Khotyn

Khotyn1 Хотин
Panoramic view of the Khotyn Fortress.
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine (blue) with Khotyn highlighted (red).
Detailed map of Chernivtsi Oblast (yellow) with Khotyn.
Coordinates:
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Chernivtsi
Raion	Khotynskyi
First chronicled	September 22, 1002
City rights	14th century
Government
- City Head	Mykola Palamar
Area
- Total	20.39 km² (7.9 sq mi)
Population (2001 census)
- Total	11,124
- Density	545.6/km² (1,413.1/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	60000 — 60005
Area code(s)	+380 3731
Website: Verkhovna Rada website

Khotyn (Ukrainian: Хотин; see other names) is a city in Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, and is the administrative center of the Khotynskyi Raion (district) within the oblast. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, it has a population of 11,124. In earlier times, the town was alternatively in Polish, Turkish and Austrian possession^[1], as well as was part of the Principality of Moldavia (1359-1812), Bessarabia gubernia (region) of the Russian Empire (1812-1918), Romania (1918-40, 1940-44), and the USSR (1940-41, 1944-91).

Khotyn, first chronicled in 1001,^[2] is located on the right (southern) bank of the Dniester River, and is part of the historical region Bessarabia. Important architectural landmarks within the city include the Khotyn Fortress, constructed in the 13-15th centuries (new fortress started in 1325, major improvements in 1380s and 1460s), and two 15th century constructions: the Prince's Palace (Palatul Domnesc) and the city's clock tower.

Name

Khotyn (Polish: Chocim; Romanian: Hotin; Turkish: Khotin; Russian: Хотин, translit. Khotin) was conquered and controlled by many different states, resulting in many name changes. Other name variations include Chotyn, or Choczim.

History

Early history: 11-15th centuries

Khotyn, located on cliffs above the Dniester, is sometimes conflated with a sound-alike locality mentioned in 1001,^[2] when it was a minor settlement of Kievan Rus'.^[3][4] Archaeological excavations found that the Kievan town covered the area of some twenty hectares.^[5] It later became part of the Principality of Halych and its successor, Halych-Volhynia. The town was an important trading center due to its location by a river crossing. A Genoese trading colony was established there by the 13th century.^[3]

Khotyn was first mentioned in 1310, as a residence of a catholic bishop, being held in the first half of the 14th century by the Kingdom of Poland, which intended to impose Catholicism to the local Vlach communities, mentioned there in the 10th-13th centuries. The first fortifications date back from this period. In 1351, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania conquered the area, only to give it three years later to the Vlachs, which formed their own independent principality in 1359, Moldavia.

The present-day fortress was constructed after 1400 by the Moldavian ruler Alexander the Good, with the help of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania. After 1433, it was occupied by Poland, due to wars between Alexander's successors, and was reconquered from the Poles by Stephen the Great of Moldovia in 1459. The fortress, strengthened by Stephen, during the 15th century, became the strongest on the northern border of medieval Moldavia.

Conquest by different states

The Khotyn Fortress, located on the shores of the Dniester River.

During Wallahian ruler's Michael the Brave invasion in Moldova in May 1600 its ruler Ieremia Movilă took refuge in the castle of Khotyn together with his family, a handful of faithful boyars and the former Transylvanian Prince, Sigismund Bathory.

As the Moldavian state's international significance was dwindled by that of the Kingdom of Poland and the Ottoman Empire, the latter sought to gain control of the strategic river crossing. As a result, Khotyn's later history was dominated by wars between the expanding Christian powers (mainly Poland) and the expanding Ottoman Empire. The Turks suffered two decisive defeats at Khotyn in the 17th century, at the hands of the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: in 1621 by Hetman Jan Chodkiewicz, and again in 1673 by Jan III Sobieski (see: Battles below).

The Ottoman Empire finally seized the fortress from Moldavia in 1713 during the Great Northern War, and held it during the following century. Another power, Russian Empire, came to claim the region in 18th century. The Turks amplified and enlarged the citadel, which was taken by the Russians on four occasions: in 1739 by Burkhard Christoph von Munnich, in 1769 by Prince Alexander Galitzine, in 1788 by Prince Josias of Coburg, and Ivan Saltykov, in 1807 by Ivan Michelson.

