Rașcov (; alternative names , ; ; ; ) is one of the oldest communes of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

. It is located in the northern part, between

Rîbnița Rîbnița ( or , , ) or Rybnitsa (; ) is a town in the breakaway state, breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. According to the 2004 Census in Transnistria, 2004 census, it has a population of 53,648. Rîbnița is situated in the northern half ...

and Camenca. It is composed of two villages, Iantarnoe (Янтарне, Янтарное) and Rașcov.

History

Rașcov village was founded in 1402 as a trading post on the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

river. Some maintain that the name derives from the Romanian term for '' Lactarius deliciosus'', a species of mushroom-forming fungus. However, there are a number of settlements across

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 ...

and Ukraine with the same name, casting doubt on this claim. Rashkov () is also a Bulgarian male

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. One of the oldest villages of Transnistria, it is known for having been home in the past to a significant Polish population. From the 15th century, all of northern Transnistria was 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, ...

, and later to 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 ...

in 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 ...

(1569–1793) which encouraged the migration of

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

into the territory from neighboring populated areas (from north and from west). During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the village hosted one of seven major fairs for the

Southern Bug The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh (; ; ; or just ), and sometimes Boh River (; ),

area (the others being Mohuliv,

Dubăsari Dubăsari (; mo-Cyrl, Дубэсарь) or Dubossary (; ; ) is a city in Transnistria, with a population of 23,650. Claimed by both the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistria, Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the city is under the latter's ad ...

, Yampil, Silibria, Yaruga, and Vasilcău). Before becoming 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 ...

in 1793 during 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 ...

, the largest groups living between the Dniester and the Bug rivers were

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

n ( Ukrainian) and Tatar peasants.

Hasidic Jewish history

Rașcov was the home of Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polonne, a leading Jewish Hasidic

tzaddik Tzadik ( ''ṣaddīq'' , "righteous ne; also ''zadik'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadīqīm'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the wor ...

and one of the first disciples of the founder of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...

, the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

. His book, '' Toldos Yaacov Yosef'', (published on 1780), was the first hasidic work ever published. His work is one of the foremost sources for saying of the Baal Shem Tov and members of his court, and Jacob Joseph quotes things he himself heard the Baal Shem Tov say in a section entitled "Words I Heard from My Master."

Historic sites

Rașcov and the surrounding area is home to numerous historic monuments and architecture, among them the Polish

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 ...

Saint Cajetan Church, considered a historical heritage. It has recently undergone extensive renovation. The church was built when this part of Transnistria was a part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, with generous contributions by the

n prince

Petru Rareș Petru Rareș (; – 3 September 1546) or Petru IV was twice voivode of Moldavia from 20 January 1527 to 18 September 1538 and from 19 February 1541 to 3 September 1546. He was an illegitimate child born (probably at Hârlău) to Stephen III of ...

. Near Rașcov is also located the Kalaur Castle, a defunct castle of the

founded in the 14th century.

Landscape

Outside Rașcov is located the Rașcov National Park, an extensive natural landscape preserve and an ecologically protected area. More recently, the Transnistrian separatist authorities have edited an Atlas of Transnistria, which refers to the area around Rașcov as the "Transnistrian Alps": ''Time, wind, and water have eroded the abrupt slopes near the village of Rașcov, having formed the limestone outliers, towering above the slopes.''

Notes

References

External links

Northern PMR
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rascov Communes of Transnistria 1402 establishments in Europe Populated places established in the 1400s Camenca District