Chernivtsi National University “Yuriy Fedkovych” is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina. It’s also one of the oldest traditional universities in Ukraine. Located in the magnificent building of modern Chernivtsi the complex of the university is built between the years 1864-1882 as the residence of Bukovina metropolitans by the famous Czech architect - Josef Hlavka. The interior work is done by Viennese artists. The building’s style has the dominant motif of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture.
The University was founded as a Franz-Josefs University in 1875 on the basis of the Chernivtsi Higher Theological School. Originally, the main language of instruction was German with separate departments for Ukrainian and Romanian language and literature.
Throughout time, the sinuous evolution of the institution was reflected in its frequent name changes: Franz Josephs University (1875-1918), King Carol I University of Chernivtsi (1919–1940) and Chernivtsi State University after 1940. Since 1989 Chernivtsi National University has been named after a prominent Bukovinian writer Yurij Fedkovych. In 2000 it was given the status of national university.
There are 16 faculties: The Faculty of Geography, The Faculty of Economics, The Faculty of Engineering and Technology, The Faculty of Foreign Languages, The Faculty of History, Political Studies and International Relations, The Faculty of Computer Science, The Faculty of Graphic and Decorative Arts, The Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Work, The Faculty of Applied Mathematics, The Faculty of Physics, The Faculty of Philology, The Faculty of Philosophy and Theology, The Faculty of Biology, Ecology and Biotechnologies, The Faculty of Physical Education and Health, The Faculty of Chemistry, The Faculty of Law and the General University Faculty of Architecture and Construction.
The University has 14 buildings, botanical gardens, zoological and geological museums, a publishing house, a library with over 2.5 million copies. The total area is 110.8 thousand square meters, including training buildings - 66 square meters.
By decision of Session of Council of European University Association, held in Brussels on January 15, 2009, Yuri Fedkovich Chernivtsi National University was granted a full individual membership in European University Association (EUA www.eua.be).
On June 28, in the day of celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO made a fateful decision for the Ukrainian State: to include architectural ensemble of the Residence of the metropolitans of Bukovina and Dalmatia (now Chernivtsi National University “Yuriy Fedkovych”) to the prestigious list of World Heritage - UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Stefan cel Mare University is a modern institution with 50 years of tradition in higher education. In 2005, the University adopted the principles of the Bologna Declaration and of the Magna Charta Universitatum.
The University is located in north-eastern part of Romania, in South Bukovina, a region of scenic beauty with a strong focus on values and cultural tradition.
All 9 faculties of our University provide 3-4-year undergraduate and 2-year master programmes, as well as PhD training in 7 faculties: The Faculty of Food Engineering, The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and Management, The Faculty of History and Geography, The Faculty of Letters and Communication Sciences, The Faculty of Forestry, The Faculty of Economic Sciences and Public Administration.
The main objectives of the Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava are in accordance with the EU policies: to train highly qualified and competent professionals to face global competition, to harmoniously shape the students’ personality, to enhance creativity and encourage improvement, to continuously develop scientific research, to seek for a permanent assessment of scientific performance of the members of the academic community, as well as to constantly improve the educational and scientific research activities with a view to structural, qualitative and economically successful integration within the European area of higher education.
The University has continuously developed since its foundation; at present, Campus I comprises almost 66.000 square metres of teaching facilities, two gymnasiums, a synthetic-grass sports ground provided with a hot-air inflatable rooftop and equipped with a lighting system, Planetarium, as well as a Swimming and Kinetotherapy Complex. The University provides accommodation for over 1000 students in 4 residential facilities of European standards.
A renovated university restaurant of 250 seats, 2 exhibition rooms, a library with 6 reading rooms and all the university buildings equipped with teaching rooms, laboratories with computers and devices necessary for research and study, all these qualify the campus as a place favorable to the development and affirmation of students and teachers. The growing need for updating the current infrastructure due to a consistent increase in the number of students determined the need to design a second campus. The new campus will be built on a surface of nearly 75 acres and will comprise buildings with lecture halls, 4 modern accommodation buildings, nanotechnology and biotechnology research laboratories, a sports arena with 4000 seats, a university restaurant, a dendrological park and a botanical garden, an olympic swimming pool and sport grounds, etc.
Regional Ethnographic Museum contains the largest collection of materials and documents on the history, ethnography and culture of Northern Bukovina.
In Bucovina the first attempt to create a museum was made in 1863 by lovers of antiquity. Only on May 14th, 1893, Regional Museum of Bukovina was inaugurated by the efforts of K.A.Romshtorfer, the researcher-ethnographer of that time, which operated without interruption until the First World War, and subsequently there was opened the Industrial Museum. On the eve of the First World War Regional Museum of Bucovina had a very excellent collection of exhibits, which also included unique objects.
During World War I, and in the 20th of the XXth century the museums in our region ceased their activities and only in December 1935 the former Regional and Industrial Museums were merged into a single museum. Five years later, in 1940, on the basis of these museums there was created Regional Museum of Chernivtsi, which opened its exhibition in the former residence of Bukovina metropolitans, and since 1956 the museum has moved to a former consistory of the Religious Foundation of Bukovina on Kobyljanska str., 28.
All modern exhibits of Regional Museum of Chernivtsi that relate to its heritage have their historical and regional value. A special place belongs to the ethnographic collections and also there are some worthy of attention collections of weapons, old books, icons, pysankas (the Ukrainian Easter eggs) and others.
