Khust

Khust
Хуст
Huszt
City of regional significance

Panorama of Khust from the Castle Hill

Flag

Coat of arms
Khust
Khust

Location of Khust

Coordinates: 48°10′53″N 23°17′52″E / 48.18139°N 23.29778°E / 48.18139; 23.29778Coordinates: 48°10′53″N 23°17′52″E / 48.18139°N 23.29778°E / 48.18139; 23.29778
Country  Ukraine
Oblast  Zakarpattia Oblast
Council Khust city council
Founded 1090
Incorporated 1329
Government
  Mayor Volodymyr Kashchuk
Elevation 164 m (538 ft)
Population (2016)
  City of regional significance 28,448
  Density 1,298.140/km2 (3,362.17/sq mi)
  Metro 31,864
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 90400
Area code(s) +380-3142
Climate Cfb
Website Khust City Portal
Official Website

Khust (Ukrainian: Хуст, German: Chust, Hungarian: Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. It is near the confluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (district), the city itself does not belong to the raion and is designated as a city of oblast significance, with the status equal to that of a raion. Population: 28,448(2016 est.)[1].

Khust was the capital of the short-lived republic of Carpatho-Ukraine.

Origin of name

The name is most possibly related to the name of the stream Hustets or Husztica, whose meaning is "kerchief". It is also conceivable that the name of the city comes from a Romanian traditional food ingredient - husti.

There are several alternative names used for this city: Russian and Rusyn: Хуст, Romanian: Hust, Hungarian: Huszt, Czech and Slovak: Chust, Yiddish: חוסט, German: Chust.

History

The settlement was first mentioned as Huszth, in 1329. Its castle was built in 1090 by king St. Ladislaus of Hungary as a defence against the Cumans, was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Hungary and was rebuilt around 1318. The town got privileges in 1329.

In 1458 King Matthias imprisoned his uncle, the rebellious Mihály Szilágyi in the castle. In 1514, during György Dózsa's peasant revolt local peasants captured the castle. In 1526 the area became a part of Transylvania.

The army of Ferdinand I captured the town in 1546. In 1594 the Tartars destroyed the town, but could not take the castle. The castle was besieged in 1644 by the army of George I Rákóczi, in 1657 by the Polish, in 1661-62 by the Ottoman and Tartar hordes. Count Ferenc Rhédey, the ruling prince of Transylvania and high steward of Máramaros county died in the castle on May 13, 1667.

The castle surrendered to the Kurucs on August 17, 1703, and the independence of Transylvania was proclaimed here. It was the last castle the Habsburgs occupied when suppressing the freedom fight of the Kurucs, in 1711. The seriously damaged castle was struck by lightning and burnt down on July 3, 1766; a storm brought down its tower in 1798, it has been in ruins ever since then. Khust was renamed as Csebreny in 1882 during Magyarization process.

In 1910 Khust had 10,292 citizens, 5,230 Ruthenians, 3,505 Hungarians and 1,535 Germans. Until the Treaty of Trianon it belonged to Hungary and was the seat of the Khust district of Máramaros county. After World War I, in summer 1919 the Rumanian troops took over the territory. But according to the St.-Germain treaty Czechoslovakia received the city, as part of newly formed Podkarpatsko ("under the Carpathians") region (Subcarpathia). Czechoslovakia had to provide the region a wide autonomy, but autonomy was realised only in 1938. In Autumn 1938 an autonomous government was organised. The day after the collapse of Czechoslovakia on March 14, 1939, the Khust city government proclaimed, by the will of the local population, independence as Carpathan Ukraine on March 15, 1939. Next day, on March 16, 1939 Hungarian troops invaded Khust and claimed it as part of Hunagary. On October 24, 1944 Soviet troops occupied the city, and annexed it into the Soviet Union. The Soviet government deported most of the city's German Hungarian and Ukrainian population to the Gulag. Since the collapse of USSR, Khust is part of Ukraine.

Demographics

In 2001 it had 31,900 inhabitants, including:[2]

Until the 19th century the city's population also included ethnic Romanians (800 Romanians according to the 1880 census).

Climate

Khust has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb).

Climate data for Khust
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.8
(27)
−0.6
(30.9)
4.4
(39.9)
10.2
(50.4)
15.1
(59.2)
18.0
(64.4)
19.6
(67.3)
19.2
(66.6)
15.3
(59.5)
10.1
(50.2)
4.3
(39.7)
−0.1
(31.8)
9.4
(48.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 47
(1.85)
41
(1.61)
41
(1.61)
50
(1.97)
74
(2.91)
93
(3.66)
80
(3.15)
72
(2.83)
48
(1.89)
45
(1.77)
52
(2.05)
62
(2.44)
705
(27.74)
Source: Climate-Data.org[3]

Tourist sights

Famous people

Rabbi Zeev ben Moshe Feuerlicht (born 1918), studied in Romania, in yeshiva of Satu-Mare Rebbe, during the Liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi Germany he joined as an active fighter the Gen. Ludvik Svoboda Army, served in Prague synagogue Alt-neu Shul as a Rabbi, educator and shochet. Rabbi Feuerlicht should be credited for the survival of the Orthodox community in Czechoslovakia after WW II.

Jewish history

Khust synagogue

Yeshiva

In 1861, Rabbi Moshe Schick, known as the "Maharam Schick" established - what was at that time - the largest yeshiva (Torah academy) in Eastern Europe, in Khust. This yeshiva had over 800 students.

Rabbis

Grand Rebbes of Chust (USA) and Pittsburgh (Ashdod)

See also

References

  1. "Чисельність наявного населення України (Actual population of Ukraine)" (PDF) (in Ukrainian). State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  3. "Climate: Khust". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. Fox, Margalit (2010-04-29). "Leslie Buck, Designer of Iconic Coffee Cup, Dies at 87". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
  5. "NY coffee cup creator Leslie Buck dies at 87". The Daily Telegraph. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
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