The text describes the town of Chortkiv and its turbulent history, dating back to 1522, and mentions the destruction of the area by the Tatars during the reign of Sigismund Augustus and the partition. It goes on to describe the ruins of the castle, the former home of the Sadowski family and the stone synagogue. The text is accompanied by photographs (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany" Warsaw 1926, no. 12, pp. 9-12, after: Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text.

Czortków

In an elongated, deep ravine, in a forestless area, on the right bank of the Seret, the Podolia settlement of "Czartkowicze", today's Czortków, split into three suburbs: Czortkow, Czortkow Stary and Wygnanka, was settled in the first half of the 16th century. All three communities together suffered heavy blows of the Tartar sword, and more than once all stood up here in defence of their settlement, blocking the march of enemies towards western Poland. The "Czartkowicze" settlement was founded under the German law in 1522 by Jerzy Czartkowski with the permission of King Sigismund I ("Czortkow foundation act" - Fundatio oppidi Czartkowicze in iure Theutonico Anno days MDXXII). The settlement developed well, despite constant Tartar attacks. The excavations in the vicinity, especially in Bilcz Zloty nad Seretem, clay vessels, various tools, Roman coins and the like indicate that there must have been a settlement here in the past - in any case, there is no doubt that in ancient times the Romans, who had a border settlement of ancient Dacia in the southern part of the Chortkov region, came to this area as well. It was not until the Jagiellonian era, when the Red Ruthenia, and therefore our part of Podolia, became increasingly populated, that we have more certain information, more certain dates, about the history of this area. From the chronicle of Chortkov, which we have managed to compile, in a fragmentary way, the most important events will be as follows: In 1524, the Tatars completely destroyed the surroundings and the settlement "Czartkowicze", which from then on suffered severely almost every year from attacks and hostile raids. In 1549, during the reign of Sigismund Augustus, the Tatars destroyed the area around central Podolia, driving as far as Ternopil, but here the Polish knights completely defeated the enemy. The biggest contributor to the victory was Princess Eudoxia Czartoryska. In 1637, Czortków was completely destroyed by fire - out of more than 200 houses, only 26 remained. In 1640, during the reign of Wladyslaw IV, Turks and Tatars were ravaging Russia and took many people in Czortków under their yasir, but the brave Koniecpolski, having caught up with them near Oczakowo, took back the conquests and freed the population. During the reign of Jan Kazimierz, Tatars, Turks, Cossacks and Wallachians almost all lived in the Czortków area, often settling here permanently, even forming quite large settlements. This is evidenced by the descendants of the Tatars, settled in the village of Biala, 3 km from Czortkow, where they still differ from other villagers in some respects, either in dress or customs. During the reign of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, the Turks, having conquered Kamieniec Podolski after a 4-week siege (12 August 1672), advanced as far as Buczacz, and did not omit Czortków. In 1676, the Tartars ruled in the town of Chortkiv itself, leaving a destroyed castle on Zawal as a reminder. After the first partition, Galicia was divided into six main districts and Chortkiv became part of the Halytsky district. In 1809, Austria loses the so-called "Ternopil country" to Russia. After the resignation of the Austrian officials and the march of the Russian army, the newly appointed governor for Podolia, Ignatius Theyls, arrived together with Russian officials, who ruled and Chortkov until 1815. According to the official list of 1809, the dominion of Chortkov included 317 houses in the town itself, inhabited by 413 families, with a total of 1804 heads. Old Chortkov had 86 houses, 102 families, and 413 heads. Vygnanka - 324 houses, 391 families, and 1730 heads. In 1815, Chortkov was returned to Austria, and in 1846 it became the seat of an oblast, comprising the districts of Chortkov, Yazlovets, Zaleshchytsya, Borszczov and Kopycinets. In a battle near Chortkov, the Russian army retreats and the allied German and Austro-Hungarian armies enter the town after the fall of Austria, on 1 November 1918. During the World War, on 22 August 1914, after the Austro-Hungarian army retreated from Chortkov, the Russian army occupied the town after a brief melee. The Russian invasion lasted until 26 July 1917. On that day, Ukrainians took over the rule in Eastern Lesser Poland. The Ukrainian invasion lasted until July 1919. The Ukrainians retreated behind the Zbruch River, i.e. to the so-called Eastern Ukrainian Republic, or "Greater Ukraine". In September 1919, the Polish army made peace with the Ukrainian, Galician and ataman Petlura's troops. Chortkiv is part of the Ternopil Voivodeship. In the town, one encounters reminders of the ancient past at every step. Coming down from the railway station at Vygnanka Dolna, our eye stops immediately at an old castle with reminders of the ancient past. This castle, once surrounded by a high wall, was the seat of the ancient