BUCHACH - BUCZACZ - BUCAC - BUTSCHATSCH

UNOFFICIAL TOWN SITE

Above: Buchach Town Hall. 1750 - 1751 (picture taken by me in August 2004). Designed by the architect B. Meretyn, this structure is 35 m high. It is remarkable for its sculptural compositions by Pinzel and is regarded as a masterpiece of 18 th cent. civilian architecture.

BUCHACH (Old Polish name: Buczacz, used before 1939 when it was part of Poland: 1349 - 1772, 1918 - 1939 and Austria 1772 - 1918) is small but astonishing town and rayon (district) center in southern part of Ternopil oblast (region) in Eastern part of historic area of Halychyna (Galicia) in Western UKRAINE (former Soviet Union: 1939 - 1991, except the short period of German occupation during Second World War). It is situated 135 km south east from L'viv and 72 km south from Ternopil, on the river Strypa, which is a tributary of Dnister. First historical mention of Buchach dates back to 1397, shortly after Buchach and whole Halychyna (Galician) principality were conquered by Polish king Kasimierz in 1349. But town existed earlier and Buchach area was part of prince Vasylko's Terebovlya principality (which was incorporated into Galician principlaity and greater Kyivan Rus in early Medieval times).

Buchach has numerous churches (Elevation of Holy Cross Church, 1753 designed by I. Schlizer, St. Nicholas Church from 1610, Prokrovska Church from 1764, also by Schlizer; Monastyriok Church; Uspensky Roman Catholic Church) and monuments (City Hall, Castle etc).

Picture above: One of Buchach churches (August, 2004)

Telephone code for Buchach is 03544 if you phone within Ukraine and (+380) 3544 if you phone from outside.

Above: Buchach Castle...In the 16 th cent. the city was ruled by Polish magnates of the Potocki family who built a castle in the city (though Buchach castle structures date as far as to the 14-th century. Sections of the defensive walls have been preserved on a cliff overlooking the Strypa river.

Above: Plan of Buchach castle, at the Buchach Historical Museum (2004)

The castle was built in the Renaissance style and reflects Podilian defensive architecture of the 14th - 16th century). It was an important defensive outpost since in late medieval times (1488 -1491) and 17 th century (1615 and 1618) Buchach and area experienced Turkish and Tatar invasions.

Town gave the world many eminant figures such as famous Jewish writer and Nobel prize winner Shmuel Agnon. Also Sigmund Freud’s parents were born and lived in Buchach. His father, Jacob Freud, was born in 1835. Below: two photos of Buchach Jewish Cemetery (August, 2004)

Copyrights@2001-2005 by ROMAN ZAKHARII. All copyrights reserved! Page created by Roman Zakharii from Berezhany on 02.02.2001 in Oslo, Norway (where I studied and worked for some years). Updated on 15.01.2008 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Picture to the right: me in Pidvysoke, next to my grandparents' house. Click on it for larger view

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