Bila Tserkva


Bila Tserkva is a city in central Ukraine, the largest city in Kiev Oblast. Bila Tserkva is located on the Ros River approximately south of Kiev. The area is Its population is approximately.
Administratively, Bila Tserkva is incorporated as a town of oblast significance. It also serves as the administrative center of Bila Tserkva Raion, though administratively it does not belong to the raion.

History

The town was founded in 1032 as :uk:Юр'їв|Yuriiv by Yaroslav the Wise, whose Christian name was Yuri. The present name of the city, literally translated, is "White Church" and may refer to the white-painted cathedral of medieval Yuriiv. Since 1363 it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and since 1569 to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, administratively in the Powiat of Kiev, part of Lesser Poland. It was crown property, but in recognition of his great service, it was granted to the Castellan of Kraków, Janusz Ostrogski. The next owner was Stanisław Lubomirski and during his time the town was granted Magdeburg Rights by Sigismund III Vasa in 1620.
After subduing the rebellious Cossacks in the 1626 Battle of Bila Tserkva, the next owner of the estate was prince Jerzy Dymitr Wiśniowiecki. The castle was successfully taken by Bohdan Chmielnicki in 1648. The Battle of Bila Tserkva led to the signing of a peace accord with the cossacks. The Treaty of Bila Tserkva between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ukrainian Cossack rebels under Bohdan Khmelnytsky was signed here in 1651.
In 1666 6,000 Muscovite troops laid siege to Bila Tserkva. The stand off lasted until the following year when Polish reinforcements led by Jan Stachurski with the aid of allied cossacks and Iwan Brzuchowiecki smashed Petro Doroshenko's stranglehold.
The subsequent owner was Great Crown Hetman Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski. In 1702 the castle was taken by the cossack leader, Semen Paliy who made it his domain. In 1708 the town was overrun by prince Golitsyn's Russian army. The next owner of the town was Jan Stanislaw Jablonowski, then Stanisław Wincenty Jabłonowski who erected a catholic church. After him ownership passed to Jerzy August Mniszech. The town was substantially refortified.
In 1774, Bila Tserkva, then the seat of the sub-prefecture, came into the possession of Stanisław August Poniatowski who that same year granted the property to Franciszek Ksawery Branicki, Poland's Grand Hetman. He built there his urban residence – the :uk:Зимовий палац |Winter Palace complex and a country residence with the "Olexandria" park. He founded the Catholic church of John the Baptist and started construction of the Orthodox church which was completed by his successor – his son, count Władysław Grzegorz Branicki. The latter one built also the gymnasium-school complex in Bila Tserkva. Aleksander Branicki, the youngest grandson of the hetman, renovated and finished the Mazepa's Orthodox church. Under the rule of count Władysław Michał Branicki, Bila Tserkva developed into a regional commercial and manufacturing centre.
Bila Tserkva was annexed into the Russian Empire as a result of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793.
After 1861, the Tzarist authorities converted the Roman Catholic church into an Orthodox Church. During the Soviet times Bila Tserkva became a large industrial hub.
During World War II, Bila Tserkva was occupied by the German Army from 16 July 1941 to 4 January 1944. In August 1941 it was the site of the 1941 Bila Tserkva massacre.
During the Cold War, the town was host to the 72nd Guards Krasnograd Motor Rifle Division and the 251st Instructor Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment of Long Range Aviation.

Geography

Bila Tserkva is located at 49°47'58.6" North, 30°06'32.9" East and is above sea level.
The city has a total area of

Demography

Up to the 20th century, the majority of the population of Bila Tserkva were Jews : by the end of the 19th century, 18720 Jews lived in the city.
Evolution of Bila Tserkva's population
The destruction of the Jewish population, first by Cossacks, Stalinian purges and then during the Shoah, partly as a result of the Bila Tserkva massacre, caused a major demographic shift and the place is now mostly inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Airports

Domestic transport and private flights provide services via :uk:Білоцерківський аеродром|Bila Tserkva Airport, which is located southwest of the city in Hayok district.

Rail

The Ukrzaliznytsia provides railway transit to surrounding areas in Kiev Oblast and rest of Ukraine.
There are two railway stations in Bila Tserkva city:
- Bila Tserkva railway station
- Rotok railway station

Public transit

Bila Tserkva has :uk:Білоцерківський тролейбус|six trolleybus lines.

Bridges

Bila Tserkva is the location of few large bridges, two of those cross the Ros River.

Sights

A historical landscape park Arboretum Oleksandriya of 400,67 acres is situated in Bila Tserkva. It was founded in 1793 by the wife of the Polish hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki.
Notable buildings include the :uk:Торгові ряди |Merchant Court and the :uk:Ансамбль споруд пошти |Post Yard.
There are also Palladian wooden buildings of the :uk:Зимовий палац |Branicki "Winter Palace" and the District Nobility Assembly.
:uk:Микільська церква |The St. Nicholas Church was started in 1706 by Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa, but was not completed until 1852.
The Orthodox :uk:Спасо-Преображенський собор |Saviour's Transfiguration Cathedral was constructed in 1833–1839.
The Roman Catholic :uk:Костел святого Івана Хрестителя |St. John the Baptist Church dates to 1812.
:uk:На честь рівноап. Марії Магдалини жіночий монастир |The St. Mary Magdalene Church was completed in 1846 by Count Branicki.
The building of a mid-19th century Great Choral Synagogue is preserved. Today it is the :uk:Технолого-економічний коледж БНАУ|Technology and Economic College of :uk:Білоцерківський національний аграрний університет|Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University.
The :uk:Шуховська вежа |Shukhov Water Tower - a tower that is supporting a water tank was built by a project of Vladimir Shukhov - a Russian engineer-polymath, scientist and architect.

Education

in Bila Tserkva is provided by many private and public institutions.
The Bila Tserkva area hosts several colleges and universities, including :uk:Білоцерківський національний аграрний університет|Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University.

Activities

The city is home to football team FC Ros' Bila Tserkva. Ros is a team in the lower levels of the Football Federation of Ukraine: :uk:Чемпіонат Київської області з футболу|Kiev Oblast Football Championship.
Industry in the city includes Railway Brake product manufacturers "Tribo Rail", Tribo plant and the major automobile tire manufacturer :uk:ПрАТ «Росава» |"Rosava".
The city is home to hockey club Bilyi Bars, that plays on Bilyi Bars Ice Arena, built by Kostyantyn Efymenko Charitable Foundation.

Notable people