CERNĂUTI (CZERNOWITZ). - Mentioned for the first time in 1408 as a modest town situated on the Prut, in southern Galicia (Poland). When, in 1775, this territory was annexed to Austria, C. was declared capital of Bukovina. From this time onward the development of C. began. The only bishop of the Romanian Orthodox rite in the Bukovinian territory, with his see at Rădăuți (Radautz), moved to the new capital; the grand Cathedral was built in 1864 and the episcopal residence in 1875. In 1873 the see was elevated to a metropolitan see for all the Romanian Orthodox of Austria. In 1875 the University was established. In 1918 Bukovina passed under Romania and C. became the capital of a department. In 1928 it had 120,000 inhabitants. After the Second World War it was annexed to the Soviet Republic of Moldavia (Ukraine).
Cernăuți (Chernivtsi)
BIBL.: A. Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern Church, London 1907, p. 323 ff.; R. Kandl, Geschichte von Czernowitz von den ältesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart, Czernowitz 1908.
Cite this article
“CERNĂUTI (CZERNOWITZ).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. III (1949), p. 773. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/cernauti-czernowitz.