The article analyzes and discusses documents, scientific publications concerning the first written reference of Horodenka in Pokuttia (Galicia). Archaeological research of Horodenka. Encyclopedic, statistical, local history editions have been analyzed. The Rus Chronicle translated by L. Makhnovets, the map of Eastern Europe till the late 13th century.

It has been noted that the first written reference of Horodenka on archaeological sites is erroneous. Here we speak about the discovery of a bronze brooch of the Roman period in 1937 in the village of Horodnytsia, Horodenka district.

The princes of Horodenka and the town of Horodenka indicated in the Rus Chronicle are the Brest region in Belarus. They have nothing to do with Horodenka in Pokuttia. The studied materials and reasons suggest that this is not the first written mention of Horodenka in Pokuttia in the 12th century (1195). This is a false statement and many researchers adhered to it in their dissertations. The research methodology is based on a system of theoretical principles (historicism, consistency, objectivity), logical techniques (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, hypothesis) and specific research tools that made it possible to highlight the source base of the first written reference of the location (village) Horodenka, to analyze archaeological research conducted on the territory of Horodenka. And although archaeological research allows us to confidently speak of the existence of settlements on the territory of the modern town in an earlier period than the 12th century, but the existence of the location (village) called Horodenka can only be spoken about starting from the 15th century.

The main outcome of the study was the research, analysis, general conclusion and systematization of the documentary base about the first written reference of the village and town of Horodenka, the correction of erroneous statements on its first written reference.

The scientific novelty of the research results of the article lies in the analysis of the documentary, source base, research publications, taking into account the challenges of today regarding the written references to the town of Horodenka in Pokuttia, in order to establish the scientific truth of the exact date of the first written reference.

Conclusions and specific proposals of the author: many local history researchers and historians study and research their small homelands - villages, towns based on open archival documents, write the stories of their settlements, they correct the first written references, create stories that are inserted into the only Ukrainian common canvas of the history of Ukraine. Among them are the following Horodenka residents: Volodymyr Velykochyi, Roman Smerechanskyi, Volodymyr Nykyforuk, Andrii Kravets, Ivan Myroniuk, Ivan Romaniuk, Vasyl Romanchuk.

Therefore, studying their experience, we corrected the first written mention of the village of Horodenka - 1521. About the town of Horodenka - February 13, 1668 (based on the Magdeburg Rights of Jan Kazimierz given on February 13 to the town of Horodenka and its owner Jan Potocki). We believe that many young historians will start researching the history of Horodenka using archival sources from Krakow, Warsaw, Moldova and Romania.

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