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Chortkiv Territorial Community
Ternopil'
Population:
A town located in the south of the Ternopil region, Chortkiv is the administrative centre of the Chortkiv district and the Chortkiv town territorial community.
The Chortkiv community includes 7 population centres: the town of Chortkiv (the community’s centre) and 6 rural settlements.
Residents of the community: 37,191 people:
- Woman: 16,731;
- Men: 13,574;
- Children: 6,886;
- People of retirement age: 7,469;
Internally displaced persons: 3,045 (including 955 children);
The area of the community is 127.5 km².
History
Chortkiv is an ancient town, although the exact date of its birth is unknown. The people of Chortkiv celebrate the Town Day on the patron saint day on July 12 and start the count from 1522 – the year when Chortkiv was granted Magdeburg rights.
Although the first written mention of Chortkiv in historical sources dates back to 1427 and is associated with the name of the nobleman Ivan Prandotych, whom King Jagailo, after the Battle of Grunwald, granted settlements on the right bank of the Seret River for life with the right to demise them, our town was mentioned way back in the Galician-Volyn Chronicle. It is referred there to as the town of Moklekiv (according to legend, the settlement of Bila III near the village of Moklyaky is a remnant of the original town of Chortkiv; according to researchers’ assumptions, this settlement is the historical town of Moklekiv).
The opinion that people have lived in this picturesque valley since ancient times is confirmed by numerous findings of archaeologists. Thus, in 2005, in the central part of the town near the entrance to the vegetable market, the left wing of the house, the corner of the furnace and the remains of ceramics belonging to the era of the early Slavs of the end of the Chernyakhiv culture of the 3rd-4th centuries A.D. were found at a depth of three meters. In the Sinyakovo area, a site of the Mousterian era of the Middle Paleolithic (200-40 thousand years ago) was discovered on the left bank of the Seret River, near the sand quarry. Remains of the Trypillya culture were found in the Kadub area.
The acquisition of Magdeburg rights in 1522 contributed to the growth of the town’s population, the expansion of trade and crafts, and the development of Chortkiv.
In 1717, a unique Church of the Ascension of the Lord was built in Chortkiv without the use of a single nail.
The oldest spiritual temple of Chortkiv, the wooden shrine with the bell tower is recognized as exemplary folk monument of Podillya architecture. The preserved iconostasis of the 18th century is considered the main value of the church.
The Church of the Holy Martyr Bishop Stanislav and the Mother of God of the Holy Rosary impresses with stone walls that have survived difficult times. Numerous stories and legends are associated with them. Today it is an active temple and burial place of the Polish nobility. The greenish towers of the church can be seen from almost any point of the town, and the secret passages and labyrinths under it keep age-old secrets.
Above the Seret River, at the very foot of the mountain, there are the majestic ruins of a former stone fortification that preserves many legends and memories of glorious battles – the Chortkiv Castle, built in 1610 by Stanislav Golsky.
The Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin was built in 1905 on the site of a spring that suddenly appeared from nowhere. Its water turned out to be healing. In 1998, on the eve of the celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Rus, a clock was installed on the belfry, which plays the church hymn “God the Great, the Only One” at seven o’clock in the morning and in the evening.
The clock tower is unique for Ukraine due to its wooden half-timbered tower with a four-dial Swiss clock. It was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The clock tower with a rooster weather vane has already become a hallmark of the town and is very popular with filmmakers.
The community also has a majestic building of the second half of the 19th century. Made in bright colours, it attracts visitors with its picturesqueness. A monastery is understood as a whole complex of buildings: a church with a high tower in the central part, and a two-story building of cells that surrounds the church around the perimeter with a square. There is a spacious courtyard inside the square of the cell body. Now the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary operates there.
Interesting architectural buildings that have hidden secrets.
Economy and Welfare
Enterprises that operate on the territory of the Chortkiv urban territorial community – Chortkivmoloko (milk processing and cheese production), Golski Sweet Company (wafer products and semi-finished products), Chortkiv Forestry (forest products, round wood, plaster chips, firewood, blanks for parquet), Billerbeck Ukraine Feather and Down Factory (down and feather pillows, synthetic pillows, down, woollen, synthetic blankets), SE Bordnetze-Ukraine (cable and conductor products for cars, cable networks for cars) and Agro-product (manufacture of meat and meat products) – fill local and state budgets, including due to the export of products.
