Town Hall, Kitsman

Thetown hall in Kitsman is the main architectural landmark of the small town in Chernivtsi region. It is located in the central part of the city and for many years now only the local government of Kitsman has been located here.

The maximum development of the city occurred during the reign of the Austrian Empire, so a large number of buildings of the 19th - early 20th century prevail in Kitsman. In most cases, they are for administrative purposes.

The town hall was built in 1890. This is a small one-story building, its main decoration is a balcony that can be seen on a low tower. The facade of the building is painted white, and the city's coat of arms can be seen on it.

The Town Hall in Kitsman can be reached by both private and public transport. The town is located 25 km northwest of Chernivtsi. Suburban trains and buses regularly depart from the regional center. The town hall is located in the central part of the city, and the city council, which nowadays works within the walls of the building, will become a landmark for tourists.

You can also visit the Kitzmans Museum of History and Local Lore, which is located on the same street as the town hall. The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00, Sunday and Monday are days off.

The earliest written mention of Kitsman dates back to 1413. This settlement is mentioned in a charter of the Moldovan lord Alexander the Good dated June 6, 1413, according to which he grants "the great Kotsman with all its settlements" to his mother-in-law Anastasia. This charter makes it clear that Kotsman was already a significant settlement. Its development was facilitated by its location at the crossroads connecting the valleys of the Dniester and Prut. In the Middle Ages, Kitsman belonged to the bishop and other major feudal lords. In 1798 it became a town, and eventually the center of the county. In the second half of the eighteenth century, trade and crafts began to develop in the city. The future city gained special development during the transfer of Bukovyna lands to the Austrian Empire in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The impetus for the economic rise of the settlement was the opening of a fair in 1788, which became one of the largest in Bukovyna and was known far beyond its borders. In 1780, the first elementary school in Bukovyna was opened in Kitsman. According to the charter of the Austrian Emperor Franz II of July 31, 1798, Kitsman received the status of a fair city. Kitsman has officially been a city since 1902. In the same year, the first youth sports and firefighting society in Bukovyna, the Sich, was formed in the city, which later grew into the Sich Union in Bukovyna.

Historians assume that the name Kitsman comes from the Bukovynian word "kots" - a rug - because carpet makers lived here. Another version of the name's origin tells of a man who made baskets from vines (willow), his surname was Kotzmen.

The Austrian era left a significant mark on the city's architecture. A significant number of buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mostly administrative, have been preserved in the center of Kotzman.

Still worth a visit:

• Monument to Volodymyr Ivasyuk;
• the former post office (now a branch of the regional museum of local lore);
• the building of the former town hall with a balcony on a small tower and the city coat of arms (now the city council);
• the former magistrate's office (now a house of folk art and leisure);
• the building of the former county administration (nowadays the police department and the district court);
• the building of the district court (modern boarding school);
• a gymnasium and a two-year agricultural school (now a technical school);
• St. Nicholas Church (1876);
• Church of Our Lady Queen (1826, 1906);
• District Historical Museum (a branch of the Chernivtsi Regional Museum of Local Lore).
• The building of the railway station.