldavians, Tatars, and Turks. Under Austrian rule (1772–1918) it was a county centre (1815–1918). Owing to its importance as a commercial and administrative center it grew rapidly.

After World War I its commercial importance decreased. Consequently, by 1931 its population had fallen to 33,400, of which Ukrainians constituted 18.6 per cent; Jews – 42.3; Poles and Roman Catholic Ukrainians – 33.7; and Germans – 5.1. In 1943, after the Nazis had exterminated the Jewish population, only 18,500 inhabitants remained in the city.

Until 1914 (and to a lesser extent even until 1939), Kolomyia was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in Galicia. Until the early 20^th century its role in publishing in Galicia was second only to Lviv’s. Of all of Galicia’s provincial cities Kolomyia had the most (over 30) newspapers and journals. The first Ukrainian drama society in Galicia was established there in 1848 by Ivan Ozarkevych. The city was also an important centre of the Ukrainian Radical party and the Sich movement, which were organized by Kyrylo Trylovsky.

Today Kolomyia is a regional industrial and cultural centre. Its population is employed in light industries. Kolomyia has long been famous for its Hutsul crafts (wood carving, weaving, kylym weaving, embroidery, and ceramics). The city has a mechanized-woodworking technical school and four colleges: medical, pharmaceutical, technical, and pedagogical.

The Kolomyia Museum of Hutsul Folk Art was founded there in 1926 by Volodymyr Kobrynsky. The unique Pysanka Museum with the collection of over 6,000 Easter eggs was established in Kolomyia in 2000. The wooden Church of the Annunciation and its belfry (built in 1587) are the city’s oldest architectural monuments.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-21