Kosiv

Kosiv ceramics are made from local clay, coated white, drawn on with a sharp tool and then coloured in green, yellow and brown before a single firing, which gives the glaze its particular depth and the pieces their crowded figurative decoration of birds, animals, churches and daily life. UNESCO inscribed the tradition on the Representative List in 2019. The town has made them since the eighteenth century, there is a school teaching the technique, and the Saturday market is the biggest craft market in the Hutsul region.

What you actually see

• The painted ceramics - green, yellow and brown decoration on white slip, UNESCO-recognised.
• The Saturday market - the largest craft market in the Hutsul highlands.
• The workshops - potters working the technique in the town and nearby villages.
• The craft school - the institution that keeps the method being taught.

When to go

May to October is the comfortable season. Saturday is market day and by far the best day to come. Workshops keep weekday hours and are best arranged ahead.

Honest expectations

Much of what is sold in the market is factory-made and not Kosiv ware; buying from a workshop is the way to be sure. The town itself is plain. Prices for genuine pieces are high.

Nearby

Kolomyia is northeast, and Kryvorivnia is southwest up the valley.