Lutsk Territorial Community

History

The first mention of Lutsk was found in the Hypatian Codex of 1085, where it was about internal quarrels between the descendants of Yaroslav the Wise.

Indeed, researchers of the city have reason to claim that it arose around the year 1000. Archaeological studies indicate the existence of settlements on the territory of the city even before Neolithic times (III millennium BC).

The name Lutsk is associated with its location on the bend (“luts”) of the Styr River. There is also another version: the name comes from the name of Luke. That was the name of the leader of the Dulibs, who supposedly founded the city on the island formed by Styr and its branches. Now this island is the territory of the State Historical and Cultural Reserve in the city of Lutsk. During princely times, Lutsk was called “Luchsk” or “Luchesk”, and only during the Lithuanian era did the name of the city acquire its current form.

After the death of Prince Dmitry Lyubart, the city became the favorite residence of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas. He was a warlike and powerful prince. The Tatars obeyed him, he successfully fought both with the German knights and with Moscow, where his son-in-law ruled. Under him, the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded due to the lands of Rus from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and it became one of the largest states in Europe.

The history of Lutsk is inextricably linked with the Lutsk castle of the 4th century. The castle has three tall rectangular towers: Entrance, Styr’s and Ruler’s.

A landmark event in the history of Lutsk Castle was the Congress of European Monarchs.

In January 1429, within the walls of the castle, Prince Vytautas organized a grand event of the European level – the “Congress of European Monarchs”, which was attended by representatives of twenty countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The congress was also an important event for the city of Lutsk: it helped it become a European city, contributed to its beautification and development.

Today, visitors can view the expositions of Ukraine’s only bell museum, the book museum, and the art museum.

Various cultural events– festivals, concerts, exhibitions, knightly tournaments – are constantly held in the Castle. Many participants gather in Lutsk for the art show “Night in the Lutsk Castle”.

The Lutsk Castle took first place in the “Castles” category of the All-Ukrainian competition “Seven Wonders of Ukraine: Castles, Palaces, Fortresses” based on the results of Internet voting.

In addition to the Lutsk (or Upper) Castle, fragments of the so-called Okolnyk (Outer Castle) – part of the castle complex, which was several times larger than the Upper Castle – have been preserved in the city.

Until today, only 1 of the 4 brick towers of the Outer Castle has survived – the Chortoriisky tower.

On the basis of this monument, a new museum space “The Outer Castle” was created and has been operational since 2023.

The space includes the tower of the Princes of Chortoriiskys with a part of the defensive wall and the Jesuit Monastery with one of the longest dungeons in Ukraine.

“The Outer Castle” is a creative museum space consisting of 18 cleared rooms and 4 corridors. They have a Gallery of Chivalry, an exposition of the educational process at the Jesuit Collegium, a multimedia system with an interactive smart scoreboard, virtual reality helmets, a silicone figure of a Jesuit monk, and a ghost hologram.

Along with the castle, there are 160 monuments of architecture and history in Lutsk, of which a quarter of a hundred are monuments of national significance. Most of this group is concentrated in the Old Town – the State Historical and Cultural Reserve.

Among the tourist “jewels” of the city, guests of the city note Lesya Ukrainka Street, the Holovan House, the Lutheran Church, the Cathedral Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and the Great Synagogue.

The famous Ukrainian writer, poet, translator, cultural figure Lesya Ukrainka (Larysa Kosach) also lived with her family in Lutsk for some time.

Economy and Welfare

The partially navigable Styr River, which is a tributary of the Pripyat River and connects with the Dnieper River, flows through the community.

The main branches of the city’s economy are mechanical engineering, construction, production of rubber and plastic products, paper, printing and textile industries.

The community is attractive to foreign investors, which is confirmed by the large number of business entities with foreign investments:

• Modern-Expo LLC – Polish and Ukrainian investments (equipment for supermarkets),
• Kromberg And Schubert Ukraine LU LLC – German investments (electric cable systems for cars),
• Terichem Tervakoski LLC and Tatrafan LLC – Slovak investments (plastic plates, sheets, pipes and profiles; polymer flexible packaging and bags),
• Private Joint Stock Company SKF Ukraine – Swedish investmentі (bearings) is temporarily not functioning after the Russian missile attack.

Also, the educational sector is actively developing in the community. There are 2 universities here (Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University and Lutsk National Technical University), 10 institutions of professional higher education, 39 schools, 51 institutions of preschool education and 5 institutions of out-of-school education.

The cultural and artistic life of the city is represented by performances by artists of the Volyn Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater and the Volyn Regional Puppet Theater and concerts organized by the Lutsk Palace of Culture and the Regional Philharmonic.

Community and War

Since the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Lutsk urban territorial community has played the role of a reliable home front. Lutsk has suffered 5 missile attacks on military and critical infrastructure facilities since the beginning of the full-scale war.

