Bukovina

Bukovina (or Bucovina, in Romanian) is formed by eastern slopes of the Carpathian mountains, a Romanian teritory now splitted between Romania and Ukraine.

This teritory was populated since ancient times by Dacian populations, the ancestors of Romanians. In the 14th century, this region become the heart of the Romanian Principality of Moldova with the city of Suceava being made its capital in 1388.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Painted Monasteries of Moldovita, Putna, Sucevita and Voronet were constructed under the patronage of Stefan cel Mare. With their famous exterior frescoes, these monasteries remain some of the greatest cultural treasures of Romania, today.

In the 18th century, Bukovina fell under the control of the Ottoman Turks, then it was occupied by Russians, in 1769 and then by the Austrians, in 1774 and remained under Austrian administration, while the neighboring province of Transylvania was put under Hungarian rule. In the World War I, several battles were fought in Bukovina between Austrian and Russian troops. Although the Russians were finally driven out in 1917, Austria would lose Bukovina with the war, and the province was reunited with Romania after the Treaty of St. Germain.

On June 28, 1940, northern Bukovina was occupied by Soviet troops. It would change hands again during the course of World War II, Northern half of Bukovina ended in Soviet hands, while the Southern half is now part of Romania.