Bohorodchany (, ) is a

rural settlement The definition of a rural settlement depends on the country, in some countries, a rural settlement is any settlement in the areas defined as rural by a governmental office, e.g., by the national census bureau. This may include even rural towns. ...

Ivano-Frankivsk Raion Ivano-Frankivsk Raion () is a raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine. It was created in July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. The center of the raion is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Five abolished ra ...

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (), also referred to as Ivano-Frankivshchyna () or simply Frankivshchyna, is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (region) in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. It has a pop ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is located several miles from the administrative center of the oblast,

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

. It hosts the administration of Bohorodchany settlement hromada, one of the

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s of Ukraine. Population: The settlement was also known as Podhorochany.

History

It is not known when the town was established, but it was first mentioned in 1441 as a property of certain Jan of

Buczacz Buchach (, ; ; or ; ; ; ) is a city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of Ternopil Oblast (province) of Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Buchach urban hromada, one of the hromadas of ...

, the

starost Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

of Trembowla (today

Terebovlia Terebovlia (, ; ; ) is a small city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. Terebovlia hosts the administration of Terebovlia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 13,661 (2001). History Terebovlia is one of ...

). Since the second half of the 15th century the local estate belonged to the

Potocki family The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent szlachta, Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Po ...

. In 1691 Konstancja Potocka née Truskolaska, widow of the owner of the village Dominik Potocki, established a Roman Catholic church and a parish there. In 1742 the wooden church was replaced with a more permanent construction, founded by Stanisław Kossakowski and devoted to the cult of

Holy Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. In 1765 the new church was donated to the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

, whose friars established a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

there. Later in the 18th century the town's area acted as a base for a local band of

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s led by

Oleksa Dovbush Oleksa Dovbush (, ; 1700 – 24 August 1745) was a famous Ukrainian outlaw in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, leader of the movement, who became a folk hero. Biography Oleksa was born in the Hutsul village of Pechenizhyn, Kolomyi ...

, a semi-legendary

Hutsul The Hutsuls (Rusyn language, Hutsul/; ; ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and northern Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). In Ukraine, they have often been officially and administra ...

folk hero, who according to a local legend took the town by force in 1744. In 1786 the town had 314 permanent buildings and 1,134 inhabitants. Following the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

the town became part of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. In the 19th century the town was a scene of intense social and economic activities by all three major groups of inhabitants – Jews, Ukrainians and Poles. Already in 1770 a

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

grammar school was established, followed by a Jewish '' Hertz Homberg'' school in 1785 and a state-sponsored

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

grammar school in 1789. In 1848 a local branch of a Russka Rada (Ruthenian Council) was established by 29 local Ukrainians. Around the same time numerous Jewish social and educational facilities were established, including a Hebrew School of the Union of Hebrew Teachers of Austria (1908–1914), a local branch of '' Ezrat Israel''

zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

union (1896), a ''Torat Haim''

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

(1908) and a grammar school for girls (1909).Jewish history in Bohorodchany
/ref> By the end of the 19th century the town grew to 4,597 inhabitants, including 2,009 Jews, 1,788

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

s and 800

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

s. The largest estates in the surrounding area belonged to Count Rudolf Stadion. In the aftermath of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the town briefly belonged to

ZUNR The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolomyia, Drohobych, Boryslav, Stanyslaviv ...

, but in 1919 was taken over by reborn Poland. The local life continued to flourish until World War II. The town was made a seat of a commune. In 1929 a Gmilut Hasadim welfare association was founded in the town. Following the joint Nazi-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, the Germans occupied the town and, supported by the local Ukrainian police, murdered the local Jews. They were brought to a shooting site in groups of 10–20 people and executed. After the war, the town was seized by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and soon afterwards attached to

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

. Since 1991 it has been a part of

. Until 18 July 2020, Bohorodchany was the administrative center of

Bohorodchany Raion Bohorodchany raion () was a district (raion) of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in Ukraine. The urban-type settlement of Bohorodchany was the administrative center of the district. The raion was vaguely reminiscent with the Bohorodczan Powiat of the S ...

. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast to six. The area of Bohorodchany Raion was merged into Ivano-Frankivsk Raion. Until 26 January 2024, Bohorodchany was designated

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Bohorodchany became a rural settlement.

Jewish culture

Bohorodchany is also known by its Yiddish name, Brotchin (בראטשין). A first-hand description of Jewish life in Bohorodchany pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

can be found in the

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

of Mark Hasten, who grew up there.Hasten, M. and Weisz, P. ''Mark My Words! A Personal History.'' Indianapolis, Indiana: Brotchin Books, .

Notable people

Oleksa Hirnyk Oleksa Mykolajovych Hirnyk (; 28 March 1912 – 21 January 1978) was a Ukrainian nationalist and Soviet dissident, an engineer by profession, who burned himself to death as an act of protest against Soviet suppression of the Ukrainian language ( ...

, a Soviet dissident. * Bishop

Ivan Lyatyshevskyi Ivan Lyatyshevskyi (; 17 October 1879 – 27 November 1957) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk and titular bishop of Adada from 1929 to 1957. He was born in B ...

, a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic hierarch, Soviet prisoner.

References

;Local orientation ;Regional orientation

Links

* {{Authority control Rural settlements in Ivano-Frankivsk Raion