# History of Sataniv

History of Sataniv — encompasses the history of the town, now an urban-type settlement, Sataniv in the Horodok Raion of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine. Known in historical documents since 1404, Sataniv was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Ukrainian People's Republic, Soviet Union, and after the latter's dissolution, became part of independent Ukraine. The town over the Zbruch River and its surroundings have been the scene of military actions during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, World War I, Ukrainian War of Independence, and World War II. As noted by Kateryna Lypa, "the history of Sataniv is typical of a small border town-fortress, where periods of terrible destruction alternated with periods of prosperity, flourishing in trade and crafts".
Sataniv was a village, a town, a city, then a town again, and in 1938, it acquired the status of an urban-type settlement. It once enjoyed Magdeburg rights, and from the late 1920s to 1959, it was the district center.
In 1985, Sataniv was recognized as a resort of republican significance. In 2001, it was included in the List of historical settlements of Ukraine. Sataniv is part of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine — the largest in Europe, the national natural park "Podilski Tovtry", established on 27 June 1996.

## Foundation date

The exact founding date of Sataniv is unknown. The earliest written mention of it dates back to 1404. The first mention of the settlement named "Schathanow" is in a charter by the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło to Kraków's Podstoli Piotr Szafraniec. This charter, written in Latin, was published in 1894 in the second volume of the eighth part of the "Archive of Southwestern Russia", published in Kyiv by the Temporary Commission for the Arrangement of Ancient Acts, founded at the Kyiv, Podolia, and Volhynia Governor-General. The documents of this volume were prepared for publication by Mykhailo Hrushevsky. The charter is cited from a copy written in 1564 in the book of privilege revision. During the publication of the charter, this book was stored in the Moscow Archive of the Ministry of Justice, and now it is kept in the Main Archive of Ancient Acts in Warsaw in the fund of the Lithuanian Metrica.
In 1905, another copy of the charter issued to Piotr Szafraniec was published by the Polish historian Franciszek Piekosiński.
The year 1404 is generally recognized as the date of the first written mention of Sataniv. It is mentioned in the works of Oleksandr Stepenko, Vartan Hryhoryan, Mykola Petrov, Ivan Rybak, and other historians. However, some guides, reference books, and even encyclopedias claim that the first chronicle mention of Sataniv dates back to 1385, but they provide no references to support this assertion. For instance, Volodymyr Radzievsky and Vasyl Burma in the guide "Medobory" (second edition, 1975) write: "It is likely that the first information about Sataniv dates back to 1385. However, in historical documents, Sataniv is first mentioned in 1404". Similar categorical statements are made by the authors of the historical guide "100 Jewish towns" (second edition, 1998) and the third issue of the reference publication "Who's Who in Khmelnytskyi" (2005), which directly state that "the first chronicle mentions of Sataniv date back to 1385". The same categoricalness is characteristic of the "Universal Dictionary-Encyclopedia" (fourth edition, 2006), where it is stated that Sataniv "is first mentioned in the chronicle in 1385".
In December 1886, a member of the Committee for the Church-Historical and Statistical Description of the Podillia Diocese, Ivan Shipovych, wrote in the "Podolskie Eparkhialnye Vedomosti":