Residence of the Metropolitans of Chernivtsi

Josef Hlávka, the famous Czech architect and the first president of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, built more than a hundred different buildings. However, his masterpiece is believed to be the complex that Hlávka designed at 29 years of age. It is the Residence of the Metropolitans in Chernivtsi.

It took almost 20 years to build, from 1864 to 1882. In the process, local materials were used, for which Hlávka visited all the neighboring areas. It also resulted in two brick factories and one ceramic factory, as well as a construction school, being put into operation in Chernivtsi itself. Almost every brick was checked – at the territory's entrance a special ramp was built from which the bricks were dropped to the ground, and if any cracks appeared on even a single one, the whole batch was rejected. It was worth it – in the 20th century, two powerful earthquakes occurred here at once, but the residence was not damaged.