With the start of the Russo-Turkish War in 1806, the Khotyn Fortress was taken by the Tsarist Army and passed to the Russian Empire. With the signing of the Bucharest Peace Treaty in 1812, the region was formally passed to the Russian Empire as Bessarabia.^[6]

During 1812-1918, Khotin was the administrative center of the Hotin County, one of the twelve, later nine counties of Bessarabia. During 19th century, due to economic reasons and the geographic proximity of Kamianets-Podilskyi (an important political center during the late Middle Ages and the early modern times), the Ukrainian population of Bessarabia increased significantly, from around 15,000 in 1810 to around 200,000 in 1917 (of which over half in the northern half of the Khotin county), by migration from Podolia (just across the river Dniester). During World War I, the north-eastern corner of the Hotin county was the only area of Bessarabia, occupied by Austria-Hungary.

Modern history: 20th-21st centuries

With the collapse of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia proclaimed independence from Russia in 1917, then union with Romania in April 1918. Romania and Austria signed a Peace treaty in May 1918, which was however not ratified until on November 10th, Romania reentered the war. The Austrians were in control of Khotin and several villages around for several months starting February 28, 1918.^[7], until Romania took over, due to the fact that on April 9, Bessarabia declared union with Romania. Shortly after that, in January 1919, local Ukrainians desiring to be part of Ukraine, started a revolt,^[8][9][10] which was also exploited by some Soviet agitators. After the Khotin Uprising was put down by the Romanian Army, Romania implemented nationalist policies aimed at re-Romanizing the territory.^[9][11]

The city remained under Romanian control until 28 June 1940, when along with Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina it was annexed by the Soviet Union, following the June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum. In August 1940, Soviets created the Chernivtsi Oblast, and included the area around Khotin to it, which became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, not of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, as the rest of Bessarabia. After Operation Barbarossa, where Romania acted as a Germany ally, the area was retaken by Romania in early July 1941 and reattached to it. In March 1944, with the defeat of the Axis forces, the town was retaken by the Soviets, and reattached to Soviet Ukraine.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, Khotyn became a part of newly independent Ukraine. In 2000, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine created the historical-architectural preserve "Khotynska Fortetsia" (Khotyn Fortress).^[12] In September of 2002, the city celebrated its 1,000 year anniversary.^[12]

Battles

"Defending the Polish banner at Chocim" painted by Juliusz Kossak

"Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (in red) at Chocim"

In the first Battle of Khotyn in 1621, an army of 200,000^[13][14] to 250,000^[15] Turkish veterans, led by Osman II, advanced from Adrianople towards the Polish frontier. The Turks, following their victory in the Battle of Cecora, had high hopes of conquering Polish controlled Ukraine. The Polish commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester in September 1621 with approximately 35,000 soldiers^[13][15] and entrenched the Khotyn Fortress, blocking the path of the Ottoman march. The arrival of 40,000^[13][15] Ukrainian Cossack forces under their hetman Petro Konashevych was helpful in that victory. The Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay for a whole month, until the first snow of autumn compelled Osman to withdraw his diminished forces. But the victory was dearly purchased by Poland. A few days before the siege was raised, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress on September 24, 1621. The Commonwealth forces held under the command of Stanisław Lubomirski. The battle, described by Wacław Potocki in his most famous work Transakcja wojny chocimskiej, marked the end of the long period of Moldavian Magnate Wars.

In 1673, the Polish hussars again fought a major battle on this site (second Battle of Khotyn). This time Polish forces under the command of soon-to-be-king Jan Sobieski defeated the Ottomans on November 11, 1673. In this battle, rockets of Kazimierz Siemienowicz were successfully used. This brilliant victory was a prelude to the Battle of Vienna 1683.

In the Russo-Turkish War, the fortress was taken by Russian field marshal Burkhard Christoph von Munnich on August 19, 1739. This victory is remembered primarily through the Ode on the Taking of Khotin from the Turks, composed by the young Mikhail Lomonosov.^[16] This ode has a place in the history of Russian literature: its sonorous iambic verse is often taken as a starting point of the modern Russian poetry.

Famous people

• The Romanian philologist, historian and writer Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu was born near Khotyn on February 16, 1836.
• Azriel Yanover (1875-1938) — Yiddish poet, playwright, and educator; lived in Khotyn from 1895.
• Alemdar Mustafa Pasha (1765-1808) Ottoman Grand Vizier was born in Khotyn (Hotin)

Jewish Cemetery

Khotyn contains a Jewish cemetery, indexed by the US Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.

Footnotes and references

External links

• Verkhovna Rada website — city of Khotyn, Chernivetska oblast, Khotynskyi Raion
• Flags of the World — Khotyn (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
• Khotyn photo gallery — by Sergiy Klymenko, July 2004
• Castles and churches of Ukraine — Khotyn, Chocim

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