Chernivtsi Moving toward UNESCO

The idea of adding the historic center of Chernivtsi to the UNESCO World Heritage List is not a recent one, and the international conference entitled “Preserving and Using Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage: Chernivtsi on Its Way to UNESCO” has confirmed that this is indeed a realistic prospect. Attending the conference were scholars and experts from Austria, Sweden, Moldova, Russia, in addition to Ukrainian scholars from Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Lviv, and the Crimea. The main topic of the meeting, which took place at Chernivtsi National University, was the conditions governing how Chernivtsi will be able to occupy an honorable place in the world list of cultural heritage. The city’s special features were emphasized: primarily its multinational and multicultural nature, tolerance, variety of architectural styles, and the open-mindedness of its residents. These are the very features that have attracted the interest of the international community and which are enabling Chernivtsi to lay claim to obtaining recognition and new prospects for development, along with imposing the duty to preserve its architectural and historical heritage. However, all invested efforts and funds will ultimately be justified, for the capital of Bukovyna has a chance of becoming Ukraine’s third representative in the World Heritage List, together with Kyiv’s Pecherska Lavra and Lviv’s historic center, reports Natalia ZHYTARIUK from Chernivtsi.