The Carpathians - Ukraine - page 254

Sitting pretty in a river valley, tiny Kosiv is synonymous with serious, high-quality Hut-
sul crafts. They're sold at its well-known craft market ( 8am-11am Thu, 6am-noon Sat)
and produced in the surrounding hills as well as at the Kosiv State Institute of Decorat-
ive & Applied Arts ( 212 60; vul Mitskevycha 2) . The latter also has a small mu-
seum ( 9am-5pm Mon-Fri Sep-Jun) , but for a much wider overview of the Hut-
suls' artistic skills head for the Museum of Hutsul Folk Art & Life (vul Nezalezhnosti 55,
1st fl; admission 10uah; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) , which, despite being desperately underfun-
ded, maintains a well-presented display of beautiful 19th- and 20th-century ceramics,
carpets, inlaid boxes and embossed leather.
Kosiv is a minor Hassidic pilgrimage destination, though almost all the town's Jews
were murdered by the Nazis on the Miska Hora (Town Mountain), a hill rising above the
town. One side of the hill is peppered with the toppled graves of the former Jewish
cemetery . Ask locals living around the hill to show you, as the graves are hard to find.
If you want to be here early for the crafts market - and the best buys do go in the first
few hours - you could stay at the perfectly comfortable Hotel Kosiv (

229 47; vul Neza-

lezhnosti 65A; d from 200uah) , which has its own cafe.
Kosiv is linked by bus with Kolomyya (15uah, one hour, at least hourly), Chernivtsi
(35uah to 60uah, three hours, eight daily) and Kyiv (230uah, 12 hours, three daily).

THE HUTSULS

Fiercely independent and individualistic, the Carpathian-dwelling Hutsuls are a
mainstay of Ukrainian national identity. They were first identified as a separate eth-
nic group at the end of the 18th century. According to some accounts, the 'Hutsul'
encompass several tribes - including Boiki, Lemi and Pokuttian - so who and what
they are is open to some interpretation.
Ethnographers describe Hutsul life as dominated by herding sheep from high
mountain pastures (polonyny)to lowland fields, with a little agriculture and
forestry thrown in. They point to a dialect incomprehensible to other Ukrainians, a
canon of pre-Christian, pagan legends and a diet based on mountain ingredients,
including mushrooms, berries, brynza(a crumbly cow- or goat-milk cheese tasting
like feta) and corn-based mamalyha(like polenta).
Wooden architecture, particularly churches, and a host of handicrafts, from dec-
orated ceramics and embroidered shirts to woollen rugs and embossed leather,
are also totems of Hutsul culture.
But whereas a traditional Hutsul would dress colourfully, carry an ornate toporet
(hatchet) and play the trembita(a long alpine horn), most modern Hutsuls don't