Bar, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine

🇺🇦 Bar (Бар) is a town located on the Riv River in Vinnytsia Oblast, central Ukraine. It was the administrative centre of the former Bar Raion until 2020, and is part of the historic region of Podolia.

History Bar began as a small trade outpost known as Rov, within the Duchy of Podolia in the 13th century. Rov was noted for the first time in 1401. In 1537, the Polish Queen Bona Sforza renamed the settlement Bar, after her hometown of Bari, Italy. Bar's highest mountain was renamed after Queen Sforza in 2018 to commemorate her role in naming the town. In 1540, King Sigismund I the Old of Poland granted the nearby town city rights.

In the 1630s, Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan built a fortress in Bar and made note of the town his book Description d'Ukranie. The Bar fortress was besieged several times in its history. In 1648, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, was captured by Cossacks led by Maxym Kryvonis and was severely damaged.

Bar as a town was described by a number of travelers and historians, including Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan in 1650, Evliya Çelebi in 1656, and Ulrich von Werdum in August 1671.

In 1672, Bar was captured by the Ottoman Empire and became a seat of the sanjak in Podolia Eyalet with nahiyas of Bar, Dırajna, Zinkuv and Popovçi. On November 12, 1674, the town and the fortress were liberated by John III of Poland after a four-day siege. However, the Ottomans would then recapture the city in 1675 and hold it until 1686, with nominal control through 1699.

On February 29, 1768, the Bar Confederation, an alliance of Polish nobles, was founded by Adam Krasiński, Bishop of Kamenets, Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, Casimir Pulaski, Moritz Benyowszki and Michał Krasiński within the Bar fortress. After the Second Partition of Poland, the town was ceded to the Russian Empire and made part of the Podolia Governorate.

After 1922, Bar became part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. In 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union, the town became part of the independent Ukraine.

The town had a historical Jewish population, with 3,869 Jews within the city in 1939. On July 16, 1941, during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the town and established ghettos, killing many of Bar's Jewish residents. In 1999, there was an estimated Jewish population of 199.

Bar currently has two large memorials situated within the city centre, which are dedicated to those killed during WWII.

City historic museum Bar has a museum which documents the city's history. The museum includes an exhibits on topics such as Queen Bona Sforza, Ukrainian culture, and the WWII era. It attracts both domestic and foreign visitors. The museum's collection includes historical clothing, ceramics, coins, and other artifacts.

Bar ceramics national museum Bar has the Bar ceramics national museum. There is also a virtual exhibition with the 3D views on the Bar's ceramic authentic exhibits. The Bar's ceramics museum's contemporary exhibits collection is created by the potters from Bar, Ukraine. The museum has hosted scientific conferences, where research reports were presented with a goal to revive the Bar's ceramics in Bar, Ukraine.

Bar Fortress historic site The town has a historic site centered around the Bar Fortress, originally built in 1537 and later re-designed by Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan. The fortress currently stands in ruins. The fortress was built on the Riv River, and the historic site is now surrounded by historic religious buildings, including cathedrals. The site also includes trails surrounded by trees.

Reconstruction of the fortress was proposed at the 3rd International Scientific Conference, Bar's Land, Podill'ya: European Heritage and Innovative Development Perspectives, in Bar in 2014.

Cityscape The city spans around 1,387 hectares (3,430 acres). The Bar district area is around 1,102 square km (425 square miles). The maximum altitude above sea level is 368.8 metres (1,210 feet).

The central part of the city has a number of the historical cathedrals and the modern architecture buildings. There is a central square with a fountain, which is surrounded by the history museum, cinema, culture palace, trade centre, modern hotel, city library, employment centre building and some other governmental buildings in the downtown.

There is a sport stadium for football, basketball, volleyball in the centre of the city. There is a swimming pool building not far away from the stadium. The local football team plays the football games at the stadium regularly. The pop music performances by various artists from Ukraine take place at the stadium from time to time.

