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Antonovycha st. 31,
79018 Lviv Ukraine

KOLOMYIA / KOLOMYYA / KOLOMEA

Kolomyia is a small city in Ivano-Frankivsk region. It lies on the left bank of the river Prut. According to the census done in 2001, the city has about 62,000 inhabitants.

Kolomyia, from the historical point of view, was founded most likely in 1200 by Prince of Halych, whose name was Koloman. The first documental mention about the settlement Kolomyia is dated by 1241.

This is one of the oldest and most attractive cities in Western Ukraine, which preserved its unique cultural spirit and adopted the best cultural features of different people who lived here in the past. Nowadays, Kolomyia is the capital town of the historical region called Pokuttya (or Pokuttia) and is a foreshore of Huzulschtschyna. The city also gave the name to the famous Ukrainian folk dance "Kolomyjka".

In the 14th century, the city was a part of Poland. Then during the 1569-1772, in frames of the Ruthenia Province, the city belonged to Galicia, an administrative territory of the Polish-Lithuanian state with the capital in Lviv (Lvov, Lemberg) and the Regional Government in the town of Sudova Vyshnia.

During the partition of Poland in the 18th century, the city belonged to Austria from 1772 until 1918.

In the 19th century, German settlers arrived in the city and its neighborhoods. However, due to Hitler-Stalin pact, in 1940 they were resettled back to Germany. Baginsberg, the village of German settlers which was located on the north side of the downtown of Kolomyia, is now a part of the city.

 

In 1886 was opened the railroad for the local steam-powered train, which connected the city with neighbor villages. After the WW2, this was first adjusted only in 1967.

After the First World War, the city was shortly a part of the West Ukrainian People's Republic.

From 1919 to 1939, Kolomyja was the seat of local Provincial government under Poland.

When the Second World War rose on 17 September 1939 the city was occupied by the Soviet Union. But already in August 1941 Kolomyia came under the Wehrmacht control. Under German occupation on March 25, 1942 there was established a ghetto in the city. About 18,000 Jews had to live there. In February 1943, the ghetto was closed and about 16,000 people were deported to the Belzhec extermination camp.

On March 28, 1944 the city was liberated out of the occupation of the Third Reich by the Red Army. During the WWII, the majority of Polish population was settled out by force of those territories. After 1945, the city became a part of the Soviet Union. Since Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union, proclaimed in 1991, Kolomyia is part of the State.

Today the city is a railway junction and a major commercial center for trading with Central Europe.

In Kolomyia there is a museum that represents the history and traditions of Ukrainian Easter eggs called "Pysanka". The museum differs with its unique architectural design. A 13 meter high painted Easter egg construction supplements this unusual museum. The exhibits there are collected not only from all regions of Ukraine but also from several other countries, among which are Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Belarus, Russia, France, Canada.

There are also the famous Museum of Hutsul Folk Art and the Museum of History of Kolomyia City worth to visit.

As almost each city in Ukraine, Kolomyia has its sister town.  It is the Polish city of Nysa.