Lutsk

Lutsk (

The town grew rapidly, and by the end of the 15th century, there were 19 Orthodox and two Catholic churches. It was the seat of two Christian bishops, one Catholic and one Orthodox. Because of that, the town was sometimes nicknamed "the Volhynian Rome." The cross symbol of Lutsk features the highest Lithuanian Presidential award, the Order of Vytautas the Great.^{[citation needed]}

In 1429 Lutsk was the meeting place selected for a

In 1432, Volhynia became a

The town continued to prosper as an important economic centre of the region. By the mid-17th century, Łuck had approximately 50,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest towns in the area. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the town was seized by the forces of Colonel Kolodko. Up to 4,000 people were slaughtered, approximately 35,000 fled, and the town was looted and partially burnt. It never fully recovered. In 1781, the city was struck by a fire which destroyed 440 houses, both cathedrals, and several other churches.

Russian Empire

In 1795, as a result of the Partitions of Poland, the Russian Empire annexed Lutsk. The Voivodeship was liquidated and the town lost its significance as the capital of the province (which was moved to Zhytomyr). After the November Uprising (1830–1831), efforts increased to remove Polish influence. Russian became the dominant language in official circles. Though, the population continued to speak Ukrainian; the Polish population spoke Polish; and the Jewish population spoke Yiddish (only in private circles). The Greek Catholic churches was turned into Orthodox Christian ones, which led to the self-liquidation of the Uniates here. In 1845, another great fire struck the city, resulting in further depopulation.

In 1850, three major forts were built around Lutsk, and the town became a small fortress called Mikhailogorod. During the

After the start of Operation Barbarossa the city was captured by the Wehrmacht on 25 June 1941. Thousands of Polish and Ukrainian prisoners were shot by the retreating NKVD responsible for political prisons. The inmates were offered amnesty and in the morning of June 23 ordered to exit the building en masse. They were gunned down by Soviet tanks.^[7] Some 4,000 captives including Poles, Jews and Ukrainians were massacred.^[8]

Upon Nazi occupation, most of the Jewish inhabitants of the city were forced into a new

As one of the largest cities in Western Ukraine, Lutsk became the seat of the General Consulate of Poland in 2003.[13]

On 21 July 2020, a

On 11 March 2022, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army fired four missiles at Lutsk military airfield killing two Ukrainian servicemen and wounding six.^[17] On 28 March, Lutsk was struck by another Russian missile.^[18]

Population

As of 1 January 2022, the population of the Lutsk city territorial community was 244,678 people, and 215,986 people in the city of Lutsk.

Language

Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:^[19]

According to a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute in April-May 2023, 98% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 1% spoke Russian.^[20]

Geography

Climate

Lutsk has a humid continental climate (Dfb in the Köppen climate classification).

Industry and commerce

Lutsk is an important centre of industry. Factories producing cars, shoes, bearings, furniture, machines and electronics, as well as weaveries, steel mills and a chemical plant are located in the area.

• VGP JSC – manufacture of sanitary and hygienic products
• Bogdan group
• SKF – manufacture of bearings, seals, lubrication and lubrication systems, maintenance products, mechatronics products, power transmission products and related services globally
• Modern-Expo Group – one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of equipment (metal shelving, high racks systems,
  checkouts, catering equipment, refrigeration equipment, POS-equipment and guidance systems) for retail and warehouse use in Central and Eastern Europe
  .
• Lutsk is the capital of the Drupal web development

Places of interest

• Lubart's Castle. The Upper Castle from the 13th century and the Lower Castle from the 14th century
• Jesuit
  church, reconstructed in 1781
• Great Synagogue
  built in 1626–1629
• Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral built 1755 as a church and monastery of Bernardines
• Lutheran Church
• Complex of Lutsk Orthodox Fellowship
• Market square
• Lesya Ukrainka street
• Monasteries, both Catholic and Orthodox: Basilians (17th century), Dominicans (17th century), Trinitarians (18th century) and Charites (18th century)
• Two 16th century Greek-Catholic churches
• Lutsk compact overhead powerline, a powerline of an unusual type.
• longest buildings in the world
  : Apartment house on Sobornosti av. and Molodi st. (50.761219°N, 25.368719°E) Length: 1750 m.

