# Sharhorod

Sharhorod (Ukrainian: Шаргород, IPA:) is a small city located within the Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of the former Sharhorod Raion until its dissolution in 2020. Population: 6,982 (2022 estimate).
Sharhorod also has a number of foreign names, such as Russian: Шаргород, Shargorod, and Polish: Szarogród.

## History
### Early history

Sharhorod was founded in 1585 by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth chancellor and hetman, Jan Zamoyski as a fortress. It was located very close to the border with the Ottoman Empire. Jan Zamoyski was known for establishing the Zamoyski family entail.
Sharhorod received city rights under Magdeburg law in 1588. Zamoyski later was heavily involved in neighboring "Moldavian Ventures" and Sharhorod is located relatively close to Moldavia.
In the seventeenth century, because of its location along wine and cattle trading routes, Sharhorod emerged as one of the largest towns in Podolia. The Turks occupied Sharhorod between 1672 and 1699, when the town was called "Little Istanbul". During that time, the synagogue was converted into a mosque. In the nineteenth century, the town became a center of Jewish Hasidism.
Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polonne fled to Raşcov as a result of being exiled from Sharhorod. Having been the rabbi of Sharhorod for several years, Rabbi Jacob Joseph was expelled from his position on a Friday afternoon in 1748. In several of his responsa, which he wrote in Raşcov, he reveals the suffering which he had undergone. He would later leave Raşcov after being appointed rabbi in Nemirov, a center of Hasidism, where he practiced daily fasting for five years, until the Besht came upon him.
From 1776 to 1792, the 7th Polish National Cavalry Brigade was garrisoned in Szarogród.
Sharhorod was briefly described in a book titled: "Geographic Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and other Slavic places," published in Warsaw in Poland.

### World War II

Shargorod was occupied by the German nazi army and then by the Romanian fascist army during World War II in 1941–1945. Five thousand Jews were deported to Shargorod from Bessarabia and Bukovina, adding to the 2,000 who were already there. Around seven thousand Jewish people were kept in a ghetto created by the German Nazi army and the Romanian fascist army in Shargorod. Many of the Jews in this ghetto either died of disease or were deported to labor camps, and by 1943 there were about 3,000 Jews left.

## Religious buildings
### Orthodox

There is the St. Nicolas Orthodox Monastery, which was founded in Shargorod in 1719, initially constructed in 1782, and finally built in 1806–1818.

### Catholic

There is the St. Florian Catholic Cathedral, which was opened in Shargorod on November 3, 1525.

### Jewish

There is the Synagogue, which was built in Shargorod in 1589.

## Culture

The international modern arts festival "Art-City: Shargorod" is conducted in Shargorod.
Professional painters, amateur painters, art collectors and tourists from various countries like to attend the international modern arts festival "Art-City: Shargorod".

## Transportation
### Railway transportation

The name of nearest railway station is the Yaroshenka railway station. The distance to the nearest railway station is 28 km.

### Automobile transportation

There is a bus station downtown. The distance to Zmerynka is 37 km. The distance to Bar, Ukraine is around 60 km. The distance to Vinnytsia is 80.8 km. The distance to Kyiv is 330 km.

## Notable people

Jacob Joseph of Polonne, a Ukrainian rabbi and one of the first and most dedicated of the disciples of the founder of Chassidut, the Holy Baal Shem Tov.

## Gallery

* St. Florian Catholic church
* Synagogue
* Historic image of Sharhorod