There are 22 general educational institutions enrolling 3,599 pupils in the territory of the Chortkiv territorial community. Also, the community has 9 preschool educational institutions attended by about 1,000 pupils.
The community implemented a successful educational project which included thermal modernization of two schools, installation of playgrounds and sports grounds, construction of sewage treatment plants, implementation of geo-information system of urban planning cadastre of the Chortkiv urban territorial community, purchase of equipment for communal enterprises.
There is also a children’s and youth school, an inclusive resource centre and various sports grounds on the territory of the community.
Community and War
The town of Chortkiv suffered from the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Thus, on June 11, 2022, a terrible act of military aggression took place: missile strikes on military and civilian assets destroyed 4 five-story buildings, 1 dormitory and damaged 438 flats.
At the beginning of the war, an operations headquarters was established at the Chortkiv Town Council whose main purpose is to carry out volunteer activities, attract humanitarian aid from international partners to meet the needs of internally displaced persons, 3,254 of whom the community received on its territory, and provide them with all the necessities. In addition, the operations headquarters actively takes care of military personnel – residents of the community, who protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state.
Community Head
Volodymyr Shmatko is a politician, manager, mayor of Chortkiv (since November 2015), a member of the Ukrainian national football team among city mayors, a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war. He was awarded the title of “Best Young Politician of the Year” according to “Pershyi Natsionalnyi” channel in 2008, received the Acknowledgement from the Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2017, and was a laureate of the “Person of the Year” competition (Ternopil region) in 2019.
In one and a half terms, his team managed to do a lot: to prevent the water utility enterprise from bankruptcy, bring the company’s work to a quality level; complete reconstruction of biological treatment facilities; build a new communal market; open an administrative services centre, and start the reconstruction of the central town park.
From the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, an operations headquarters was formed on the basis of the Chortkiv town council headed by Volodymyr Shmatko. It is still actively helping the Ukrainian Armed Forces and providing humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons who have found refuge in the community.
Development Strategy
In Chortkiv, the strategic goals, operational targets, and main tasks of the “Strategic Development Plan of the Chortkiv Town Council of Ternopil Region for 2019-2026” have been defined:
- Activation of community residents by increasing their initiative and social responsibility for management processes in the town.
- Providing a space for the implementation of ideas, projects and the latest forms of participation of residents in town management processes
- Organizing a public space for implementing the activities of effective communities of the town
- Creating a participation fund for municipal initiatives
- Establishing effective “community-government-community” communication
- Modernizing the website of the Chortkiv Town Council
- Ensuring available social sphere
- Promoting the integration of persons with disabilities into society
- Implementing cultural events for the third age audience
- Popularizing and modernizing education, culture and sports as rethought tools for the development of the individual and the community in general
- Developing a system of innovative quality education of various forms for all community population groups
- Carrying out overhaul, current repairs and reconstruction of preschool educational institutions, secondary schools, and out-of-school facilities.
- Providing the network of preschool educational institutions and secondary schools of the town with modern equipment.
- Improving the quality of professional training
- Implementing measures in the field of inclusive education.
- Ensuring cultural development and preservation of cultural heritage
- Modernizing the museum and creating an “up-to-date” library.
- Providing support for festival activities in the town.
- Developing physical culture and sports
- Creating a new, and improving the existing, physical infrastructure of the town’s sports facilities
- Building a well-developed town which will be comfortable for investors, tourists and residents due to the creation of an attractive environment for business and tourism
- Developing and using effectively the town’s investment potential
- Creating a favourable environment for attracting (domestic, foreign) investors
- Creating an Industrial Park
- Creating and ensuring stable conditions for enterprise and small business development
- Stimulating local economic development
- Developing the tourist potential of the town
- Creating a positive tourist image of the town
- Improving the condition of historical and architectural monuments
- Providing environmentally friendly living, working and recreation conditions for town residents
- Implementing an effective solid waste management system
- Optimizing transport infrastructure
- Implementing a comprehensive layout for organizing road traffic in the town
- Carrying out road surface repair and pavement restoration
- Developing public transport
- Developing a public urban space
- Developing a comprehensive plan for recreational areas
- Improving safety and security in the town
- Increasing the level of energy efficiency
- Improving the state of heat supply in budget institutions of the town.
- Introducing renewable energy sources in the town’s energy balance
List of Sources
- Town Council website
- Facebook page