Chornobyl

Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about north of Kyiv, and southwest of the Belarusian city of Gomel. Before its evacuation, the city had about 14,000 residents, while around 1,000 people live in the city today.

First mentioned as a ducal hunting lodge in 1193, the city has changed hands multiple times over the course of history. Jews moved into the city in the 16th century, and a now-defunct monastery was established in the area in 1626. By the end of the 18th century, Chernobyl was a major centre of Hasidic Judaism under the Twersky Dynasty, who left Chernobyl after the city was subject to pogroms in the early 20th century. The Jewish community was later murdered during the Holocaust. Chernobyl was chosen as the site of Ukraine's first nuclear power plant in 1972, located north of the city, which opened in 1977. Chernobyl was evacuated on 5 May 1986, nine days after a catastrophic nuclear disaster at the plant, which was the largest nuclear disaster in history. Along with the residents of the nearby city of Prypiat, which was built as a home for the plant's workers, the population was relocated to the newly built city of Slavutych, and most have never returned.

The city was the administrative centre of Chernobyl Raion (district) from 1923. After the disaster, in 1988, the raion was dissolved and administration was transferred to the neighbouring Ivankiv Raion. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kyiv Oblast to seven. The area of Ivankiv Raion was merged into Vyshhorod Raion.

Although Chernobyl is primarily a ghost town today, a small number of people still live there, in houses marked with signs that read, "Owner of this house lives here", and a small number of animals live there as well. Workers on watch and administrative personnel of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are also stationed in the city. The city has two general stores and a hotel.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chernobyl became the site of the Battle of Chernobyl and Russian forces occupied the city between 24 February and 2 April. After its capture, it was reported that radiation levels began rising.

Etymology

The city's name is the same as one of the Ukrainian names for ''Artemisia vulgaris'', mugwort or common wormwood: (or more commonly , 'common artemisia').Etymology from O. S. Melnychuk, ed. (1982–2012), ''Etymolohichnyi slovnyk ukraïnsʹkoï movy'' (Etymological dictionary of the Ukrainian language) v 7, Kyiv: Naukova Dumka. The name is inherited from or , a compound of + , the parts related to and , 'stalk', so named in distinction to the lighter-stemmed wormwood '' A. absinthium''.

The name in languages used nearby is:
* uk, Чорнобиль, Chornobyl′,
* be, Чарнобыль, Čarnobyĺ,
*, .

The name in languages formerly used in the area is:
* pl, Czarnobyl,
* yi, טשערנאָבל, Tshernobl, .
In English, the Russian-derived spelling ''Chernobyl'' has been commonly used, but some style guides recommend the spelling ''Chornobyl'', or the use of romanized Ukrainian names for Ukrainian places generally.

History

The Polish Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland of 1880–1902 states that the time the city was founded is not known.

Identity of Ptolemy's "Azagarium"

Some older geographical dictionaries and descriptions of modern Eastern Europe mention "Czernobol" (Chernobyl) with reference to Ptolemy's world map (2nd century AD). Czernobol is identified as Azagarium k "oppidium Sarmatiae" (Lat., "a city in Sarmatia"), by the 1605 ''Lexicon geographicum'' of Filippo Ferrari and the 1677 ''Lexicon Universale'' of Johann Jakob Hofmann. According to the ''Dictionary of Ancient Geography'' of Alexander Macbean (London, 1773), Azagarium is "a town of Sarmatia Europaea, on the Borysthenes" (Dnieper), 36° East longitude and 50°40' latitude. The city is "now supposed to be ''Czernobol'', a town of Poland, in Red Russia nowiki/>Red Ruthenia">Red_Ruthenia.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Red Ruthenia">nowiki/>Red Ruthenia in the Palatinate of Kiow [see Kiev Voivodeship], not far from the Borysthenes."

