Vchoraishe
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Vchoraishe
Вчорайше | |
|---|---|
 House of culture and library | |
 | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Oblast | Zhytomyr Oblast |
| Raion | Berdychiv Raion |
| Hromada | Vchoraishe rural hromada |
| Area | |
• Total | 4.122 km2 (1.592 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,308 |
| • Density | 317.32/km2 (821.9/sq mi) |
Vchoraishe (Ukrainian: Вчорайше, Polish: Wczorajsze) is a village in Ukraine, and the administrative centre of the Vchoraishe rural hromada in Berdychiv Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast. The population is 1,308 (2001). From 1925 to 1931 and from 1935 to 1957 it was a district centre. From 1923 until 2018, it was the administrative centre of the eponymous village council.[1]
The village lies on the Postil River, about 18 km northwest of Ruzhyn and 9 km from the railway station at Chornorudka.[2]
Population
[edit]In 1863, the population (according to Pokhylevych) was 2,446 people, including 1,568 Orthodox Christians, 4 Old Believers, 46 Roman Catholics, and 828 Jews.[3][4] According to the 1885 directory, the town had 1,264 inhabitants and 213 household farms.[5]
In the second half of the 19th century, the town had 2,507 residents.[4] By the end of the 19th century, the population was 3,201, including 1,592 men and 1,610 women, with 457 households.[6]
According to the 1897 Russian Empire census, the total population was 3,324 people, including 2,152 Orthodox, 1,108 Jews, 1,675 men, and 1,649 women.[7]
According to the Soviet census of December 17, 1926, the population was 3,777 people, including 1,839 men and 1,938 women. By nationality: 2,614 Ukrainians, 19 Russians, 1,072 Jews, 50 Poles, and 22 others. There were 933 households, including 281 non-rural types.[8]
According to the 1939 Soviet census, the population was 3,826, including 3,101 Ukrainians, 128 Russians, 7 Germans, 494 Jews, 55 Poles, and 41 others.[9]
At the beginning of the 1970s, the village had 696 households with a population of 1,953.[2]
According to the 1989 Soviet census, the population as of January 12, 1989, was 1,593 people. As of December 5, 2001, according to the 2001 Ukrainian census, the village population was 1,308.[10]
Language
[edit]According to the 2001 census, native language distribution was[11]:
| Language | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 1279 | 97.78% |
| Russian | 23 | 1.76% |
| Belarusian | 2 | 0.15% |
| Polish | 1 | 0.08% |
| Other / not specified | 3 | 0.23% |
| Total | 1308 | 100% |
Name
[edit]According to local legends, in ancient times the settlement was called Kytaihorod, or more likely Skytaihorod. The origin and meaning of the name are unclear, but it appears to be connected to the word "skytatsia" — meaning "to wander" or "to roam." In olden times, Kytaihorods were settlements that originated from vagabond camps. Nomadic groups that roamed across Ukraine in ancient times left traces in the form of their lairs — so-called Kytaihorods — which were their encampments, fortified with ditches and ramparts. There were many such settlements; several existed in the Kyiv Governorate — in the Lypovets and Chyhyryn uezds. There was also the Kytaiv Pustyn (Kytaiv Hermitage) near Kyiv, with an ancient hillfort. Settlements of this type had specific characteristics, outside of which other types of settlements appeared, for example, hoshchi. According to legend, on the site of the ancient area known as Kytaihorod, a settlement arose bearing the modern name. In the second half of the 16th century, the village of Kytaihorod — if it had ever existed — was already known as Vchoraishe (literally, "Yesterday"), as evidenced by the route map of Crown Hetman Yurii Yazlovetskyi in 1571, when he led his army against the Tatars and passed through a place marked as Vchoraishe.[4]
Locals also recounted that in this place, local peasants or Cossacks took revenge on the Poles by storming a castle and slaughtering the entire Polish garrison for what had happened "yesterday" — referring to an event that took place the day before in the nearby area of Yahniatyn, where Poles had massacred Cossacks "like lambs." From this, the names Vchoraishe ("Yesterday") and Yahniatyn ("of the lambs") are said to have originated.[3]
History
[edit]On the territory and in the surroundings of the village, flint tools from the Neolithic period were found, as well as remains of an ancient Rus' hillfort and a kurgan burial ground[2]. Volodymyr Antonovych attributed the burial mounds in Vchoraishe to the Drevlians tribe[12].
The exact date of the village’s founding is unknown[8]. The 1471 "Lustration of the Kyiv Land" mentions a village named Vcherashnye, where an otaman (local leader) resided[13]. The village is also mentioned in the 1584 book Herby Rycerstwa Polskiego by Polish heraldist and historian Bartłomiej Paprocki[14].
