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 ...
in
Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...
, 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 ...
. It is located on the Romen River. Romny serves as the administrative centre of Romny Raion and hosts the administration of , 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:
History
The city was founded in AD 902. On September 16, 2002, the city celebrated its 1,100th anniversary. Romny was first mentioned in documents in 1096 (as Romen, ; the name, originally that of the river, is of Baltic origin, cf. Lithuanian ''romus'' 'quiet'). At various times, it passed under
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 ...
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
rule. By 1638, the city had a population of 6,000 inhabitants, which made it by far the largest settlement in the area. In 1781, the city was granted a charter by the Tsarina
Catherine II
Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...
.
Romny was the terminus of the Libau-Romny railway which was built to deliver Ukrainian goods, mostly grains, for export. It also served as main route for emigration to the Americas through the Libau post where passenger ships were accessed.
In Romny the first statue of
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...
was erected on 27 October 1918 when the city was located in the newly established
Ukrainian state
The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...
. It was preserved as part 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 ...
Ukrainization
Ukrainization or Ukrainisation ( ) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture in various spheres of public life such as education, ...
Radio Svoboda
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...
(14 October 2018) The concrete statue in Romny began to decay in the 1950s, but was remade in
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
and re-unveiled in 1982. The original version of the monument is located on
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, ...
's Andriyivskyy Descent.
Unimaginable suffering was inflicted on the people of Romny during the years of Bolshevik rule, two world wars, famines, and repressions. During the
Holodomor
The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...
of 1932–1933, organized by the Soviet authorities, at least 2274 residents of the city died.
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 ...
, Romny was occupied by the
German Army
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
from September 10, 1941, to September 16, 1943. The Germans operated a Nazi prison, the Dulag 112 transit
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 ...
and a subcamp of the Dulag 124 transit POW camp in the city.
In the period between 1979 and 1989, Romny's population rose from 53,016 to 57,502 inhabitants.
In 2022, a series of military engagements occurred near Romny 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 ...
.
Population
Ethnicity
According to the
2001 Ukrainian census
The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.2001 census:
Geography
Climate
Sights
The cathedral of the Holy Spirit, founded in 1735 in place of a wooden church, is a four-pillared cathedral designed in the
Ukrainian Baroque
Ukrainian Baroque (), also known as Cossack Baroque () or Mazepa Baroque, is an style (visual arts), artistic style that was widespread in Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the result of a combination of local traditions and Europea ...
style and is surmounted by three pear-shaped domes, each placed on a tall cylinder. Although the cathedral dates back to the 1740s, the building of the nearby belfry and winter church was not undertaken until 1780.
Another noteworthy building is the church of the Ascension, which also has three domes, but was constructed later, in 1795–1801, and adjoins a Baroque belfry built in 1753–63.
Local government
Beside the city itself, the city municipality also serves as government for a village Kolisnykove and a settlement Luchky.
The city also has administration of the surrounding Romny Raion.
Haim Arlosoroff
Haim Arlosoroff (23 February 1899 – 16 June 1933; also known as Chaim Arlozorov; ) was a Socialist Zionist leader of the Yishuv during the British Mandate for Palestine, prior to the establishment of Israel, and head of the Political D ...
(1899–1933), notable Socialist Zionist leader
* Maksym Biletskyi (born 1980), Ukrainian footballer
* Larisa Netšeporuk (born 1970), heptathlete who represented Ukraine and Estonia
*
Pinhas Rutenberg
Pinhas Rutenberg (, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; ; 5 February 1879 – 3 January 1942) was a Russian businessman, hydraulic engineer and political activist. In Russia, he was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and fled due to the Octo ...
(1879–1942), Russian socialist revolutionary and Zionist leader in Palestine, prominent engineer and businessman
* Isaac Schwartz (1923–2009), Soviet composer
*
Grigory Sokolnikov
Grigori Yakovlevich Sokolnikov (born Hirsch Yankelevich Brilliant; 15 August 1888 – 21 May 1939) was a Russian revolutionary, economist, and Soviet politician.
Born to a Jewish family in Romny (now in Ukraine), Sokolnikov joined the Russian ...
(born Hirsch Brilliant; 1888–1939), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician
* Joachim Stutschewsky (1891–1982), Austrian and Israeli cellist, composer, and musicologist
*
Abram Ioffe
Abram Fedorovich Ioffe ( rus, Абра́м Фёдорович Ио́ффе, p=ɐˈbram ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ɪˈofɛ; – 14 October 1960) was a prominent Soviet Union, Soviet physicist. He received the USSR State Prize, Stalin Prize (1942), the ...
(1880–1960), prominent Russian/Soviet physicist
* Several of the founding members (1909–10) of Degania, the first
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
settlement in Palestine
Gallery
File:Romny - panoramio.jpg, Downtown Romny
File:Romny ascension church.jpg, Ascension Church
File:Будинок, в якому в 1923 році відбулася перша окружна конференція Спілки радянських працівників.jpg, Palace of Culture
File:Romny Duhovne Uchylysche 01 Schuchky 8 (YDS 6628).JPG, Former seminary
File:Romny Kostel 01 Gor'kogo 246 (YDS 6708).JPG, Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception
File:Romny Kupets'kiy Torgivel'niy Budynok 01 Svobody (Zhovt.Revolut.) b-r 28 (YDS 6683).JPG, Former trading house
File:Romny Mis'ke Uchylysche 01 Soborna (Lenina) 43 (YDS 4555).JPG, Historical school building
File:Romny Pam'yatnyk T.Shevchenku 00 1 bul.Shevchenka (YDS 6674).JPG, Taras Shevchenko monument
File:Romny Paroviy Mlyn Rubinchyka 01 Gor'kogo 106 (YDS 6698).JPG, Steam mill in Romny
File:Romny Povitoviy Shpytal' Golovniy Korpus 01 Moskovs'kiy b-r 29 (YDS 4720).JPG, District hospital building
File:Romny Real'ne Uchylysche 00 1 Soborna (Lenina) 33 (YDS 6634).JPG, High school building
File:Romny Vsihsvyats'ka Tserkva 05 Dudina 4 (YDS 6721).JPG, Church of All Saints in Romny
File:Romny Zems'ka Likarnya 01 Moskovs'kiy b-r 24 (YDS 6691).JPG, Historic hospital building
File:Bus station in Romny.JPG, Bus station in Romny