Chernivtsi

Chernivtsi (Ukrainian: Чернівці; Romanian: Cernăuți) is a city in Western Ukraine. It was also previous known as Chernowitz after its German name (Czernowitz) or Chernovtsy after its Russian name (Черновцы́).

Understand
Chernivtsi like every city in the region has long and complicated history. A fortress existed here before 13th century and was destroyed by Mongol invasion, later the settlement was part of Poland, Moldavia and Austria-Hungary (Chernivtsi was the capital of one of the regions - Bukovina, this was the time of greatest development). In the 20th century Chernivtsi belonged to Romania, the USSR and, since 1991, independent Ukraine.

The city was always very multinational. Jews, Ukrainians, Romanians, Germans, Poles, Roma, etc. mixed here. In 1930 Jews were 27% of the population, today it's 1.2%. During World War II, Chernivtsi was captured by both sides. During the rule of Romanian military dictator Ion Antonescu (Romania was part of Axis forces at that time) around 50,000 Bukovinian Jews were confined to the ghetto built in the city and later moved to concentration camps. Romanian city mayor Traian Popovici and army officers were able to save 20,000 Chernivtsi Jews.

Talk
Ukrainian is the only official language in all of Ukraine, and it is also spoken by most of its population (about 70 percent speak it as their first language). Western Ukraine is also the part of Ukraine where the Ukrainian language is most strongly rooted. Ukrainian is very similar to Belarusian, so Belarusian speakers should be able to understand Ukrainian for the most part.

However, most people you will come across inside Chernivtsi will also speak Russian. If you leave to the surrounding villages, this situation may change. Everyone understands Russian, but some may respond in Ukrainian, a language they feel more comfortable with. Ukrainian is only partially mutually intelligible with Russian.

If you speak Polish or Slovak you may try it as well since these languages are relatively similar to Ukrainian. There is also a Polish minority in Chernivtsi.

As the entire Bukovina used to belong to Romania prior to World War II, a large Romanian population in Northern Bukovina (about 20 percent) still speaks Romanian. This is true mostly for the areas near the Romanian border, rather than the regional capital. As with other Romanian speakers they can also understand Italian and some other Romance languages to a certain extent.

English and German are the two most common foreign languages in Ukraine after Russian, however, you should not expect to find many speakers of these languages around. Some Jews in Chernivtsi may speak Yiddish, which is intelligible with German, and there are some elderly native German speakers.

By plane
The closest operating airport is in Suceava:



By foot
The city centre is small and you can manage it all by foot.

By public transport
Chernivtsi has a convenient public transport system:

Single ride tickets in buses cost 14 грн, in trolleybuses — 10 грн.
 * 43 bus routes
 * 10 trolleybus routes

Schedules are available on the official website (in Ukrainian), on the map (in Ukrainian) and on the second map (in Ukrainian).

You can also check information about public transport on EasyWay and Google Maps.

By taxi
Taxi is the easiest way of getting around the city. Some popular taxi companies include:



By scooter
Kick scooter is a funny way to shorten your time while getting around the city.



See
The old town is mainly of Baroque style. Most of Chernivtsi's attractions are located within the historical centre. Some of the centre is a pedestrian zone.

Day tours

 * Balamutivka: Balamutivska cave, (Печера "Баламутівська").
 * Khotyn Fortress (фортеця Хотин) State historical-architectural preserve
 * Pogorilivka: Three levels cave, (Триярусна печера).
 * Shepit: Waterfall Shepit Guk, (Водоспад "Сучавський гук").
 * Toporivtsi St.Elias church, (Іллінської церкви) 1560.
 * Vyzhnytsya: Vyzhnytskyi National Park, (Національний парк "Вижницький").

Eat


There is a good Sushi bar near the theatre.

Consulates

 * 🇷🇴 Romania

Go next

 * Kamianets-Podilskyi used to be a county capital and still has a well preserved castle. It is about an hour away from Chernivtsi.
 * The Painted Monasteries in Southern Bukovina a UNESCO heritage in Romania. It is geographically only about a 100 km from Chernivtsi, however crossing the border may be very time-consuming.
 * The Carpathians.
 * Kolomyia a typical Gallician town which is now a centre of local crafts.
 * Khotyn is a fortification on the Dniester river.