The main educational institutions, including the Humanitarian-Pedagogical College and the Automobiles and Roads College are situated in close proximity to the downtown. Also, there are many secondary schools in the central district in the city.

The modern big residential apartments buildings, made of the red and white bricks, can be found around the city.

The Bar city library, which is located in a modern architecture building, has a digital library with Internet access.

Bar is known as a little piece of Italy in Ukraine.

Colleges and schools

There are a few educational institutions in the Bar city, for example: • 1. The Hrushevsky Humanitarian Pedagogical College where the students can study English language, finances, accounting, law, teaching, painting, music and other subjects; • 2. The Bar College of Transport and Construction, founded by Tunik, where the students can study the modern engines and automobiles designs; • 3. The Bar Professional Building Construction College, where the students study the architecture and buildings construction technologies; • 4. The specialized music school, • 5. A number of secondary schools; • 6. A wide-screen cinema; • 7. A city history museum; • 8. A contemporary art gallery.

Public libraries There is a modern central city library in downtown, which provides the library services to the local people and the foreign visitors in Bar's district.

Dr. Margaret Hankamp, JD, New York Law School, New York University, USA worked on the Bibliomist program to modernize the modern central city library and the one library for the young people in Bar. The Bibliomist is a part of Global Libraries initiative of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

The Bar city library was extensively renovated due to the financial support by KfW bank in Germany in June, 2015.

Also, there are the two small libraries for the young readers, one is located in downtown and another one near the medical hospital in Bar. In addition, there are the libraries at the Hrushevsky Humanitarian Pedagogical College and at the Automobiles and Roads College in Bar. There is an interconnected network of small remote libraries with Internet access at the villages in Bar's district.

Ukrainian culture The Ukrainian culture is created on the base of the old Slavic culture. The Ukrainian culture was strongly influenced by the Italian, Polish and Russian cultures.

The Ukrainian traditional songs, dances, paintings, poetry and literature are present in Bar. Notable tourist destinations include the St. Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral, St. Anna Rome Catholic Cathedral, St. Pokrovsky Orthodox Cathedral, old fortress, central park with the old green trees, Ukrainian music/dances folk festivals, history museum, central city library, etc. in Bar.

The City of Bar is known as a city, where the "Love" lives in Ukraine. "The Bar City Day" is celebrated in September every year. "The Bar District Day" is celebrated in August every year. "The Apple Bar Festival" was conducted in Bar since 2018.

The ІІІ International Scientific Conference "Bar's Land Podill'ya: European Heritage and Innovative Development Perspectives", was held in Bar in September 2014.

Polish culture The Bar is known as a historical centre of Polish culture in Ukraine. There is the Polish House, where the Polish cultural events are conducted. The Polish House was officially opened on May 22, 2016.

Youth Art Academic Theater (YAAT) Youth Art Academic Theater (YAAT) is a multicultural organisation, which makes the theatrical performances in Bar since 2018.

Religious festivals The religious festivals are conducted in Bar frequently.

Economy The economy includes the ten main sectors such as the agriculture, building construction industry, machine design industry, information technologies (IT) industry, food processing industry, wood processing industry, public utilities industry, domestic/international trade, transportation services industry, financial services industry, tourism industry, education industry.

Industrial companies in Bar include the Bar Industrial Machinery Plant.

The food processing industry is represented by the Pfanner apple juice international firm, which exports the concentrated apple juice to Austria mainly. There is the Barchanka big bottled mineral water company. There is the Solodka Planeta cakes producing company. There are the milk processing factory, the meat processing factory, and the fish processing factory in Bar.

The IT industry includes a number of small IT services companies (the software design) and Internet providing companies (the optical/wireline/wireless access to the Internet).

The financial industry is represented by a number of Ukrainian banks, which provide the corporate finance services and the personal finance services in the city.

There are several big trade centres such as the Econom food trade chain, the Gusi-Lebedi electronics/furniture trade chain, big market, hundreds of medium & small shops and drugstores.

