Tourism objects and development of Armenian ethnographic excursion route in polyethnic Chernivtsi

Abstract

Retrospective-chorological specificities of the appearance of Armenian ethnic element on the territory of Bukovyna and the City of Chernivtsi were disclosed. Population dynamics within the Armenian ethnic community of Chernivtsi based on the censuses held within 1774 – 2001 and said community’s participation in economic, public and political life of the city, as well as in cultural and educational activity were analyzed. Armenians for the first time appeared in Bukovyna as far back as in times of the Kiev Rus and the Principality of Galicia and Volyn as international traders. The first Armenian settlers lived in Chernivtsi beginning from the «pre-Austrian» time, and their community was always compact usually covering areas around and praying in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross that had the Armenian St George’s Altar until they built their own cathedral. It was in 1783 that the Armenian catholic religious community for the first time appeared in Chernivtsi. The first Armenian residents of Chernivtsi were predominantly engaged in trade, or were doctors, engineers, landowners, manufacturers and highly ranked state officers. With time, the houses of the Chernivtsi Armenians concentrated in a new «Armenian block», that is, in the area of present-day Armenian Street, Jacob von Petrovich Street, Ukrainian Street and the Armenian Lane. The block had the Armenian Catholic Church built in its center in 1869-1875 to become a focus of the spiritual life of Bukovynian Armenians, and later the center was added by the parochial house and the Armenian bursa for school goers. The Register of Objects of Cultural Heritage and the Present of Armenian Community of Chernivtsi was developed and the point-based assessment of their tourism attractiveness was introduced. The quantitative relative assessment of tourism attractiveness of 26 objects of cultural heritage totally made 78 points, while the mapping of the same allowed for disclosure of specificities of their territorial disposition and development of optimal Armenian excursion route. Following the significance, spatial distribution and territorial structure, we distinguished between localized (items and centers), linear and spatial elements of the Armenian ethnographic space. The items are represented by tourism objects of aesthetic, scientific and historical value, e.g., buildings where outstanding persons either lived, studied or worked; Roman Catholic Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross with the Armenian St George’s Altar; social maintenance establishments (former Armenian bursa); monuments (Jacob von Petrovich) and the sites of memory. The centers are tourism objects of Armenian culture represented by functioning institutions and establishments, such as Armenian Church, Sunday school, national/cultural associations. The linear elements are the city streets (Armenian Street, personalized Jacob von Petrovich Street and Karol Mikuli Street), and the spatial (area) elements are conditioned by the fact of ethnic groups’ compact settlement. The hugest concentration of the Armenian ethnic tourism objects is found in the area around the Armenian Church (13 objects possessing 33 points of total attractiveness). Keywords: Armenian ethnic community; cultural heritage; ethno-tourism objects; excursion route; city of Chernivtsi.