Zhytomyr or Zhitomir is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyrsky Raion (district). The city itself is also designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, occupying an area of 65 km². The current estimated population is 291,000 (as of 2005). The city is around 125 km west of the capital in Ukraine, Kiev.
Zhytomyr is a major transportation hub. The city lies on a historic route linking the city of Kiev with the west through Brest. Today it links Warsaw with Kiev, Minsk with Izmail, and several major cities of Ukraine. Zhytomyr was also the location of Ozernoye, a key Cold War strategic aircraft base located 11 km southeast of the city.
Zhytomyr was allegedly established in the 8th century by Zhytomyr, prince of a Slavic tribe of Drevlians.
Zhytomyr apparently had few Jews at the time of the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648), but by the time it became part of Russia in 1778, it had a large Jewish community, and was a center of the Hasidic movement. Jews formed nearly a third of the 1861 population (13,299 of 40,564); thirty years later they had somewhat outpaced the general growth of the city, with 24,062 Jews in a total population of 69,785. By 1891 there were three large synagogues and 46 smaller batte ha-midrashot. The proportion of Jews was much lower in the surrounding district of Zhytomyr outside the city; at the turn of the century (ca. 1900) there were 22,636 Jews in a total population of 281,378.
The city is located on the shore of the Teteriv River. It is an industrial, cultural and educational center. Surrounded on all sides by an ancient forest, the city boasts a diversified economy ranging from lumber milling and agriculture to food processing and metal working. One of the more unique industries in Zhitomir is the manufacture of musical instruments.
An ancient Slavic town, the first record of Zhytomyr was chronicled when the city was sacked in 1240 by the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan. The city subsequently passed into the hands of the Lithuanians (1320), then the Poles (1569), before being assimilated into the Russian Empire in 1793.
Zhitomir truly is a unique travel destination. Located in a picturesque natural setting, it offers a little bit of everything. Whether you venture into the surrounding hills and forest or try to lose yourself in the city's beautiful parks and public squares, you will find a sense of tranquility not found in Ukraine's larger cities.
Zhitomir has agricultural and teacher-training institutes. A lot of outstanding personalities were born in Zhitomir: writer V.G.Korolenko, pianist S.T.Rihter, space researcher and engineer S.P.Korolyov. A famous Russian writer A.I.Kuprin lived in Zhitomir. V.V.Mayakovsky visited Zhitomir in 1928.
The easiest way to get to the city is to first fly to Borispol in Kiev and take either a taxi (around 150 USD) or the train from Kiev (around 20 USD). You can also enter Ukraine at other airports, and you will very easy find train connections to the city, as it is a hub for trains in the country.
The city has several hotels, although the standard is not high, but nice rooms are available for a cheap price (around 50 USD pr night).
Several sights are available to the visitor of Zhitomir such as; the Zhitomir Regional Library, Museum of local lore (Ethnographic museum), Palace of Justice (Former communist party comitee headquarters), Preobrazheshskiy Cathedral, Zhitomir Municipal building, city philharmonic in the old theatre, water tower, Franko University, Museum of Cosmonautics, Gagarin Park, and the Korolyov Space museum are some of the things you can see here.
Main sights in Zhitomirskya oblast are: monastery of barefooted Carmelites dated by XVIII century in . Berdichev city, Preobrazhensky cathedral, Roman-Catholic church of Saint Sophia, Mikhalovskaya church in Zhitomir, memorial museum of Lesya Ukrainka in Novograd-Volynskiy
The city has several good restaurants offering local cousine as well as western European cousine.