Smotrych

Current population: It is located in the historic region of Podolia.

• Name — Smotrych • Native Name — Смотрич • Other Name — Smotrycz סמאָטריטש • Settlement Type — Rural settlement • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Oblast • Subdivision Name1 — Khmelnytskyi Oblast • Subdivision Type2 — Raion • Subdivision Name2 — Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion • Established Title — Magdeburg rights • Established Date — 1448 • Established Title1 — Town status • Established Date1 — 1960 • Leader Title — Town Head • Leader Name — Liudmyla Pelykh • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 5.02 • Elevation M — 240 • Population Total — 1,739 • Population As Of — 2022 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Timezone — EET • Utc Offset — +2 • Timezone Dst — EEST • Utc Offset Dst — +3 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 32423 • Area Code Type — Area code • Area Code — +380 3858 • Website — http: rada.gov.ua/ • Subdivision Type3 — Hromada • Subdivision Name3 — Smotrych or settlement hromada

• Illustration — The local Catholic church on a watercolor painting by Napoleon Orda from 1871 Following the Lithuanian victory over the Golden Horde at the Battle of Blue Waters, the territory was captured by Duke Algirdas of Lithuania, who appointed the Koriatovich princes, a branch of the ruling Lithuanian Gediminid dynasty, as administrators. Brothers Alexander and George Koriatovich erected a castle that became their regional headquarters, and a settlement developed around it. In 1375, Alexander granted privilege to the Dominicans, and then was buried in the Dominican church after his death in 1392. In 1430, Smotrycz passed to the Kingdom of Poland, confirmed by the 1431 truce between Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło and Lithuanian Duke Švitrigaila. It was granted Magdeburg rights in 1448 by King Casimir IV Jagiellon, and became a royal town, administratively located in the Podolian Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. The old castle was apparently either damaged or destroyed, because in 1518 King Sigismund I the Old allowed the construction of a new castle to defend against potential Tatar invasions and exempted the town from taxes for two years. After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, the town was annexed by Russia. Between 1917 and 1920, it was at various times under Ukrainian, Polish and Soviet control. During World War II, it was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. In 1960, Smotrych was granted the status of an urban-type settlement. The town lies on the banks of the Smotrych River. Until 18 July 2020, Smotrych belonged to Dunaivtsi Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Khmelnytskyi Oblast to three. The area of Dunaivtsi Raion was merged into Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion. Until 26 January 2024, Smotrych was designated an urban-type settlement. On this day, a new law entered into force which abolished this status, and Smotrych became a rural settlement.

As of the 2001 Ukrainian census, the town had a population of 2,102 inhabitants. The linguistic makeup of the population was:

• Meletius Smotrytsky (1577-1633), religious and pedagogical activist of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ruthenian linguist • Bezalel Smotrich, who is of Ukrainian-Jewish heritage, is the 28th Israeli Finance Minister and chairman of Israeli religious Zionist party National Religious Party-Religious Zionist Party (merger of RZP, The Jewish Home and Otzma), current member of the Israeli coalition.