The Place Where I Live

DISCOVER TERNOPIL AND ITS HISTORY

Ternopil – a fine city

 Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in the west of Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret river. It serves as the administrative centre of Ternopil oblast. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical region of Galychyna. The population is 225,000 people.

• Ternopil is a small city. There are no skyscrapers or very high buildings. The highest building has 17 floors. There are only 4 such high buildings in Ternopil. And there will be no more because in 2018 the city council prohibited to build the buildings higher than 30 meters which corresponds to a 9-floor apartment house.
• You can easily walk from one side of the town to the other in a couple of hours. All important places like a bus station, a railway station, a city market are situated in the centre within a walking distance. The city has many parks that is why it is really cosy in warm seasons.

• The city was founded by Polish commander and Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski. Its Polish name Tarnopol means 'Tarnowski's city’.
• On 15 April 1540, the King of Poland, Sigismund I the Old, in Kraków gave Tarnowski permission to establish Tarnopol, protecting the eastern borders of Polish Kingdom from Tatar raids.

​

• In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the city came under Austrian rule.
• In 1809 the city came under Russian rule, but in 1815 returned to Austrian rule again.
• During World War I the city passed from German and Austrian forces to Russia several times. In 1917, the city and its castle were burned down by fleeing Russian forces.
• On 15 July 1919, the city was captured by Polish forces. Under the terms of the Riga treaty, the area remained under Polish control.

• As a consequence of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Ternopil was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Republic as part of Ternopil Oblast.
• On 2 July 1941, the city was occupied by the Nazis.  During this time most of Jews lived in the Tarnopol Ghetto. Many Ukrainians were sent as forced labour to Germany.
• During the Soviet offensive in March and April 1944, the city was almost completely destroyed by Soviet artillery. 
•  Finally, Ternopil was occupied by the Red Army on 15 April 1944. After the second Soviet occupation, 85% of the city's living quarters were destroyed.

• Until the World War II our territory was multinational. By 1944, the population of ethnic Poles in Western Ukraine was over 1 million people.
• The ethnic Polish population of the area was forcibly deported to postwar Poland^.  The Poles were given the option of resettlement in Siberia or Poland, and most chose Poland.
• And vice versa, ethnic Ukrainians from what is now modern Poland were forcefully deported to the territory of Ukraine under Soviet rule.
• That is why now, according to Ukrainian Census (2001), Ternopil city and Ternopil oblast are homogeneously populated by ethnic Ukrainians. Ternopil city and Ternopil oblast are also homogeneously Ukrainian-speaking.

Ternopil has many churches. This cathedral is among the oldest and it is noted for its dome, unique for Ukrainian architecture, which resembles pagoda.

The main religion is Greek-Catholic which means the church follows orthodox rituals but is ruled by the Vatican and the Pope.�The second widespread religion of Ternopil region is Ukrainian Orthodox.

Monuments in Ternopil

• This is a monument to the famous opera singer Solomiia Krushelnytska. She was recognized as the best singer of her time.
• Solomiia Krushelnytska was born in Ternopil region in 1872. As an opera singer she perfomed first in Lviv (Ukraine), then in Poland and Italy. She toured in Europe, in the USA and Canada.

A tree without roots

• This is a monument to Ukrainians who were forced to leave the land of their ancestors in 1947. During Operation Vistula about 150 000 Ukrainians were resettled from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the west of Ukraine and at the same time over 114 000 Ukrainians were deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia.

The pearl of the city is its lake. It was created after the dam was built on the river Seret. �There are many boats on the lake and two ships go regularly carrying passengers from one bank of the lake to the opposite one where there is a man-made beach in the forest area.

The beautiful artificial lake occupies 6% of city’s territory. There is a path around the lake and you can go for a hike around the lake.

On the other side of the lake you can see Water Arena Ternopil. It was built before the war in hope to hold national and international water sports events. Now it mostly serves as a recreation place.

My native village