A considerable part of the saved exhibits is attributed to historic preservation group - nearly 500 units. These are also the most valuable exhibits owned by the museum - manuscripts and old books printed before 1825.
Among other monuments a special attention is deserved by the flag of Chernivtsi city made to 500th anniversary of the first written mention of Chernivtsi, which was very widely celebrated by the residents of Chernivtsi in 1908. Together with the flag there were made five commemorative tapes by the national societies of the region and individual citizens, which nowadays are still exhibited with the flag in the exhibition halls of the museum.
The main part of exhibits which were inherited from the Provincial Museum belongs now to the historic group of preservation - ethnographic items: household items, clothing, tools of XVIII-XIX centuries and samples of Bukovina companies’ products of late XIX - early XX century.
Among the works of decorative arts there are also collected exhibits by the workers of Regional Museum of Bukovina - more than a hundred items. Mainly these are embroidery samples from all over Northern Bukovina, typical to late XIX - early XX century.
It is necessary to highlight the archaeological heritage of Regional Museum of Bukovina. In the amount of 150 subjects almost all of them can be classified as unique.
Among the exhibits that were received from Regional Museum of Bukovina, there are about 70 photos. Old, poor, yellowed by time pictures bring us back to the events that occurred in the region in late XIX - early XX century. Thanks to them we face-to-face meet with representatives of the various ethnic groups that lived in Bukovina, we travel together with them through the streets of this region’s towns and villages.
The County Department for Culture and National Heritage of Suceava was established in 2001 under Government Decision no. 268 of March 2001, as a decentralized county service of the Ministry of Culture.
The main responsibilities of the County Department for Culture and National Heritage relate to the protection and valorisation of the national cultural heritage. Therefore, institution’s experts participate in large scale control action programs on copyright and related rights legislation. The department authorizes the foundation, reorganization or dissolution of public cultural institutions and cultural establishments that operate under County council or local authority. Through the County Department the Ministry of Culture finances programs, projects and cultural activities, supports non-governmental organizations and other legal entity active in the field of culture. The department closely cooperates with the public authorities and specialized institutions for materials development, diversification, modernization and optimization of necessary cultural services for the local communities. This decentralized government public service initiates and supports activities meant to revitalize local traditions and customs, specific traditional occupations, it supports the training of professionals and artisans in handicraft and traditional craftsmanship and it edits or endorses specialized or informational culture and art publications.
In Suceava County this institution fulfils the Ministry of Culture cult’s related duties and ensures, according to the law, the monitoring of the activities within the national priority program for equipping and completion of public cultural establishments’ construction works in rural and small urban areas.
Bukovina Museum of Suceava was established in 1900 under the name of Suceava City Museum. Throughout time, the sinuous evolution of the institution was reflected in its frequent name changes: Suceava City Museum, City Museum, Regional Museum, County Museum (after 1968), Bukovina Museum (after 1990), Bukovina National Museum (after 1994), Bukovina Museum Compound (2002), Bukovina Museum. Currently, the institution has archaeology, history, science, art and memorial sections, a library with over 82,000 volumes and a restoration and the local preservation laboratory. The museum was restructured between 1975 and 1980, when the largest part of the upper floor was altered in order to shelter the History Department. In the actual operational structure of the building specialized spaces are assigned for displaying, storage and research.
Having as a model the phase prior to 1989, when the basic structure of a museum had to clearly illustrate the main features of the historical past, the main exhibition of the History Museum was conceived as an intertwined presentation between local and national history. The Museum, presently, has 27 exhibition rooms.
The museum includes archaeological artefacts from the Palaeolithic to the contemporary age, Dacian finds, artefacts from the archaeological excavations at the Suceava Fortress, pottery collections, lithic and metal artefacts, textiles, coins, documents, rare books, works of art, items illustrating the fields of mineralogy - petrography, palaeontology, botany, malacology, entomology, mammalogy. Exceptional items include: the “throne” from Lipscani (Eneolithic period), the androgynous from Mioveni (dating back to the Eneolithic period), the gold pendant with almandines from Rotopăneşti (the 5th c.), Byzantine gold coins, the gold ring of Prince Bogdan I, clothes uncovered in the tomb of Prince Peter I Muşat (1375 - 1391), courtly robes (the 17th c.), a.s.o.
The weapons collection includes various firearms and weapons dating back to the 18th and 20th centuries. The art collection includes paintings, sculpture, graphics and icons. As for the Memorial collection, it includes Comarnescu Petre, Leca Moraru, Ion Vicoveanu, Ion Negură, Nicolae Labiş houses, the rare books fund and the library. Suceava museum preserves the cultural goods classified in the national cultural heritage.
Bukovina Museum is one of the most important cultural operators in the region, being the only regional museum that has 12 subordinate units and a vast and diverse patrimony.
Bukovina Museum's mission is to preserve and present to the public the history and environmental realities of Bukovina, using as a means of expression the museum’s patrimony and the permanent or temporary exhibitions, with explanatory materials to accompany the exhibits. Also, an ongoing task of the Bukovina Museum is to complete and research this unique heritage and to deliver the information to the public. In order to achieve these objectives the institution owns adequate facilities and specific means of disseminating the research results through various publications.
