Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans

Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans
Principal buildings of the Residence
Location	Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast Ukraine
Built	1864–1882
Architect	Josef Hlávka
Architectural style(s)	Eclecticism
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Designated	2011 (35th session)
Reference no.	1330
Country	Ukraine
Region	Europe and North America

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.