Sadowski family, owners of Czortkow. The last descendant of this family, the late Hieronim Sadowski, donated his entire estate to charity. This wish was fulfilled. The nuns who were brought there built a monastery in Staré Chortkov, supporting 30 crippled and elderly people, as well as more than 60 children of both sexes, of Latin and Greek rite, who after graduating from the monastery school (with the right of audience) learn crafts and farming. This foundation still bears the name of the founder to this day.In addition to Vygnanka and Stary Chortkov was owned by the Sadowski family. Here, on the right of life, lived the sister of the late Hieronim hr. Borkowska, who had her manor where the miracle-worker rabbi now lives. In 1865, Rabbi Friedman bought this manor and part of the estate in Czortkiv Stare for several thousand florins, built residential houses for himself and his family, beautified the park and built a beautiful synagogue. The synagogue is worth seeing. It is built of hewn stone, quadrilateral in shape, with round towers on both sides, which serve as flats. The whole building is on an elevation of about 1 m above the ground, and this elevation is also in front of the synagogue, forming a kind of veranda, surrounded by railings. In the interior, both the walls and the ceiling are covered with stone carvings of very rich ornamentation, beautifully artistically executed. The paintings on the walls are oil paintings. The altar is particularly beautiful. Carved from wood, extremely delicately and artistically, it is otherwise all painted. The second old synagogue in the Jewish quarter is a monument from the 16th century, as far as tradition goes, and has the same style and construction method as all synagogues in Podolia from the 16th century. Although there is an inscription in Hebrew somewhere above the door, it is so old that it is difficult to read. We must not miss the ruins of the exile castle, on what is now called "Zaval". The owners of Chortkov lived in this castle for many years, and gun holes in the wall prove that it was defensive. Countless times, Tartar plots marched through here, and then mortars thundered from the castle walls, defending themselves and the town. Tradition has it that underground dungeons stretch from the castle to below the river, and some even claim that the dungeon is connected with seven dungeons in Bilč Zlatov (Borszczov region). Today in the castle there are various warehouses of local merchants. Speaking of ancient monuments in Vygnanka, I cannot omit the wooden Orthodox church, which, although it has no historical relics, has value as a monument from the 16th or 17th century. At present, services are not held there, because there is another, new one. It used to be from the Shmankovite monastery. During attacks, the people found shelter in the monastery, as it was surrounded by a high wall. That is why the owners of Czortkow: the Lanckorońskis, the Golskis and the Potockis did a lot of good to the church and next to the castle ruins. The Chortkov church shared the town's fate. It was consecrated in 1731 under the invocation of St Stanislaus, and was later incorporated into the convent of the Dominican friars, who were brought to Chortkov from Shmankovets (Chortkivtsy district) by Stanislaus Golsky, governor of Russia and owner of Chortkov under Sigismund III in 1610, who founded a monastery for the monks, to which all the monks' treasures were transferred in 1624, and some of them even made substantial contributions towards the upkeep of the monastery. Particularly Stanislaw Golski took care of the town, granting it various numerous rights and privileges with the permission of King Sigismund III. Wanting to raise the importance of the town, he granted it the right to hold fairs by a deed issued in Krakow on 26 May 1604, two of which were the main annual fairs: on St Peter's Day and St Demetrius' Day, and also established that every Sunday was a market day for the people of Chortkiv and the surrounding area. Today, Chortkiv is one of the larger cities of Eastern Lesser Poland as a district town, covering 4 districts. Already in the pre-war years it began to build up and expand nicely and today, in addition to large, metropolitan private houses, it has huge government and community buildings. These include the district court, the treasury directorate and barracks for the infantry and cavalry; the Sokol Gymnasium Association built a magnificent stylish building. Thanks to the efforts of the late mayor Ludwig Noss, a magnificent "town market" was built in the town centre, which is the highlight of the town. Schools include: 3 7-grade general schools, a state male gymnasium, a private female gymnasium, a private Ukrainian gymnasium, a state male teachers' seminary and a private female teachers' seminary. Written on parchment, bearing the seal of Joachim of Patok Potocki, General and Starosta of Lviv. Excerpt from the acts pertaining to the town of Chortkov, in the National Archive of Grodzkie and Ziemskie Acts in Lviv. "Rights granted to Jews in Chortkiv", granted by Stefan Potocki on 1 March 1722 (copy sequenced by the c.k. Starosty in Chortkiv in 1873 - original destroyed, lost). "Right to hold fairs in Czortkow", granted in Kraków, on 26 May 1604 by King Sigismund III. "Testament of the late Hieronim Sadowski" (illegible copy - consecutive).