Terebovlia is one of the oldest cities in
West Ukraine. It was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1097 (
Primary Chronicle). During the
Red Ruthenia times it used to be the center of
Terebovlia principality. It was called Terebovl. Terebovlia principality included lands of the whole southeast of
Galicia,
Podolia, and
Bukovina. Polish King
Casimir III the Great became the
suzerain of Halych after the death of his cousin,
Boleslaw-Yuri II of Galicia, when the city became part of the Polish domain. It was fully incorporated into Poland in 1430 during the reign of king
Władysław II Jagiełło, while his son
Casimir IV Jagiellon granted the town limited
Magdeburg Rights. After the rebuilding of the castle in Terebovlia in 1366, Poland (
Podole Voivodeship) administered the town. It was part of the system of border fortifications of the
Polish Kingdom and later the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against
Moldavian and
Wallachian incursions. The town also later resisted frequent invasion by the
Crimean Tatars, the
Ottomans and the
Zaporozhian Cossacks from the south and southeast. Because of the threat of invasion, the Terebovlya castle, monastery and churches were all designed as defensive structures. The town was the seat of the famous
starost and the most successful 16th-century anti-Tatar Polish commander
Bernard Pretwicz, who died there in 1563. In 1594, the Ukrainian cossack rebel
Severyn Nalyvaiko sacked the town.
Khmelnytsky Uprising During the
Khmelnytsky Uprising, Terebovl became one of the centers of the struggle in
Podolia. The city was frequently raided by Crimean Tatars, Turks and their erstwhile allies, the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The most destructive attacks happened in 1498, 1508, 1515 and 1516, resulting in a temporary decline of the town. but the castle was held by a small group of defenders (80 soldiers and 200 townsmen) until King
John III Sobieski arrived to relieve them. This episode is known, as the
Battle of Trembowla. The castle was destroyed during the final Turkish invasion of 1688. Kosciol karmelitow w Trembowli. ante 1873 (98111714) (cropped).jpg|
Carmelite church before 1873 Plac Adama Mickiewicza w Trembowli. ante 1906 (77056410) (cropped).jpg|View of the square and castle, before 1906 Zamek w Trembowli. 1902-1914 (77051699) (cropped).jpg|Castle ruins, before 1914 Trembowla - gmach Sokola. ca 1910 (77051493) (cropped).jpg|The "Sokół" building, circa 1910 Trembowla - dworzec kolejowy 1930-1939 (77057877) (cropped).jpg|Railway station, 1930-1939
Modern history After the
first partition of Poland in 1772, Trembowla became part of the
Habsburg Empire's
Galicia until 1918. From November 18, 1918, until June 9, 1919, the town was under control of the
West Ukrainian People's Republic. Following the
Polish–Ukrainian War, Trembowla reverted to Polish rule, and served as seat of a county in Tarnopol Voivodeship. In the interbellum period, the town was home to the
9th Regiment of Lesser Poland Uhlans. The Soviet Union took the city along with
interwar eastern Poland in September 1939. The Soviets remained in power until the
German invasion which began on 22 June 1941. Terebovlia was under
German occupation from 5 July 1941 until 22 March 1944. It was administered as a part of the
District of Galicia of the
General Government of
Nazi Germany. After troops of the
1st Ukrainian Front of the
Red Army retook the town, it again became part of
Soviet Ukraine between 1944–1991. In the first month of the German occupation, Ukrainian police arrested, tortured, and shot forty Jews. In 1942 and 1943, Germans, assisted by Ukrainian police, rounded up thousands of Jews. They murdered thousands nearby, in mass executions. After the liberation, only fifty or sixty people from the entire Jewish community had survived. During World War II, Trembowla and the surrounding areas also witnessed mass murders of ethnic Poles. After investigation of crimes done by Ukrainian nationalists and local Ukrainian peasantry, the
Institute of National Remembrance of Poland confirmed 1,002 deaths in the territory of
Tarnopol and Trembowla powiats (counties) As a result, and following the
population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine, almost all Polish survivors left the town in 1945, moving to the
Recovered Territories of Poland. In 1991, Terebovlia became part of an independent Ukraine. Until 18 July 2020, Terebovlia was the administrative center of
Terebovlia Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ternopil Oblast to three. The area of Terebovlia Raion was merged into Ternopil Raion. == Demographics ==