• 
  St. Peter and Paul Cathedral
• 
  The Great Synagogue in Lutsk
• 
  Holy Trinity Cathedral
• 
  Lutsk railway station

Theatres and museums

• Drama Theatre, built in 1939 (uk)
• Children's Puppet Theater
• Museum of Regional Studies. Address: Shopena St. 20
• Museum of Ukrainian army and ammunition opened in 1999. Address: Lutsk, vul. Taborishi 4
• Museum of Volyn Icon was opened in August 1993. A relatively small museum in the centre of the town. Has some interesting and very old icons. Address: vul. Yaroshchuka 5. (behind the Lesia Ukrainka Volyn State University)
• THE KORSAKS’ MUSEUM OF THE CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN ART". Address: vul. Karbysheva 1

Religion

The city was the episcopal seat of the Eparchy of Lutsk–Ostroh in the Ruthenian Uniate Church. The city was also the centre of the short-lived Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia and Pidliashia. Currently, it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lutsk and of the Exarchate of Lutsk in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. In the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the former Catholic cathedral of the Holy Trinity is the seat of the Eparchy of Volhynia.

Notable people

• Shlomo Ben-Yosef (1913-1938) a member of Revisionist Zionist underground group Irgun.
• Volodymyr Bondar (born 1968), politician, Governor of Volyn Oblast 2005-2007
• Benedykt Chmielowski (1700–1763), a Polish priest, author of the encyclopedia, Nowe Ateny
• Count Włodzimierz Czacki (1834–1888) a Polish Cardinal (Catholic Church) from 1882
• Alojzy Feliński (1771-1820), Polish scientist and writer
• Abraham Firkovich (1786–1874) a Karaite writer and Hakham and collector of ancient manuscripts
• Hasidic rabbi and maggid
  in Lutsk
• Kateryna Gornostai (born 1989) is a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and film editor.
• Bolesław Kontrym (1898-1953), a Polish Army officer, a participant in the Warsaw Uprising
• Mikołaj Kruszewski (1851-1887), a Polish linguist, co-inventor of the concept of phonemes
• Dinora Pines (1918–2002), British physician and psychoanalyst, especially feminine psychology
• Oleksandr Polozhynskyi (born 1972), a Ukrainian singer and presenter
• Volodymyr Runchak (born 1960) a Ukrainian accordionist, conductor and composer
• Shmuel Shilo (1929–2011), an Israeli actor, director and producer
• Florian Siwicki (1925-2013), a Polish military officer, diplomat and communist politician.
• Zalman Sorotzkin (1881-1966), an Orthodox rabbi who served as the rabbi of Lutsk and author
• Mordecai Sultansky (ca. 1772-1862), Karaite Jewish hakham and scholar
• Tartak (founded 1994), music band; all members were born in Lutsk
• Shimshon Unichman (1907–1961), Israeli politician and member of the Knesset
• Svitlana Winnikow (1919 -1981), engineer, first woman professor of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University
• Oksana Zabuzhko (born 1960), contemporary Ukrainian poet, writer and essayist
• Svetlana Zakharova (born 1979), a Ukrainian prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet
• Joseph Zinker (born 1934), Gestalt psychology therapist, painter and sculptor.

Sport

• Slovak ice hockey
  player
• Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi (born 1971) football coach and former player with 513 club caps.
• Iurii Kostiuk (born 1977) a Ukrainian biathlete and gold medallist at the Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
• Volodymyr Mozolyuk (born 1964) is a Ukrainian retired footballer with over 540 club caps.
• Anzhelika Savrayuk (born 1989), Italian rhythmic gymnast, team bronze medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Vyacheslav Shevchuk (born 1979) is a retired footballer with 34 club caps and 56 with Ukraine
• Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (born 1979), a footballer with 533 club caps and 144 for Ukraine

In popular culture

The NKVD and Nazi massacres are mentioned in the Prix Goncourt awarded novel The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell.

Lutsk is a location taken over by post-apocalyptic slavers in the sci-fi/adventure novel The Crisis Pendant by Charlie Patterson.

Twin towns – sister cities

Lutsk is twinned with:^[22]

Gallery

• 
  Volyn's regional administration in Lutsk
• 
  Kafedralna street
• 
  Modern architecture
• 
  Dominican monastery
• 
  Orthodox Fellowship building
• 
  Daniel of Galicia street
• 
  Lesya Ukrainka street

References