Rozhyshche (, ; ; ) is a city in

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...

, in north-western

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 serves as an

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 Rozhyshche urban hromada. Population: It is situated on the

Styr The Styr (; ; ) is a right tributary of the Pripyat, with a length of . Its basin area is and located in the historical region of Volhynia. The Styr begins near Brody, Lviv Oblast, then flows into Rivne Oblast, Volyn Oblast, then into Brest ...

river in the historic region of

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

Geography

Rozhyshche is located in the

Volhynian Upland The Volhynian Upland () is an Upland (geology), upland in western Ukraine, with its small northwestern part stretching into eastern Poland. The Podolian Upland and the Volhynian Upland are sometimes grouped together as the Volhynian-Podolian Upla ...

. The town of Rozhyshche is located 22 km by road from the regional center (Lutsk). The area of the area is located in the area of mixed forests and the river basin

(tributary of the

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'' ...

). The climate is moderately continental with mild winters (in January -4.4 °, -5.1 °) and warm wet summer (in July +18.8 °). Rainfall 550-640 mm per year. Most precipitation falls in summer. Атлас Волинської області / за ред. Ф. В. Зузука. – М.: Комітет геодезії і картографії СРСР, 1991. – 42 с. Retrieved 2025-06-30.

History

The first written mention of Rozhyshche dates back to 1322, when the Lutsk prince Lyubart Gedyminovych donated it to the cathedral church of John the Theologian. In 1567, the Polish king Sigismund Augustus granted the city the Magdeburg Right (the right to self-government). After the Union of Lublin in 1569, Rozhyshche (Polish: Rožyšče) became part of the Volyn Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1598, the city received its own coat of arms. In 1795, as a result of the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

, the settlement was annexed by 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 ...

, within which it was administratively located in Lutsky Uyezd in

Volhynian Governorate Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate ...

. It saw an influx of

Jews 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 ...

as a result of Russian discriminatory policies (see ''

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

''). In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, it was the seat of a

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

, administratively located in the Łuck County in the Wołyń Voivodeship of Poland. According to the 1921 census, the town's population was 79.8%

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 ...

, 9.2%

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 ...

, 5.7%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 4.1% Ukrainian.Retrieved 2025-06-30. Following the joint German-Soviet

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 ...

, which started

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 ...

in September 1939, it was initially occupied by the Soviet Union, then by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

from June 1941, and then once again by the Soviets from 1944. A local newspaper is published here since January 1945. In January 1989 the population was 14 391 people.Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик, их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу
Retrieved 2025-06-30. City since August 1989.

Gallery

File:Костел Рожище.jpg, Transfiguration Church (1920) File:House of culture in Rozhyshche 01.jpg, House of Culture File:Rozhysche_Mykhaylivs'ka Tserkva 03 (YDS_7321).jpg, St. Michael Church (entrance view) File:Rozhysche_Pam'yatnyk Zemlyakam 01 (YDS_7316).jpg,

Memorial

References

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