Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in the region's higher altitudes. The Poles' lengthy struggle to capture the 'Ukrainian
Robin Hood' Oleska Dovbush suggest it was very little.
Signs of 19th-century Austro-Hungarian culture haven't penetrated deeper than Ivano-
Frankivsk and Chernivtsi. And when the Soviets rolled up after WWII, locals didn't ex-
actly get out the salt and bread. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) survived as guer-
rillas in the Carpathians well into the 1950s, using the mountains as a stronghold from
which to launch attacks on the authorities (the UPA is a controversial entity because of
its probable, but unquantified, role in the extermination of Ukrainian Jews during
WWII). However, even ordinary Carpathian villagers resisted Russian rule.
The Soviets weren't initially keen on the Hutsuls' folklore and pagan traditions, but
came to see their culture as a tourist attraction and largely let them be. However, the Hut-
suls have long been integrated into mainstream western Ukrainian culture. Their arts,
crafts, cuisine and farming lifestyle all survive, but they reserve their traditional dress,
music and dancing for celebrations, ceremonies and other special occasions.
IVANO-FRANKIVSK
0342 / POP 226,100
A closed Soviet city until 1991, I-F is for many just a gateway to the Carpathians and a
popular jumping-off point for the northern peaks. But this once grand city is very much
worth a day of exploration in its own right, and with some decent places to stay and sur-
prisingly sophisticated places to eat, you're not likely to regret an overnight stay either.
I-F is a real mixed bag - the city centre is leafy and flaunts almost central European el-
egance, while the chaotic station strip and third-world market area give visitors a feel for
what Ukraine was like 15 to 20 years ago.
Sights
I-F is somewhere nice to wander through, rather than a place offering lots of individual
things to see. The main pedestrian drag and the single most attractive street is vul Neza-
lezhnosti with rows of renovated neoclassical buildings in differing pastel colours.
Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection
CATHEDRAL
(maydan Sheptytskoho 22)
The city's punctiliously renovated Greek Catholic cathedral is a
fine example of baroque symmetry crafted in the mid-18th century. Huge bronzes of St
