Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans

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Description

The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans in Chernivtsi, Ukraine was built between the years 1864 - 1882 to the designs of the Czech architect, Josef Hlávka. The Residence, whose buildings are now part of Chernivtsi University, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. In 1782, following the incorporation of Bukovina into the Habsburg Monarchy, the seat of the Moldavian Eastern Orthodox Bishops of Rădăuți was moved to Chernivtsi (then known as Czernowitz). The province's military administration built a residence in haste for bishop Dositei Herescu. The edifice, completed in 1783, bore a shabby aspect, divided as it was into small, low rooms, with a little chapel that had a brick floor. Due to fungal growth caused by humidity, part of the building collapsed in 1790 and the rest was demolished. Thus, Herescu and his successors Daniil Vlahovici, Isaia Baloșescu and, for a time, Eugenie Hacman, were obliged to move around rented rooms. In 1851-1852, Hacman sent a series of reports to the administration in Lviv, complaining that this situation was undignified. In 1860, the Religious Affairs Ministry issued a decree announcing a contest to select an architect for a new episcopal residence. The Czech architect Josef Hlávka was selected to develop the project.

In preparing his designs, Hlávka researched the building traditions of the region, and published an article, "Buildings of the Eastern Greek Church in Bukovina", in the Austrian Review in 1866. Hlávka's proposals for the complex included not only the bishop's palace but also administrative offices, meeting halls, a library, a choir school, a museum of church art and a chapel. The resulting work combines Byzantine and Moorish style, with the Alhambra as one inspiration.

Construction commenced in 1864 but was subjected to substantial delays due to technical problems, the illness of Hlávka from 1872 onwards, and to disagreements between Hlávka and the local administration, which led to Hlávka's resignation. The incompetence of Hlávka's successor, Feliks Ksiezarski, further delayed progress. The building and churches were consecrated in the winter of 1882/3

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