The hometown of Oleksandr Ponomaryov used to have a different name: why it was renamed

Today, 10 August, Ukrainian singer Oleksandr Ponomaryov celebrates his birthday. The artist was born in a city that is well known to all Ukrainians today, but more than 70 years ago it had a completely different name.

This is about Khmelnytskyi, which is now one of the largest regional centers in western Ukraine. 24 The channel tells how the name of Oleksandr Ponomaryov’s hometown changed.

What names Khmelnytskyi had in the past

The history of modern Khmelnytskyi begins with the small settlement Ploskyriw, which was also called Ploskyrivtsi. According to the Khmelnytskyi City Council, the first known written mention of it dates to 10 February 1431.

The exact time the settlement was founded is unknown. At the same time, historians suggest that people may have lived on this territory much earlier.

Where Khmelnytskyi is located: see on the map

Fuel

Average prices at the Amic Energy gas station network as of

Over the following centuries Ploskyriw remained a small settlement. In the period from 1493 to 1793 the number of its inhabitants did not exceed 3 thousand people.

The settlement’s development was also hindered by its geographic location. Ploskyriw was located near the Black Route, which Crimean Tatars often traveled. Due to frequent raids the population decreased, and the settlement repeatedly fell into decline.

Already in 1795, after the incorporation of Podillia into the Russian Empire, the Podillia Governorate was formed. It was then that the city appeared in documents under the name Proskuriv.

Proskuriv on the map / Photo Wikipedia

There are no precise documentary records about when and why the name transformed from Ploskyriw to Proskuriv. Therefore researchers cannot say for sure whether it happened because of an error in documents or the name was changed deliberately.

At the same time the new toponym took hold quite quickly. In particular, it was phonetically similar to the word "proskura" — a small ritual Christian bread.

When Proskuriv became Khmelnytskyi

As the Khmelnytskyi RVA writes, the final name change took place on 16 January 1954. Then the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted a decree renaming the city of Proskuriv to Khmelnytskyi. At the same time Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast was renamed Khmelnytskyi Oblast.

This decision was made on the eve of the 300-anniversary of the Pereiaslav Council, which the Soviet authorities then interpreted as the "reunification" of Ukraine with Russia. The city received its new name in honor of hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Interestingly, there is no direct connection between the Ukrainian hetman and the city itself. No known fact from Khmelnytsky’s life indicates that he visited Ploskyriw or Proskuriv.