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Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University is second in our series about the architecture of some Ukrainian universities. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Students have only been studying here for around 50 years. It was originally built for the bishops of the Bukovyna region, which is a historical region divided between Ukraine and Romania, in the Eastern Carpathians. It was built by Czech architect, Josef Hlavka. The construction lasted for 18 years, from 1864-1882.
During World War II, parts of the structure were damaged in a fire. Five and a half million Soviet rubles, which is the equivalent of 10 million euros today, were spent on its restoration.
There is a church in the university called Temple of the Three Saints. During the Soviet times, it was used as an electronic workshop, but the Soviets luckily never destroyed it. The church only resumed its services after Ukraine became independent in 1991.
The university today is a popular attraction for Ukrainian and foreign tourists. People call it the “Ukrainian Hogwarts” after the popular fictional university from the Harry Potter books and movies, but the university has been here before the books were written, or the movies were ever made.
