Holy Spirit Cathedral, Chernivtsi
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An Orthodox cathedral of 1844–1864, 46 m high, with paintings of 1892–1896.
The cornerstone of the cathedral was laid in July 1844, and the church was consecrated on 4 July 1864; it was built at the expense of the Bukovyna Religious Fund in the late classicist style. According to “Molodyi Bukovynets”, the author of the main design is unknown: until 1860 construction was led by Anton Röll, and after the consecration Josef Hlavka rebuilt the facade and replaced the towers. The same newspaper mentions the myth that a design for St Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg served as its basis; the church is 46 m high including its great dome. In 1892–1896 the interior was painted by craftsmen under the direction of Professor Karl Jobst. After the Soviet occupation of Bukovyna the cathedral was closed; from 1976 the building was an exhibition hall and the iconostasis was lost; in 1989 the church was returned to the Orthodox community. On 26 February 2025 the parish was re-registered to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU); in 2026 a commercial court ordered the UOC (MP) community to hand over the cathedral, but on 10 September 2026 representatives of the OCU were not let in.
A working cathedral: during services — silence and respect for the community. On 10.09.2026 a state enforcement officer arrived with the police to enforce the court ruling on handing the cathedral over to the OCU community, but the transfer of possession was obstructed and the central gates were locked (Molodyi Bukovynets, 10.09.2026); when the handover will be completed is unknown (Relihiina Pravda, 11.09.2026). Check the news before your visit: access inside may be restricted.