Situated in Podolia, Ternopil is a city with a rich history , deeply inscribed in the history of the Republic of Poland. From its foundation in 1540 by Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) , it was one of the key centres of culture and administration in the eastern borderlands. Today, a number of buildings remind us of the city's Polish heritage.

Ternopil Castle

Ternopil Castle , located at the southern end of the old city, on the Seret River, is one of the oldest and most symbolic monuments . Its history dates back to the beginnings of Ternopil - it was built in 1540-1548 by Grand Crown Hetman Jan Tarnowski as part of the defensive line of the south-eastern borderlands of the Republic. It fulfilled both military and representative functions, becoming the beginning of the future city founded in 1540 by King Sigismund I the Old.

Initially, the castle consisted of a fortified complex surrounded by ramparts, a moat and wooden palisades, as well as a stone castle court. Surrounded by the backwaters of the Seret River, it was a difficult point of resistance during the Tartar invasions. The stronghold was also economically important - mills, breweries and fairs were established in its vicinity. With the establishment of the town, the castle became its natural administrative centre and a symbol of the power of the Tarnowski family .

In the 17th century, under successive owners (including the Zamoyski and Sobieski families) , the castle was successively extended, gradually transforming it from a purely military fortress into a residence of the palazzo in fortezza type. At the same time, it did not lose its defensive function . It was repeatedly attacked and destroyed, among others by Cossack troops during the Chmielnicki Uprising, as well as by Turks and Tatars.

After the First Partition of Poland and the takeover of Ternopil by the Austrians, the castle lost its military significance . In the 18th and 19th centuries it was used as military warehouses, later some of the buildings were demolished or rebuilt. The castle began to fall into disrepair, but its remains - walls, cellars and fragments of bastions - continued to dominate the skyline of the southern bank of the Seret.

During the Second Republic , attempts were made to adapt the ruins for recreational purposes. Among other things, a restaurant operated here, and the nearby grounds were a popular place for walks and meetings of locals. At the same time, the castle still functioned in the local memory as a foundation symbol of the town and a material reminder of the greatness of the former Republic.

During and after the Second World War, the castle suffered further degradation. Some of the walls were demolished, others were transformed without preserving the original historical substance. Between 1950 and 1960, a restaurant and catering facilities were installed in the ruins of the castle, which necessitated the complete transformation of the interiors - this adaptation obliterated most of the original architectural features.

Today the castle - despite significant transformations - has preserved relics of the former defensive structures, including the foundations of bastions and fragments of cellar walls.

Former Dominican Church

One of the most important material traces of the Polish presence in Ternopil is the former Dominican monastery and church of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Jack Odrowaz . It was founded in 1749-1779 by Grand Crown Hetman Józef Potocki (1673-1751) - one of the most prominent representatives of the 18th century magnate elite - who thus not only supported the Dominican Order, but also strengthened his position as a patron of culture and religion in the Republic.

The monumental temple , located near the former city centre, was most probably designed by August Moszyński (1731-1786) , an architect associated with the royal court and son of the well-known patron Jerzy Moszyński. The building is distinguished by its original oval ground plan and baroque double-towered façade, which gives it a monumental character and reflects the influences of mature baroque and rococo .

The interior of the church received extensive painting and sculptural decoration. In 1777 the polychrome was created by the prominent Lviv painter Stanislaw Stroinski (1719-1802) , the author of numerous sacral decorations in Lesser Poland and the south-eastern lands of the former Republic. Thanks to his work, the interior of the church acquired a coherent iconographic programme, emphasising the Dominican charism and the role of St Jack as the apostle of Ruthenia .

After the Second World War , as a result of shifting borders and repressions against the Catholic Church, the church was closed by the Soviet authorities. From 1959, it housed a storehouse for paintings belonging to regional museums, and the former monastery was converted into a regional archive. Much of its original furnishings were destroyed or dispersed. The building itself, however, survived in an almost unchanged form .

After the collapse of the USSR , the church was handed over to the Greek Catholics and now serves as a Greek Catholic cathedral. Despite the change of function and religion, it remains one of the most recognisable landmarks of Ternopil.

Educational centre

Ternopil was one of the most important educational centres in Galicia , and its education reflected the multicultural character of the city and the complex political history of the region. There were numerous Polish educational institutions in the city , which played an important role in the formation of local intellectual and cultural elites. Their legacy, despite the destruction of war and regime changes, is still visible in the urban space and local memory.

One of the oldest schools was the First State Gymnasium, founded in 1820 as a Jesuit school. It was located in what is now Sahajdacznego Street (formerly 3 Maja Street), at the back of the Dominican Church, and was for a long time the main secondary school in the city. It was destroyed during the Second World War.

An important point on the educational map of Ternopil was also the Second State Gymnasium named after Juliusz Słowacki , established in 1905 . The decision to establish it was a response to the rapid growth of the city and the overcrowding of existing educational institutions. Already in the school year 1905/1906 preparations for the establishment of a new grammar school began, and in February 1906 the magistrate purchased a plot of land between what was then Kościuszki and Świętojańska Streets for the construction of a new building. Work moved swiftly and already on 18 November 1911 a ceremony was held to consecrate the building . The citizens of Ternopil spoke with pride about the school, which beautified the city and gave it a European character.

During the First World War, the school's activities were interrupted - a military hospital was located within its walls and soldiers were accommodated. From November 1918 to June 1919 , the building was the seat of the government of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic . After the city returned to Polish control, 392 pupils started the new school year on 20 September 1919 . In 1935, the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment officially named the school after Juliusz Słowacki .

After the city was occupied by the Red Army in 1939, a Soviet educational institution began operating in the school. Despite severe destruction in 1944, the school building survived - after the war the institution continued to function as a secondary school. Nowadays, it is home to Comprehensive School No. 4 , which cultivates the tradition of the place; the Juliusz Słowacki Memorial Chamber operates within its walls.

Another distinguished Ternopil educational institution was the 3rd Nicolaus Copernicus Gymnasium , operating as a real school with an emphasis on mathematical, natural and technical subjects. It was established in 1855 as an Austrian institution, with German as the language of instruction, but after 1867 it taught mainly in Polish. The building of the Gymnasium , located on today's Kopernika Street , has also survived to the present day and is a testimony to the continuity of the city's educational tradition.

There were also schools for girls in Ternopil. One of these was the departmental St Jadwiga School , located on Kamienna Street, run by female religious congregations and supported by the local Catholic community. This institution prepared girls for their roles as teachers, clerks and social activists, in keeping with the spirit of the age.

Also worth mentioning is the so-called Italian Yard , built in 1893 . This complex served as the seat of the boarding school and library of the Polish Society , an organisation supporting the education of Polish youth. It was a place of intense cultural life, meetings and patriotic activities, important for the consolidation of national identity in the multi-ethnic Ternopil.

All these establishments - men's gymnasiums, women's schools, support institutions and educational associations - testify to the high organisational level and ambitions of the Polish community in Ternopil . Ukrainian historical and educational sources today emphasise their importance not only as part of the Polish past, but also as an important cultural heritage of the entire city. Thanks to the preserved buildings and the research of local historians, it is possible to reconstruct this multi-layered educational landscape of Ternopil - a city that for decades shaped generations of students of different nationalities, languages and faiths.

Regardless of the development of Polish schools, there was also education in Ternopil associated with other national groups . Between 1898 and 1920, the Ternopil State Ukrainian Gymnasium with a classical teaching profile, important for the development of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, operated. Ternopil was also a significant centre of Jewish education: as early as 1788 a school with German language of instruction was established here, founded by N. H. Homberg (closed in 1806). Between the wars, the largest centre of Jewish education was the I. Perl School , with about 500 pupils. There were also Hebrew schools, run by the Tarbut and Mizrachi associations , a Talmud-Torah institution and two private grammar schools. This multilingual and multidenominational educational landscape testifies to the social diversity of pre-war Ternopil

Secular buildings

In addition to churches and schools, secular public and social buildings are an important testimony to the Polish heritage in Ternopil. Erected during the Austrian partition and during the Second Polish Republic, they still shape the historical centre of the city. They fulfilled administrative, judicial, financial and social functions and were also the space for the daily life of the inhabitants.

The Municipal Savings Bank - a representative building in the city centre, on the former 3 Maja Street, was a symbol of Ternopil's economic development in the interwar period. The building with its monumental façade, erected in the 1920s, was designed as a modern financial institution serving the citizens of the city and the region.

The Officers' Casino (Soldier's House) on Sienkiewicza Street (now Bandery Street) was a meeting place for the Ternopil garrison and local military and patriotic circles. The building housed an auditorium, a library and an officers' club. Celebrations, concerts, meetings and balls were organised here.

Mikuliniec Cemetery

Mikuliniec Cemetery in Ternopil is one of the most important material traces of Polish heritage in the region. Its history reflects both the development of the necropolis and the fate of the Polish community - from the Partitions of Poland to the turbulent interwar period. The oldest tombstones are located in sector 4. In the second half of the 19th century the burials were moved towards the chapel, expanding the cemetery into sectors 3, 5 and 6. In the 1880s the dead were also buried in peripheral sectors. In the interwar period , older graves and the periphery of the cemetery (sectors 11 and 12) were reused . These places were mainly for the poorer, the wealthier Ternopil people were buried in the central section.

In the Jesuits' quarters, the oldest burial dates to 1841 , and the gravestones surround the monument to the superior of the Ternopil convent. The missing tombstones from the time of the dispersion of the order were completed in 1886. In the interwar period, the cemetery became an arena of national tensions. The following people were buried here. Jerzy Dmytrów and Rudolf Popiel members of the Polish Military Organisation were buried here, and their grave in 1925 became a place of patriotic manifestations , often with harsh anti-Ukrainian overtones. There were counter-manifestations, riots and acts of vandalism of gravestones - the traces of these events are still visible today. The Mikuliniec Cemetery, despite its numerous destructions, is an important testimony to the presence and memory of Poles in Ternopil.

The cemetery also includes a mound in memory of the victims of the NKVD .

Non-preserved heritage

Another vestige of Polishness was the now defunct Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help , built in 1903-1908 to a design by Teodor Talowski . It was a neo-Gothic parish church , standing in the centre of Ternopil; it was destroyed in 1954 by the Soviet authorities. The Central Department Store was built in its place. Also standing in the city centre was the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1899-1901), also destroyed after the war and converted into a clothing factory. Today it is difficult to recognise the former church there.

Ternopil was also a place of intense veneration for Marshal Józef Piłsudski . In 1935, in the presence of Governor Alfred Biłyk, a bust of Piłsudski was unveiled at the State Female Gymnasium. bust of Piłsudski by Leon Ziemski. In the same year, on 11 November, a monumental statue of the Marshal was also erected. the monumental statue of the Marshal on horseback (designed by Apolinary Głowiński, framed by Wawrzyniec Dajczak) with the inscription: "To the Chief of the Nation - Podolia Land". The monument was destroyed by the Red Army in 1939. In the town there was also a monument to Adam Mickiewicz .

The building of the "Sokół " Society in Sokół Street (today Tarnowski Street) served sporting, educational and patriotic functions. It was a place for gymnastic exercises, theatrical performances, lectures and national ceremonies. "Sokol" was an important element in the formation of civic and national identity in Ternopil.

The starost's office on Mickiewicza Street served a key function in the district administration. The building was the seat of the starost's office.

The building of the Provincial Office , located on what was then Sobieski Square (today Theatre Square), was the centre of provincial government during the Second Republic. Destroyed during World War II, it has not survived to the present day.

The Polish House (also called the People's House or the House of Polish Societies) served as the headquarters of social, cultural and educational organisations. It housed a library, a reading room, an amateur theatre and the offices of various associations. It was the centre of Polish community life - a place for meetings, debates and community building.

Town Hall and market square buildings - although the town hall was a municipal institution of multinational Ternopil, it remained the centre of Polish public life in the interwar period. Its neighbourhood was home to Polish banks, law firms, newspaper editorial offices, printing houses and merchants' associations, all of which contributed to the creation of the modern city.

The District Court on Jagiellońska Street (now Shevchenko Street) was one of the most representative public buildings of the early 20th century. Built in neoclassical style, it served as the seat of justice for the entire Ternopil region.

These are, of course, only some of the buildings that make up the multinational, complex character of Ternopil's urban space, in which Polish traces are intertwined with Jewish, Ukrainian, German or Armenian ones.