From early times—possibly even from its foundation—the village belonged to the vast Pavoloch estate. It was part of the Ruzhyn estate cluster, owned successively by the Dashkevych, Olyzar, Ruzhynski, Zamoyski, Koniecpolski, and finally the Walewski families. The Cossack wars brought significant destruction to these lands. After the so-called "Ruin" (a period of devastation in 17th-century Ukraine), the settlement, like the surrounding area, was deserted. A 1683 document states that in the town of Vchoraishe and neighboring villages—Chornorudka, Yaroslavka, Oranshchyna, Popilnya, Bihalivka, and Harapanivka—there were neither huts nor people. This was confirmed by Russian traveler Ivan Lukyanov, who passed through the area 20 years after the "Ruin." Only after the decline of the Cossack Hetmanate on the Right Bank of the Dnipro River did landlords begin returning to their estates and repopulating the empty villages with people brought from other regions. From the early 18th century, the village belonged to the Lubomirski family, who worked on restoring and repopulating their estates. By 1727, Vchoraishe had 85 households, while Chornorudka had 10. A new church was built around that time[4]. The village is mentioned in the 1754 Lustration of the Kyiv Voivodeship as part of the Lubomirski-owned Ruzhyn estate, which paid taxes for 120 households[15]. In 1770, Stanisław Lubomirski sold the now-restored and repopulated town to Ilnytskyi, who later sold it in 1794 to Kasper Ivanovsky. Ivanovsky secured town rights for the settlement in 1818, after which Jewish residents began to settle there. Later, the town passed to Kasper’s son Dionizy, and then to his daughter.
In the mid-19th century, it was a small town in the Skvyra County of the Kyiv Governorate, situated on the Postil (Verkhovenka) stream, a tributary of the Rostavytsia River, about 5 versts (5.3 km) west of Shpychyntsi. The estate had 3,500 desiatinas of land (approx. 3,800 hectares), though the state treasury recorded 2,999 desiatinas. It was owned by Dionizy’s daughter, Dionizja, wife of Dariusz Poniatowski. The town was notable in the region for its well-organized estate and fertile soils. Roads and streets were lined with triple rows of poplars, and the fields yielded good harvests of winter wheat, rye, oats, and barley, which was processed at a Jewish-owned brewery. The town had a hospital for 72 patients, treating only Jewish residents. A wooden parish church, funded by the faithful, was built in 1772, replacing an earlier one from 1727. The church had 71 desiatinas of land with a small homestead. There was also a stone Catholic church built in 1822 by Kasper Ivanovsky, although permission to build was officially granted only in 1842. The Catholic parish belonged to the Skvyra deanery and included the villages of Shpychyntsi, Nyzhhurtsi, and Chornorudka, with 851 Roman Catholic parishioners. Remains of the old castle were preserved on the stream’s bank: an earth mound and a moat encircling a square area of 100 sazhen (approx. 213 meters) per side, with mounds instead of towers. According to local legends and signs of early settlement, the town was very old. Evidence includes an ancient monastery site near Kulishiv Ravine, a castle hill with 120 burial mounds, and ancient stone crosses at an old cemetery far beyond the village borders (these crosses were collected and laid in the church’s foundation). Bricks and stones, remnants of old buildings, were found in the field behind the Jewish cemetery[3][4].
According to an 1885 directory, Vchoraishe was a former privately owned town in the Vchoraishe Volost of Skvyra County. It lay on the Postil River, 40 versts from Skvyra, and had a volost administration, parish church, Catholic church, Jewish prayer house, school, 2 inns, 15 shops, a watermill, and a distillery. Fairs were held every two weeks[5].
At the end of the 19th century, it was part of the Brovky Volost of Skvyra County. It was located on the Skvyra–Berdychiv route, in the Ukrainian steppe. It was 40 versts from Skvyra, 7 versts from the nearest railway and telegraph station at Brovky, 20 versts from the state post station in Popilnya, and 6 versts from the zemstvo post in Yareshky. The main occupation of residents was farming. Many also worked temporarily in the Kherson and Bessarabia governorates, or in cities like Kyiv and Odesa. The village had 3,533 desiatinas of land: 1,835 owned by landlords, 1,611 by peasants, and 77 by the church. The village belonged to Ernestyna Melenivska (née Zhevuskaya), who inherited it from her childless aunt Dionizja and Mykola Tereshchenko. Estate affairs were managed by S. Radzykhovsky (for Melenivska) and M. Holubchykov (for Tereshchenko). The estates practiced three-field crop rotation. The village had an Orthodox church, a Roman Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue, a parish school, a pharmacy, a doctor, 2 inns, 4 blacksmiths, and 2 watermills. The fire brigade had a pump, 4 barrels, and 2 hooks[4][6].
