Khyriv (, ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Sambir Raion Sambir Raion () is a raion (district) in Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine. Its capital (political), administrative center is Sambir. Population: It was established in 1965. On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the numb ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

) of

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 ...

with a population of around It hosts the administration of

Khyriv urban hromada Khyriv urban hromada () is a hromada in Ukraine, in Sambir Raion of Lviv Oblast. The administrative center is the city of Khyriv. Settlements The hromada consists of 1 city (Khyriv Khyriv (, ; ) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) ...

, 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. It became known principally for the celebrated

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

Jesuit secondary boys school founded there in 1886. The institution, which produced 6,000 alumni during its existence, ceased all activity when the then

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

town fell to Soviet forces in 1939.

History

Khyriv is first mentioned in documents from 1374. At that time, it was the private property of the

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

Polish family of

Herburt Herburt is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms. It was used by several distinct and unrelated szlachta families such as the Pavise, Pawcz family of Ruthenian Galicia. A coat of arms is an individual or family heirloom the origins of which lie i ...

, and was part of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. Administratively it was located in the

Przemyśl Land Przemyśl Land (, ) was an administrative unit of Kyivan Rus, Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It existed since the integration of Principality of Peremyshl into Kingdom of Ruthenia and until 1772, and was one of five l ...

in the

Ruthenian Voivodeship The Ruthenian Voivodeship (; ; ) was a voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1434 until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, with its center in the city of Lwów (lat. Leopolis) (modern day Lviv). Together with a number of ot ...

in the Lesser Poland Province. For over 400 years Chyrów was a

private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...

of the powerful landowning

Ossoliński The House of Ossoliński (plural: Ossolińscy) was a Polish aristocratic family from the Lesser Poland region. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Ossolińska is the form for a female family member. History The Ossoli ...

and

Mniszech The House of Mniszech (plural: Mniszchowie, Polish surname#Feminine forms, historical feminine forms: Mniszchówna (unmarried), Mniszchowa (married or widow)) was a Polish magnate and szlachta, noble family bearing the Mniszech Coat of Arms. No ...

families. In 1528 Chyrów, as it is called in Polish, received

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

, and three years later, the first

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 ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

was founded there by

Andrzej Tarło Andrzej Tarło (died c. 1531) was a Polish noble. He was Chorąży of Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest c ...

. The wooden church probably burned down during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, and in 1710, it was replaced by a brick structure. In 1740, a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

opened in the town. In 1772, following the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

, Chyrów was annexed by 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 remained in Austrian Galicia until late 1918. In 1872 a rail connection was established with a station. In the 1880s, a

state of the art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

vast purpose-built complex was erected there for a College on the outskirts of the town by the Polish province of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. By 1913 the population of Chyrów was 3,400. During the

Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in ...

, Khyriv was the site of heavy Polish–Ukrainian fighting from late 1918 into early 1919. The war was won by Poland, and until the 1939

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 ...

, Chyrów remained within the territory of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. According to the 1921 census, the population of Chyrów was 2,654, 68.2%

, 19.0% Ukrainian and 12.7%

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. In the interbellum period, Chyrów formed part of Sambor County, in the

Lwow Voivodeship Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

occupied the entire region in September 1939 until 1941, when it was seized by the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

until 1944, before being re-taken by forces of 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 ...

. The Germans operated the Stalag 323

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in the town before its relocation to

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

. From 1944, the town and its surroundings was annexed by the USSR. Return of Khyriv to Poland was briefly considered following the 1951 Polish-Soviet Territorial Exchange, but was dismissed following the death of Joseph Stalin. With the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, the town came under the jurisdiction of newly independent

. Until 18 July 2020, Khyriv belonged to

Staryi Sambir Raion Staryi Sambir Raion () was a raion (district) in Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center was the city of Staryi Sambir. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the nu ...

. The raion was abolished in July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven. The area of Staryi Sambir Raion was merged into

Sambir Sambir (, ; ; ) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the Capital city, administrative center of Sambir Raion (Raion, district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts the administration of Sambir urba ...

Raion.

Notable residents

Yaroslav Pasternak Yaroslav Pasternak (; 2 January 1892 – 22 November 1969) was a Ukrainian archaeologist. He was Doctor of Philosophy, Professor. Biography Yaroslav Pasternak was born on 2 January 1892 in Khyriv, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine).

(1892–1969), Ukrainian archaeologist

Gallery

File:Колегія єзуїтів і каплиця святого Йосифа 44.jpg, The former

Jesuit College in Khyriv Jesuit College in Khyriv, formerly Jesuit College in Chyrów (full name: The Educational Academy of the Jesuit Fathers in Chyrów, , ), was a purpose-built Polish language, Polish secondary boys college, owned by the Society of Jesus, in the o ...

before severe fire damage in 2018 File:Хирів ратуша.jpg, Town hall (2017) File:Hyriv6.jpg, Train station File:Хирів Церква Різдва.jpg, Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God File:Хирів костел.jpg, Church of St. Lawrence (2017)

References

{{Authority control Cities in Lviv Oblast Cities of district significance in Ukraine