Ropcha

Ropcha is a village in Ukraine, in the Storozhynets district of the Chernivtsi region. The village of Ropcha is located between the two banks of the Siret River, 7 km from the town of Storozhynets and 30 km from the regional center. The Chernivtsi-Berehomet railroad and the Storozhynets-Hlyboka highway pass through Ropcha.

According to one of the legends, the territory of the present-day village was covered with forests, in which continuous felling occurred where people settled. The name of the village originated from the word "felling". According to another version, the territory of the village was acquired by brothers Kostiantyn and Vasyl, surnamed Rop Chan. It is not known which one is correct, so both have the right to exist.

The written mention of the village of Ropcha dates back to February 18, 1448, by the ruler of Moldova Radu, grandson of Alexander the Good. The village is mentioned as Rubce. In January 1775, due to the neutral relations it had during the military conflict between Russia and Turkey (1768-1774), the (Austria today) territory of the Habsburg Empire was known as Bukovina. After the annexation of Bukovyna to the Habsburg Empire in 1775, the settlement was part of the Duchy of Bukovyna governed by the Austrian part of the Storozhynets district (German Storozynetz).

In July 1886, a railway line to the village was built with the money of Baron Vasylko from Berehomet, a village deputy who lived in Vienna. In 1897, two schools with four classes were opened in Ropcha. After the unification of Bukovyna with Romania on November 28, 1918, the village of Ropcha was part of Romania, in the county of Flondoreni, Storozhynets district.

On the territory of the village there was a collective farm "Rodina", established in 1945. The farm's production area is livestock. Flax, sugar beets, winter wheat, corn, and potatoes are grown. The farm has 2255 hectares of agricultural land. The artel has its own power plant.

In the postwar years, the residents built 160 residential buildings, opened 4 shops, a post office, a savings bank, a collective farm canteen, a bathhouse, a paramedic and obstetric station, a maternity hospital, 4 schools (2 primary, one secondary and an auxiliary boarding school), and 2 clubs. The party organization was established in 1946, the Komsomol organization - in 1948.

In 1967, the hall of the community center was renovated, it became more spacious and had a larger stage. Since 1991, the village of Ropcha has been a part of the Storozhynets raion, Chernivtsi oblast in independent Ukraine. There are 1227 households in the village. Ropcha village includes 12 hamlets: Ursulyanava, Hlybochok, Levytskyi, Holub, Serben, Hlyniak, Humaria, Kostyna, Puliban, Slobozia, Bahna Odyn and Bahna Dva.

Religious buildings

• On the territory of the village there are 2 Orthodox churches, a prayer house for people of the evangelical faith, 10 chapels.
• A significant asset of the village is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which, according to some sources, was built on the territory of the village in 1684.
• An important architectural object is the bell tower, built in the XVII - XIX centuries.
• In the center of the village, near the House of Culture, there is a monument to the repressed, which immortalizes the names of villagers repressed by the Stalinist regime.
• In the old cemetery there is a grave of Hizheu Boleslav, a writer, ethnographer, folklorist, and translator.
• You can learn about the village's past in the village museums located in the premises of the House of Culture and the educational institution.

There are three historical monuments in the village:

• The grave of the famous nineteenth-century cultural figure Boleslav Hashdeu, a relative of Hashdeu's Bohdan Petrycheiku.
• the grave of university professor, Doctor of Law Ivan Lungulyak,
• a monument to the victims of Stalin's repressions and the repressed.
• Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1684.