Timeline

Pythagoras used to assert that salt came from a family of most noble parents: the Sun and the Sea — so says Oksana Bunda, a leading technologist of Drohobych Saltworks. Fifteen million years ago, where we stand now, there used to be a sea. The Sea of Drohobych! As the Carpathian Mountains grew and evolved, the sea retreated, creating lagoons where salt crystallised. The Greek word for salt is halite.

Researchers opine that the origin of the name of Ukrainian Galicia region comes from the Greek word for edible salt, i.e. halz or halite. After the underground water infiltrates the strata of sand and clay, halite dissolves in this water, creating natural brine.

Tustan is a mediaeval rock-seated fortress some 20 miles off Drohobych, up the highland, which also functioned as a customs outpost from the 9th to the 16th century. The remnants of this Old Ruthenian defence installation are situated in the Carpathian Mountains, next to the village of Urych in Skole Urban Community of Stryi County in Lviv Province. This is a unique natural, historical, archaeological, architectural and natural landmark lies in the midst of opulent woodland and is part of the eponymous National Historical and Cultural Conservation Area. Tustan used to serve as a defence installation, an administrative centre, and a customs clearance checkpoint on an important salt trade route running from Drohobych to Transcarpathia and thence to the Western Europe.

On the border of Lviv and Transcarpathia Provinces, there ensconced itself a mountain which, to this time, bears the title of the Rock of Drohobych. In the olden days, the Watershed Mountain Range used to be part of a Salt Road which ran from Drohobych and onto the Ruthenian Pass. The Rock of Drohobych then became a reference point for travellers, marking the place where they should descend from the mountain range. Some researchers of history assert that there used to be a route marker here carved in a century-old stone. Does it exist there now though? Well, perhaps you should go on a hike and find out for yourself.

The first written mention of salt in Drohobych dates back to the year 1390. From the 14th century and onwards, Drohobych Saltworks used to operate a the same spot, next to the underground springs of raw salt brine. Hence, Drohobych Salt Factory—which is still in operation today—may be referred to as the oldest continuously operating industrial facility in Ukraine. For many centuries, the prosperity of Drohobych was ensured by its Saltworks which provided salt not only to Galicia and Transcarpathia but also to the lands of Volyn, Kholm (Chełm), and Kyiv.

The Nine Cones of Salt have been featuring official stamps of Drohobych since the 15th century. Why nine? The number 9 was a reference to the eight city districts and the central district which then comprised Drohobych.
At all times, the Coat of Arms of Drohobych used to symbolise the opulence and wealth of the city’s denizens. It is comprised of nine cones of Drohobych Salt. Look closer, and you will see that there are three rows of silver salt cones against a blue escutcheon: four in the top row, three in the middle row and only two in the lowermost row.
The escutcheon is framed with a decorative cartouche and crowned by a silver city crown with three spaces. Urban legend says that the first symbolic mark of the city of Drohobych back in the times of the Galician Principality was a cart filled with Drohobych Salt. The cart itself also served as a measuring unit: this made the work of customs officers easier.

The year 1491 brought about a conflict between Italians, Drohobychers, and non-resident traders which had to be resolved by a Royal Decree. Then, it was enacted that carts transporting salt had to be 14 spans (249cm/8’2”) long, 17 salt cones wide at the bottom, 20 salt cones wide at the top, and 20 salt cones tall when fully loaded, one cone on top of another. One cart with such characteristics could accommodated 6,000 salt barrels. Ultimately, in order to ensure the proper upkeep of city streets, Drohobychers were entitled to exact 3 dinars per cart carrying salt or other goods through the city.

This landmark of Galician wooden architecture of the late 15th and early 16th centuries is one of the best preserved monuments of ancient Ukrainian sacral architecture. Originally built back in the 15th century, it was then reconstructed multiple times and gained its final architectural shape by Hryhorii Teslia, a Ukrainian architect from Drohobych. The wooden tripartite church was built in the Ukrainian Baroque style. Its interior features an iconostasis created in 1659 and wall paintings dating back to the 17th century. The Church of St George is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In the year 1565, there were 26,000 barrels of salt cooked in Drohobych. About a half of this amount was produced by privately owned zhupas (rigs) and the remaining amount was produced by the Royal Zhupa.

In 1768, the Zhupna Street which still exists and where the Saltworks are situated used to have a wooden pavement. There was a bridge erected above a pretty deep river of Pobuk to connect the Saltworks and the City. There were two rigs operating within Drohobych Saltworks: The Royal Rig No. 1 owned by the Crown and the Baron Gartenberg Rig No. 2. The revenue from both rigs funded the so-called Hospital for the Destitute, a small clinic next to the Roman Catholic Church of St Bartholomew.

As of today, Drohobych Saltworks is the only enterprise in Europe where salt is produced using the same method as was the case a millennium ago: by boiling natural brine and raking sedimented salt together. Presently, two types of salt are offered by the enterprise: Boiled Kitchen Salt with Iodine and Boiled Kitchen Salt Without Additives. Every day, Drohobych Salt Factory produces approximately 700kg of salt.