The tourism industry includes several hotels and motels.

A relatively short distance from Bar, there is a natural gas compressor station, which pumps natural gas over the transcontinental Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod pipeline and the Union pipeline to the Polish, German and other European customers.

Government organizations There is the Bar City Council, which is located at newly renovated building in the central district.

There is the Bar District Administration, which works at modern building in downtown.

There is the Bar Tax Authorities Administration, which functions at modern building in a central part of city.

There is the Pension Fund, which is situated in a newly redesigned building in downtown.

There is the State Archive, which keeps the information about the historical developments in Bar.

There is an Air Traffic Control Center with the beyond-visual-range-radar nearby, which provides air traffic control services in the English language for aircraft in the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. There is also a city airport, which helicopters and light airplanes can use.

Health Presently, the medical clinic and hospital provide a wide range of medical services to the patients in Bar.

The ambulance department at the medical hospital in Bar, Ukraine was opened on February 1, 1955. The tuberculosis treatment department at the medical hospital in Bar, Ukraine was established on November 30, 1970. The blood transfusion department at the medical hospital in Bar, Ukraine was in operation since October 1, 1973. The medical clinics was opened in Bar, Ukraine on April 7, 1986. The psychoneurological department at the medical hospital in Bar, Ukraine was founded on April 4, 1989. The children's, therapeutic, neurologic, resuscitation departments at the medical hospital in Bar, Ukraine are situated in a new building, which was built in 1992.

Around 10,000 patients undergo the medical treatments at the medical hospital, and around 210,000 patients visit the medical clinic in Bar, Ukraine every year.

The medical school was established by Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov.

Complex medical treatments are done in collaboration with the doctors from the medical clinics, universities and institutions in Vinnytsia, Kyiv and other places.

The Vinnytsia National Medical University named after the Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.

Apple Bar Festival The Apple Bar Festival has been conducted by city authorities in Bar since 2018.

Parks There is park at the old Bar fortress on the Riv River, near the centre of the town.

Culture: Music There are the Ukrainian traditional dancing and music clubs, functioning at the Culture Palace and at the Humanitarian Pedagogical College in downtown Bar, including the "Barvy" traditional music group.

Sport Bar has facilities for many recreational activities, including tennis courts, a football stadium, a basketball arena, and a swimming pool. The "Kolos" stadium is in process of reconstruction and modernization presently. Fishing is quite popular at the Riv River and nearby lakes. Bicycling is also popular in Bar.

"Bar's Adventures" old people council "The Bar's Adventures" old people council conducts the meetings regularly.

Transport: Air There is a small airport for the light business jets and helicopters, which is equipped with all kinds of navigation devices and systems in Bar. At the same location, there is a big beyond-visual range radar, which provides the air traffic control and navigation services in Ukrainian, Russian and English languages for various airplanes and helicopters.

Transport: Rail There is a railway station nearby. The distance from the centre of Bar to the Bar railway station is 7 km (4.3 mi).

Intercity bus There is an inter-city bus station in the centre of Bar.

Automobiles The electric cars are becoming very popular in Bar. There are several modern electric automobiles power charging stations in the city, which are situated near the "Barselona" hotel, the Bar College of Transport and Construction, etc.

Media: Press The main local newspaper is Barchany (name for the city residents), which discusses local news mostly.

The other newspaper is Podolsky Krai, which provides information on local news and developments.

TV and Radio Stations There is a big number of the TV and Radio stations in Bar.

There is an optical cable TV station with the modern digital electronic equipment and multiple satellite antennas to produce the local / international news programs for many thousands of householders.

Internet Media "The Bar City" official news website informs the residents and tourists about the official news in the City of Bar.

"The Bar News" regional information agency with a network of its reporters focuses on the local news publishing mainly.

"The Bar Ceramics National Museum" internet media platform reports the local news about the Bar's ceramics development projects in the surrounding region.

There is the Bar City News channel at YouTube.