- published: 10 Jun 2015
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Brody (Ukrainian: Броди, Polish: Brody, Russian: Броды, Yiddish: בראָד, translit. Brod) is a city in the Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Brody Raion (district), and is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. As of 2004, its population is 23,239.
Brody is the junction of the Druzhba and Odessa-Brody oil pipelines.
The first mention of a settlement on the site of Brody is dated 1084 (Instructions by Volodymyr Monomach). It is believed to have been destroyed by Batu Khan in 1241.
From 1441 Brody was the property of different feudal families (Jan Sieniński, from 1511 - Kamieniecki).
Brody was granted Magdeburg rights and city status in 1546. At this time it was known under the name Lubicz (Любич, Polish: Lubicz) that gave name to the Lubicz Coat of Arms of the owner, Stanisław Żółkiewski (not to be confused with Lubech, Lubecz).
Since the 17th century, the city has been populated not only by Ukrainians and Poles, but also a significant number of Jews (70% of the town's population), Armenians, and Greeks .[citation needed] From 1629, the city became the property of Stanisław Koniecpolski, who ordered the construction of Brody Castle (1630–1635). The castle, or rather the fortress, was designed by the French military engineer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan. In 1648, the castle took 8 weeks for Bohdan Khmelnytsky to capture it. Notably Jewish population was spared after the sack. The Jews of Brody were judged and "deemed as not engaged in maltreatment of the Ruthenians" and were only required to pay a tribute in "textiles and furs".