Despite all the challenges, the community quickly mobilized the efforts of the authorities, volunteers, and public activists. Assistance points for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and support points for IDPs were created. The points participated in the collection of humanitarian aid, which was later transferred for the needs of IDPs, Armed Forces of Ukraine and other cities of Ukraine upon request and as necessary.

Since the beginning of the war, Lutsk has received about 20,000 internally displaced persons. For a long time, they were provided with lunches and hot meals. Now there are 10,000 internally displaced persons who stayed in the community.

With the funds of the European Union within the framework of the project “Reconstruction of the educational and laboratory building of LNTU into a dormitory for IDPs” under the support of the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), the premises intended for the residence of internally displaced persons from among students and university teachers were reconstructed.

Today, work continues on helping the Ukrainian army and military. Numerous deductions from the community budget go to the purchase of drones and other special equipment needed on the front lines. This includes the help of international organizations, charitable foundations, partner cities and caring citizens both in Ukraine and abroad.

In addition, various defense trainings and first aid trainings are regularly held here

People of the Community

The community is headed by Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk.

The community has 18 sister cities in 10 countries of the world (Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Turkey, Greece, Slovakia, Georgia, Romania, China). And it also has three of the four awards of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which are awarded to municipalities for actively promoting the European idea: the European Diploma, the Honorary Flag of Europe and the Shield of Honor.

In 2011, Lutsk joined the Intercultural Cities initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

In 2009, Lutsk joined the Covenant of Mayors initiative of the European Union.

Development Strategy

The development strategy of the Lutsk urban territorial community has been formed and is in the final stage of preparation for its approval. According to the new draft Strategy, the main areas of development are based on the strategic goals:

1. Lutsk Youth Community (increasing the availability and quality of housing, creating public spaces, supporting MSMEs, etc.);
2. A new community with a historical center (development of communal infrastructure, complex spatial planning of the community, etc.);

III. Modern ecopolis (improvement of the transport sector, ecological waste management, energy saving, etc.);

1. Regional leader (development of tourist and historical potential);
2. Community of modernity and innovation (creation of innovative industrial ecoparks, cluster model of development of individual industries, etc.).

Lutsk is a reliable and experienced partner in the implementation of international projects.

With the support of grant funds from the European Union, USAID, and foreign governments, a number of projects have already been implemented in the areas of historical, cultural and natural heritage, public transport, IT, waste management, heat supply, road infrastructure, health care, youth policy, etc.;

With the support of credit funds from international financial institutions NEFCO, EBRD, EIB, World Bank a number of projects have already been implemented in the areas of green economy, thermal modernization of public buildings, reconstruction and modernization of sewage and heat supply systems, public transport.

5 projects have been implemented within the cross-border cooperation program Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2007-2013 in the field of culture, tourism, provision of administrative services, and social protection of the population.

7 grant projects with the region of Lippe (Germany) were financed by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany through the non-profit LLC “Engagement Global” Service center “Cities in a single world”

List of Sources

• Official website of the Lutsk City Council  
• Order of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine No. 265 dated December 21, 2022 “On the approval of Methodological recommendations regarding the procedure for the development, approval, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of strategies for the development of territorial communities”.
• Quality of life in the Lutsk community, 2023. Sociological survey by the Fama agency commissioned by the Council of Europe in Ukraine
• Outcomes of the Eighth All-Ukrainian Municipal Survey conducted by the Sociological Group “Rating” on behalf of the Center for Analysis and Sociological Research of the International Republican Institute (IRI), 2023. 
• Portal “Decentralization”.
• Youth well-being index. 
• Data from the State Statistics Service
• Economic profile of the Lutsk community
• DOU cities rating. Detailed analysis of 22 Ukrainian cities. 2021 
• IT Research Ukraine, 2023  Page 71 Development Strategy of the Lutsk Urban Territorial Community until 2030 (draft)
• Where does Ukrainian business relocate during the Great War? Opendata research. 2023. 
• Research on the tourist attraction of Lutsk, carried out by the Fama Sociological Agency, 2017 
• Map diagram of the hydrography of the territory of Lutsk (Volyn region). From the article: Zabokrytska M.R. Khilchevskyi V.K. Water bodies of Lutsk: hydrography, local monitoring, water supply and drainage. Hydrology, hydrochemistry and hydroecology. 2016. Vol. 3 (42). P. 64-76.
• Urban Vision Lutsk – research of the city and development of the master plan of the central part of Lutsk. 2023. NGO “Algoritm Diy”. 
• Passport of the Lutsk Urban Territorial Community as of January 1, 2022. 
• Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. UN Sustainable Development Goals
• State regional development strategy
• Development strategy of the Volyn region until 2027.