Boryslav
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Boryslav (Ukrainian: Борислав, Polish: Borysław) is a city located on the Tysmenitsa River (a tributary of the Dniester), in the Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. The city is designated as a separate raion (district) within the oblast.
The current estimated population is around 36,704 (as of 2005).
[edit] History
The area of modern town of Boryslav has been inhabitated at least since the Bronze Age. There are remnants of a pagan shrine from 1st millennium BC located in the area, with ca. 270 petroglyphs found, most often solar signs - symbols of pre-Christian Solar deity. Between 9th century and 13th century the site of the modern town housed a fortress named Tustan, which was a part of a belt of similar strongholds defending the Kievan Rus' from the west and south. After the dissolution of Kievan Rus', the town became a part of the Halych-Volhynian Principality. With the collapse of the latter, in 14th century Boryslav became a part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was first mentioned in a document listing all personal belongings of king Jadwiga of Poland of September 19, 1387.
Since that time, Borysław, as it was called back then, was a small town related to the nearby metropolis of Lwów (currently Lviv, Ukraine) and mostly shared its fate. In 1772, during the Partitions of Poland, it was annexed by Austria and became a part of Austrian-created Galicia. In 1854 the first ozokerite mine was started in the town. In the second half of 1853, following the research of Jan Zeh,[1] and several other scientists working in the nearby city of Lwów, the town and its surroundings saw emergence of oil industry, with one of the first oil rigs in the world built there in 1861 by Robert Doms. The oil mining industry soon started to dwell and in 1909 alone more than 1,920,000 tonnes of oil were produced there, roughly 5% of world oil production at that time. The number of oil rigs also rose from 4,000 in 1870 to over 12,000 three years later. The oil boom drew many industry moguls from all over Austria-Hungary and many fortunes were earned and lost there. In addition, the period of prosperity started and the city's population grew by almost 10,000 new workers who arrived to the area. In 1886 an oil mining school was opened in Borysław, one of the first such facilities in Europe. Also the ozokerite, a natural mineral wax, mined in Borysław, was used for isolation of the first trans-Atlantic telegraphic cable line. On December 31, 1872, a railway line linking Borysław with the nearby city of Drohobycz (now Drohobych, Ukraine) was opened.
After the Great War and the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919, the area became part of the newly-reborn Poland. In 1920 the mining school was significantly expanded and was renamed to Carpathian Geological Station, a de facto oil mining university. As the capital of the Zagłębie Borysławskie (Borysław Oil Area), the town of Borysław was the centre of Polish oil mining and one of the most important industrial zones of Poland. Because of that, on July 26, 1933, the town was granted with a city charter. Together with nearby settlement of Tustanowice, Boryslaw produced in 1925 some 80% of Polish oil (812 000 tons). Boryslav was then commonly called "Polish Baku".
After the 1939 German attack on Poland, the city was annexed by the Soviet Union, under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and allocated to the Ukrainian SSR where it was called Boryslav. In 1941 the city fell under the German control upon the advances of the German army to the east in the start Soviet-German hostilities and the area was attached to the General Government. Following German defeat in World War II, the town came again under the Soviet rule. Since 1991 the town is part of an independent Ukraine. Although the oil and gas deposits have almost depleted, the oil industry remains the main branch of local industry.
[edit] See also
- Jan Zeh
[edit] External links
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