Chernivtsi (Ukraine)

Chernivtsi (Romanian: Cernăuţi; Ukrainian: Чернівці) is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast (province) in western Ukraine.

Chernivtsi on map

The city lies in the historic Northern Bukovina region and is situated on the Prut river, a tributary of the Danube.

As of the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the city’s population is 240,600.According to the latest All-Ukrainian population census in 2001, the population of Chernivtsi was approximately 236,700 people of 65 nationalities.

Among them, 189,000 (79.8%) are Ukrainians, 26,700 (11.3%) Russians, 10,500 (4.4%) Romanians; 3,800 (1.6%) Moldavians, 1,400 (0.6%) Polish; 1,300 (0.6%) Jews; 2,900 (1.2%) other nationalities.

Based on the last available Soviet data, the population of the city, as of January 1, 1989, was approximately 295,000 residents.

Among these, there are some 172,000 Ukrainians, 46,000 Russians, 16,000 Romanians, 13,000 Moldavians, 7,000 Poles and others. Historically, the city was very multinational. From 1870 to the Second World War, Jews were the biggest population group of Czernowitz.

In 1930, according to the Romanian census, the population of the city was 26.8% Jewish, 23.2% Romanians, 20.8% Germans, 18.6% Ukrainians, and 1.5% Russians.he Romanian population in Chernivtsi started decreasing rapidly after 1950.

Many Romanians fled to Romania or were deported to Siberia (where most of them died), and the remaining Romanian population quickly became a minority and assimilated with the majority.

Nowadays, the Romanian minority in Chernivtsi is still decreasing as a result of cultural assimilation and emigration to Romania.

Source: Wikipedia

Travel Journal

What would be if I will go to Chernivtsi, in Ukraine ?
We took the train from Bucharest to Suceava.

After we arrive in the railway station from Suceava-Burdujeni, we were surprised to admire the railway station that was build in 1869.

After we put our legs in the railway station, an old gypsy man came to us and start to say that Suceava is a dangerous city, and we must have attention because of that and other rubbish (gypsy baloney).

After that, he see that we don’t give him money or something, and he start to say that he needs some money to go at his home, with train.

Can you belive that?

In 2009, someone in European Union could have such momments !

You remember an episode of South Park, called “Night of the Living Homeless“ ? 😛

“Change..Change…you have any change” :)))

After that we escape from the living gypsy, we take the local bus and we go to the centre of the city.A single ticket is 1.5 RON (New Romanian Leu)…almost 0.35 euro-cents.

From the center, we decided to go to the History Museum, to see the throne room of Stephen the Great, the ruler of Moldavian Kingdom between 1457 and 1504.

We take the taxi and we go to the History Museum. The price of taxi in Suceava is 1.80 RON (almost 0.5 Euro).

The museum is good, it has special rooms for all parts of history…start with prehistoric times and ends with WW2.

They also have a good collection of coins, especially medieval moldavian coins from monasteries.

Suceava is not a big city, and we go to the stronghold of the city, which was the capital of Moldavian Kingdom in the time of Stephen the Great.

Up to the hill were the fortress is built, the landscape is amazing, you can see almost all Suceava, and the road from the Mc Donald’s to the stronghold is through forest, simple amazing !

After this walking, we go to the bus station in Suceava and we took the bus for Chernivtsi (2.00 PM). The distance is about 82 km, through the border point Siret in Romania and Porubne in Ukraine.

Before we arrive to the border, we completed an Immigration Card, where we wrote our departure with destination (a hotel), name with surname, citizenship, passport number and our signature.

We didn’t pay anything, we just give the document to the Ukrainian border police and they give us to keep half from the paper. With that half paper you can leave Ukraine, and you must keep it at you.

Before we arrived in Chernivtsi, we pass through Hlyboka (in Romanian is Adâncata), a small Romanian town in Northern Bukovina. The population of Hlyboka District is majority Romanian (51.4 %).

In June 1940, Soviet Union take Northern Bukovina which was eliberated by Romanian Army in 1941.

Romania was forced to give the northern part of Bukovina to the USSR by the 1947 Paris peace treaty. The territory became part of the Ukrainian SSR as Chernivtsi Oblast (province). After the war the Soviet government deported or killed about 41,000 Romanians.

After one and a half hour we arrive to Chernivtsi.

We go to search a bank to buy some UAH with Euro.

The currency was 1 Euro=10 UAH (Ukrainian hryvnia).

With Ukrainian currency, we go to eat and to drink something. We eat at a fasto-food some hamburgers, we drink Kvass (Kbac) and we eat Ukrainian icecream, which is cheaper and good.

With 10 UAH (1 Euro) I eat one big hamburger, one glass of Kvass and one icecream 😀

Can you belive that? 😛

After that, we go for a walk in a park, not so far from the center. We drink some Ukrainian beers and we decided to come back to Romania.

We go to the Central Bus Station (Avtovogzal) and we find a Romanian from Chernivtsi to take us to Suceava. We want to give him some money but he refuse to accept something from us.

We arrive in Suceava at 21.40 and we go to eat and drink,

After that, we go to the railway station to catch the train for Bucharest at 23.04 PM.

The center of Suceava

Suceava-Burdujeni railway station

Map of Bukovina

Throne room of Stephen III of Moldavia also known as Stephen the Great (History Museum from Suceava)

Solar symbol on a traditional gate near the fortress of Suceava

A great view from the fortress above Suceava

Walls of the fortress

On the road from the fortress to the city (through forest)

In the bus to Chernivtsi (old soviet bus)

Timetable in Central Bus Station from Chernivtsi

Central Bus Station from Chernivtsi (Avtovokzal in ukrainian, Avtovogzal in russian)

Old soviet bus station

Post box

Local trolleybus from Chernivtsi

On the road to the centre

Law and Order (Ukrainian Police)

Some nice blocks

Plate number from Chernivtsi

A message to recruting people for sport (Ivan Geshko) Sport-Health-Future

Public phone

On this guide panel you can see the name Suceava

Marshrutnoye taksi or маршрутка (Marshrutka)

Kvass (квас) and ukrainian icecream

We saw this ukrainian girl just after we buy some humbergers, she was staying in the front of us

A central street in Chernivtsi

Shevchenko Park

Shevchenko Park - A park for Culture and Rest

They are still alive !

Raiffeisen Bank Aval

The soviet bus which take us from Suceava to Cernivitsi

Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH)

A very strong ukrainian beer called Desant (Desant Spetsnaz) 7.2%