Zhupa

Zhupa [župa]. The Slavic word for the territorial-administrative districts in Hungary and Czechoslovakia known as komitats. The term (Polish: żupa) was also applied to the larger salt mines and salt-processing facilities in medieval Poland. They were owned by the crown and administered by appointed officials called zhupnyky or leased out to churchmen or other notables. Brine from underground pools was evaporated in large cauldrons, and the remaining salt was shaped in conical forms. On Ukrainian territories there were salt zhupy in Sambir, Peremyshl, and Sianik.

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