• About the Project

  The project is focused on the emergence of town-halls, their functions and architecture in towns founded by noble landowners (termed as ‘private towns’ in Polish and Ukrainian historiography) in a historical region Podolia (presently south-western part of Ukraine). This type of urban foundations dominated in the Early Modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (especially Ukrainian lands) often being characterized by their small size, rudimentary urban institutions, limited civic rights and a stronger, than in the case of royal towns, control from the side of the founder. In addition, the topography and urban fabric as well as a population number of these towns might resemble that of a village.

  A town-hall has been usually understood as an architectural and visual expression of civic pride, a “crystallization nucleus of civic identity”, a symbol of autonomy, and a multi-functional public space. How many of these features could be seen in Podolian towns and town-halls? What is more, how did it come to the emergence of a town-hall in a site with underdeveloped urban institutions and largely dependent on the land lord? What/whom they meant to represent and how they functioned? Who initiated and financed the building process and what were the architectural models? Can a town-hall in a ‘private town’ be regarded a ‘public place’ (understood as a space controlled by public actors, who act on behalf of a community)? These are some of the research questions to be answered by the project.

  This project is a part of the fellowship scheme of MSCA4Ukraine program (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 101101923 as part of the EU’s response to the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Project duration

  2025 – 2027

• Project Team

  Dr. Olga Kozubska

Funding