Whether Azagarium is indeed Czernobol is debatable. The question of Azagarium's correct location was raised in 1842 by Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg-Slovaks, Slovak historian, Pavel Jozef Šafárik, who published a book titled "Slavic Ancient History" ("Sławiańskie starożytności"), where he claimed Azagarium to be the hill of Zaguryna, which he found on an old Russian map "Bolzoj czertez" (Big drawing) near the city of Pereiaslav, now in central Ukraine.

In 2019, Ukrainian architect Boris Yerofalov-Pylypchak published a book, ''Roman Kyiv or Castrum Azagarium at Kyiv-Podil''.

12th to 18th century

The archaeological excavations that were conducted in 2005–2008 found a cultural layer from the 10–12th centuries AD, which predates the first documentary mention of Chernobyl.

Around the 12th century Chernobyl was part of the land of Kievan Rus′. The first known mention of the settlement as Chernobyl is from an 1193 charter, which describes it as a hunting lodge of Knyaz Rurik Rostislavich.Norman Davies, '' Europe: A History'', Oxford University Press, 1996, In 1362Petro Tronko.
Chornobyl
''. The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR. it was a crown village of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Around that time the town had own castle which was ruined at least on two occasions in 1473 and 1482. The Chernobyl castle was rebuilt in the first quarter of the 16th century being located nearby the settlement in a hard to reach area. With revival of the castle, Chernobyl became a county seat. In 1552 it accounted for 196 buildings with 1,372 residents, out of which over 1,160 were considered city dwellers. In the city were developing various crafts professions such as blacksmith, cooper among others. Near Chernobyl has been excavated bog iron, out of which was produced iron. The village was granted to Filon Kmita, a captain of the royal cavalry, as a fiefdom in 1566. Following the Union of Lublin, the province where Chernobyl is located was transferred to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1569. Under the Polish Crown, Chernobyl became a seat of eldership (starostwo). During that period Chernobyl was inhabited by Ukrainian peasants, some Polish people and a relatively large number of Jews. Jews were brought to Chernobyl by Filon Kmita, during the Polish campaign of colonization. The first mentioning of Jewish community in Chernobyl is in the 17th century. In 1600 in the city was built the first kosciol (Polish word for the Roman Catholic church). Local population was persecuted for holding Eastern Orthodox rite services. The traditionally Eastern Orthodox Ukrainian peasantry around the town were forcibly converted, by Poland, to the Ruthenian Uniate Church. In 1626, during the Counter-reformation, a Dominican church and monastery were founded by Lukasz Sapieha. A group of Old Catholics opposed the decrees of the Council of Trent. The Chernobyl residents actively supported the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1657).

With the signing of the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, Chernobyl was secured after the Sapieha family. Sometime in the 18th century, the place was passed on to the Chodkiewicz family. In the mid-18th century the area around Chernobyl was engulfed in a number of peasant riots, which caused Prince Riepnin to write from Warsaw to Major General Krechetnikov, requesting hussars to be sent from Kharkiv, in 1793 Chernobyl was annexed by the Russian Empire Davies, Norman (1995
"Chernobyl"
'' The Sarmatian Review, vol. 15'', No. 1, Polish Institute of Houston at Rice University, . and became part of Radomyshl county (''uezd'') as a supernumerary town ("zashtatny gorod"). Many of the Uniate Church converts returned to Eastern Orthodoxy.

In 1832, following the failed Polish November Uprising, the Dominican monastery was sequestrated. The church of the Old Catholics was disbanded in 1852.

Until the end of the 19th century, Chernobyl was a privately owned city that belonged to the Chodkiewicz family. In 1896 they sold the city to the state, but until 1910 they owned a castle and a house in the city.

In the second half of the 18th century, Chernobyl became a major centre of Hasidic Judaism. The Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty had been founded by Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky. The Jewish population suffered greatly from pogroms in October 1905 and in March–April 1919; many Jews were killed or robbed at the instigation of the Russian nationalist Black Hundreds. When the Twersky Dynasty left Chernobyl in 1920, it ceased to exist as a center of Hasidism.

Chernobyl had a population of 10,800 in 1898, including 7,200 Jews. In the beginning of March 1918 Chernobyl was occupied in World War I by German forces (see