Staryi Sambir

Staryi Sambir [Старий Самбір; Staryj Sambir]. Map: IV-3. A city (2011 pop 6,266) on the Dnister River and a raion center in Lviv oblast. It was founded in the second half of the 11th century as Sambir and served as a residence of Lev Danylovych. After its destruction in 1241 by the Tatars and the founding of Novyi Sambir, it became known, toward the end of the 14th century, as Staryi Sambir. It was granted the rights of Magdeburg law in 1553 (1500, according to some sources), when it was under Polish rule. The town was known for its manufacturing trades, particularly weaving. In the 16th century it also became a busy trading center: duties on livestock passing through the town on its way to markets in Peremyshl and Breslau (now Wrocław) was collected there, and strong economic ties with Transcarpathia, then under Hungary, were developed. In the second half of the 17th century the town declined. After the partition of Poland in 1772, it was annexed by Austria. In the interwar period (1919–39) it belonged to Poland. Today the city has a linen plant, a furniture-manufacturing complex, and a lumber mill.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]