Ovruch (, ) 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 ...

Korosten Raion Korosten Raion () is a raion (district) of Zhytomyr Oblast, northern 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 borde ...

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

, northern

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 ...

, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

in the 13th century, then later part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. In the 16th century it became part of Poland, as a

royal city Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

. After the

second partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

in 1793 it became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and then part of

. Until 2020, it was the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of the former Ovruch Raion, until it was merged into

. It has a population of approximately and is home to the Ovruch air base.

Name

In addition to the Ukrainian (''Ovruch''), in other languages the name of the city is and .

History

Ovruch originated as an important town of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. Later after the sack of Iskorosten it became the capital city of Drevlian. Saint

Hyacinth of Poland Hyacinth ( or ''Jacek Odrowąż''; – 15 August 1257) was a Polish Dominican Order, Dominican priest and missionary who worked to reform the women's monasteries in his native Poland. Educated in Paris and Bologna, he was a Doctor of Sacred ...

evangelized in the town between 1222 and 1234. The area suffered during the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

invasion in 1240, and then it passed under Mongol suzerainty. In the 14th century it became part of the

. It became one of many Lithuanian defensive strongholds in the region against possible Tatar invasions. In 1483,

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

destroyed the settlement. From the 16th century the town was governed by

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 ...

s, and it flourished and became a subregional center. According to the Treaty of Lublin (1569), Owrucz passed to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

within the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The town further blossomed as the seat of county

sejmik A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; ) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Poland (before ...

s. From 1614 until his death in 1616, the starost of Owrucz was

Michał Wiśniowiecki Michał Wiśniowiecki (; died 1616) was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth szlachcic, prince at Wiśniowiec, magnate, son of Michał Wiśniowiecki (1529-1584), Michał Wiśniowiecki, grandfather of future Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth monarch, ...

, grandfather of future Polish King

Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki Michael I (, ; 31 May 1640 – 10 November 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 until his death in 1673 ...

. A Dominican Monastery was founded, confirmed by Bishop Aleksander Sokołowski in 1638. In 1641, Polish King

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

granted Owrucz city rights. It was a

of Poland. After the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

in 1793 it was annexed by the

. In 1881, it had a population of 5,941. The city suffered from the man-made famine Holodomor of 1932-1933. In 2008, the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide published the National Book of Memory of the Victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. Zhytomyr region - Zhytomyr. According to historical records, more than 1517 people died during Holodomor in 1932-1933. During

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 ...

, the German occupiers operated a Jewish

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

battalion in the town. Mordechai Schlein, a Jewish-Belarussian partisan, blew up a restaurant with about 200 German officers in it. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, on March 6, at 2:32 a.m., enemy forces launched 3 bomb attacks on the residential sector of Ovruch. A total of 45 private houses were damaged, 5 of which were completely destroyed. There was also significant damage to 43 apartments in a multi-storey building, the premises of a children's and youth art center, a music school and a gym. Around 20:30, Russian troops conducted 6 more air strikes. Three civilians were killed. As a result, the building of the Ovruch Employment Center was completely destroyed. Also damaged were the premises of the Ovruch City Hospital, the Centers for administrative services, apartments in 8 multi-storey buildings, about 5 private houses, one of which was completely destroyed, and 2 more are in disrepair.

Architecture

The only mark of the town's antiquity is St. Basil's Church, commissioned by Rurik II of Kyiv from his court architect in the late 1190s. The church was built in Rurik's votchina and was dedicated to his patron saint. St. Basil's Church has four pillars, three apses and one dome. The western facade is flanked by two round towers, probably in imitation of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. The building is distinguished by elaborate brick facades, interlaced with bands of polished colored stone. The complicated design of pilasters points to a complex system of roofing and to a very high dome. The dome and vaults collapsed during the siege of Ovruch by

Gediminas Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...

in 1321. The ruins of the church survived until 1842, when they crumbled, with the exception of three apses and a portion of the northern wall with an arch. In 1907 Aleksey Shchusev was commissioned to restore the church to its presumed original form, incorporating the remains of Rurik's church into its edifice. Restoration work lasted for two years, and it won Schusev the prestigious title of the Academician of Architecture. More recently, the accuracy of his restoration has been questioned, as it didn't take into account the complicated system of vaulting and the considerable height of the drum. As a consequence of this oversight, the drum was restored according to a model typical of more archaic churches, rather than for the turn of the 13th century. Adjacent buildings of St. Basil's Convent were built on the model of medieval architecture of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

, simultaneously with the restoration of the main church.

Geography

Located in northwestern Ukraine, south of the

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian border, Ovruch is part of the geographical region of

Polesia Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shou ...

. It is located from

Korosten Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...

, from

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

, and from Mazyr, in Belarus; and it is from the ghost town of

Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...

, near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Climate

Notable people

* Vladimir Bogoraz (1865–1936), revolutionary, writer and anthropologist *

Stefano Ittar Stefano Ittar (March 15, 1724 – January 18, 1790) was a Polish-Italian architect. Biography Ittar was born in Owrucz (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Ukraine), where his father, a member of one of Italy's aristocratic f ...

(1724–1790), Polish-Italian architect *

Oleksandr Lavrynovych Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Lavrynovych (; born June 28, 1956) is a Ukrainian physicist, lawyer, politician, former member of the High Council of Justice (Ukraine), Supreme Council of Justice of Ukraine, a former Ukraine, Ukrainian member of parlia ...

(born 1956), physicist, lawyer and politician * Yuri Nemyrych (1612–1659), politician of the

Gallery

File:Залізнична станція "Овруч".jpg, Ovruch railway station File:Будівля в'язниці 2.jpg, Health center File:Ovruch1.JPG, Transfiguration Church File:Купецький особняк 4.jpg, Historic building in town's centre File:Ovruch after shelling during Russian invasion (05).jpg, A house after the 2022 Russian invasion

References

*Памятники градостроительства и архитектуры Украинской ССР. Kiev, 1983–86. Vol. 2, page 153
online

External links

Ovruch official website

Photos of Ovruch

Ovruch @ Ukrainian.Travel
{{Authority control Cities in Zhytomyr Oblast Korosten Raion Drevlians Cities of district significance in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine