The Central square of Chernivtsi

 The Central square of Chernivtsi in the past was called the Market square or Ringplatz. The square is really Central, and all the main streets of the city proceed from here like the rays almost in all directions: the Holovna St., I. Franko St., Russkaya St., Olha Kobylianska St. History of the creation of the Central square of Chernivtsi is rather interesting: in 1786 during his visit to Chernivtsi Austrian king Josef II offered to create on the outskirts of town the spacious area for the fairs. And every day this area could act as on ordinary market. The city government was slowly redeeming the land plots from the citizens, and was building up a square. Then the square took the name of Ringplatz, and in the beginning of 19th century the square got the status of the main in the city.

In the 40s of the 19th century on the square there was built a town hall, which now has a height of 50 meters. The town hall has become a real decoration of the city. In the Austrian period many houses the Central square were working as hotels and restaurants. Hotel "Under the Black Eagle" was the most famous in Chernivtsi. Now the building of former hotel holds the main building of the trade and economic Institute. Opposite the former hotel «Under the Black Eagle» there was another hotel called «Golden lion». Now this house contains from different shops.
Opposite the city hall, there is a monument to Taras Shevchenko, behind him there is a fountain. The wall behind the fountain is decorated with a large banner, dedicated to the the 600th anniversary of Chernivtsi, which depicts the old card, and also a fragment of the sheet with the first written mention of Chernivtsi. Near the monument to the Ukrainian poet quite people often go for different campaigns of meetings. The first spherical panorama of the Central square was made on 5 may 2011. In this day of national conscious citizens of Chernivtsi came to the monument of Shevchenko dressed in vyshivankas, and this event was mentioned in the Book of Records of Ukraine.
To the right of the town hall of Chernivtsi is the building of the Art Museum. The building itself has artistic value, because its design masterfully combines sculpture, painting, stucco moldings, stained glass windows and even artistic metal. The facade of the building still adorns the fresco images of the provinces of Austrian Empire. On the left from the city hall there is a structure of pink color with the inscription «Belle Vue» - the French phrase that means "a beautiful street". From the Central square originates the Street of Olha Kobylianska (in the Austrian period it was called the Panska Street). Some time ago in the beginning of the street there was elite coffee house called «Habsburg». On weekends the street is always crowded, and there are many cafes there, cinema, museum, art salon. The whole street comprises of beautiful buildings built in the Austrian period. On the street Kobylianska there are the German house, the Polish house, the Cathedral of the Holy spirit, i.e. the East facade of it, Chernivtsi registry office, loads of cafes and restaurants as well as «Wiener cafe» and «Pizza-Park», a music school №1, №2 school of music, a branch of the NBU of Ukraine, the Economic court of the Chernivtsi region.