In 1923, the village became the administrative center of the newly established Vchoraishe Village Council, part of the newly formed Brovky Raion of the Berdychiv Okruha. On March 27, 1925, the center of Brovky Raion was moved to Vchoraishe, and the raion was renamed accordingly[16]. The distance to the okruha center in Berdychiv was 40 versts, and 7 versts to the nearest railway station, Chornorudka[8]. On February 5, 1931, Vchoraishe Raion was abolished, and the village transferred to Ruzhyn Raion. It was re-established on February 13, 1935, as part of Kyiv Oblast, with its center in Vchoraishe[16].
During World War II, 400 villagers served at the front. 143 were awarded medals and orders; 202 died. Two memorials were erected in 1956 in their honor, and a Glory Obelisk in 1970.
During Soviet times, the village hosted the central estate of a grain-livestock kolkhoz managing 3,430 ha of land, including 3,068 ha of arable land. It had a hatchery station. 57 kolkhoz workers received state honors; notably, pig farmer P. O. Lysiuk received the Order of Lenin. The village had a secondary school, house of culture, two libraries, a children's hospital, nursery, post office, food factory, and a consumer services complex[2].
On November 28, 1957, the Vchoraishe Raion was officially abolished, and the village transferred to Ruzhyn Raion. On December 30, 1962, it was moved to Popilnya Raion, then returned on January 4, 1965, to the reinstated Ruzhyn Raion[16].
On July 31, 2018, Vchoraishe became part of the newly formed Vchoraishe rural territorial community in Ruzhyn Raion[17]. As of July 19, 2020, the community is part of the newly formed Berdychiv Raion of Zhytomyr Oblast[18].
Notable People
[edit]- Volodymyr Menchytsky (1837–1916) — folklorist, bookseller, cultural figure, relative of Mykhailo Hrushevsky.
- Borys Shynkaruk (b. 1949) — journalist, publisher, honored journalist of Ukraine.
- Volodymyr Shynkaruk (1954–2014) — poet, prose writer, composer, bard‑performer, professor at Zhytomyr State University.
References
[edit]- ^ "Two more hromadas in Zhytomyr Oblast have begun amalgamation process". decentralization.ua. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ a b c d "Вчорайше, Ружинський район, Житомирська область » Історія міст і сіл Української РСР" (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ a b c "Похилевич Л. И. Сказания о населенных местностях Киевской губернии или Статистические, исторические и церковные заметки о всех деревнях, селах, местечках и городах, в пределах губернии находящихся (1864)". irbis-nbuv.gov.ua. Archived from the original on 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ a b c d e f "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIII - wynik wyszukiwania - DIR". dir.icm.edu.pl. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ a b Volosti i important seleniya European Russia. According to the data of the investigation carried out by the statistical institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on behalf of the Statistical Committee. Edition of the Central Statistical Committee. Issue III. Malorossiyskiy and South-West Provinces / Compiled by senior editor V. V. Zverinsky — St. Petersburg, 1885. — P. 170. (Russian: dref.)
- ^ a b history.org.ua https://web.archive.org/web/20170828190247/http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/SpNasMestKG_1900/SpNasMestKG_1900.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Н.А, Тройницкий (1905), Русский: Крупнейшие поселения России по переписи 1897 года (PDF), retrieved 2025-09-25
- ^ a b c history.org.ua https://web.archive.org/web/20211121122219/http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/NasPunktBerdOkr_1927/NasPunktBerdOkr_1927.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Населення Житомирської області". pop-stat.mashke.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України". socialdata.org.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ admin (2013-03-21). "ТЕРРИТОРИЯ ДРЕВЛЯН ПО АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИМ ДАННЫМ | И. П. РУСАНОВА | Овруч, сторінки історії" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Архив Юго-Западной России. Часть 7. Том II". runivers.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Тетяна Гедзь - Перший топографічний опис прикордонних земель Правобережжя". www.myslenedrevo.com.ua. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ ↑ Zhemenetskyi K. (2015). The tariff of the undercurrent tax of the Kyiv Voivodeship in 1754 (PDF) (pol.). Bila Tserkva: Oleksandr Pshonkivskyi. p. 67. ISBN 978-617-604-057-6. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
- ^ a b c history.org.ua https://web.archive.org/web/20221013121130/http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/966-690-090-4/966-690-090-4.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України". w1.c1.rada.gov.ua. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
- ^ "Про утворення та ліквідацію районів". www.golos.com.ua (in Ukrainian). 18 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2025-09-25.