The town hall in Kamianets-Podilsky is the oldest surviving city hall in Ukraine. These days, specialists have been hard at work restoring the dome of this stone structure, which will be crowned with the city’s gilded coat of arms.
“The 14th-century town hall, which was destroyed by an artillery shell during World War II, was rebuilt in a slipshod way in the postwar years. In those days nobody cared about the historical image of this ancient civil structure in our city of Kamianets. At last, the municipal authorities decided to restore the stone building to its original look, and they managed to find 1.5 million hryvnias in the budget for the restoration work,” Valerii Klymenko, chief of the City Council’s organization and control department, told The Day.
Work is in full swing at this historic site. Guided by archival documents, drawings, and old photographs, local restorers are steadily marching towards their noble goal. They have made a promise to local residents and visitors that they will finish recreating the town hall’s original look by the end of 2008. Part of their work includes restoring the so-called lower clock, which is started by one mechanism and has 24 Roman numerals on its face. The restorers will also install a wrought-iron railing on the balcony.
What did the town hall on the central square use to look like? “Researchers believe that the town hall is an interesting example of the application of different styles to the original Gothic structure. They also claim it was Germany that introduced the practice of building town halls in the middle of marketplaces in the 12th and 13th centuries. Then Ukrainian cities picked up on this trend. The town hall was regarded as the center of a European city’s public life.
“One of the most interesting construction eras in the history of this town hall is the mid-18th century. This period is associated with the creative work of the military engineer and architect Jan de Witt, who was also the commandant of the Kamianets-Podilsky fortress,” said Klymenko, a connoisseur of the history of his native city.
The town hall has a special aura. During “the times of darkness” there was once a pillory here, where public executions and floggings were held. Legend has it that this was where the Turks executed Yurii Khmelnytsky in 1685. In 2009 a monument to Magdeburg Law will be erected here to mark the 635th anniversary of the granting of this law to Kamianets-Podilsky.
There is a museum of Magdeburg Law and local government in Kamianets. This unique institution, opened three years ago in the town hall, contains displays of documents and objects – the “eyewitnesses” of various epochs – which recount the centuries-long history of local self-government in this ancient city in Khmelnytsky oblast.
