Verkhovyna

Verkhovyna sits on the Black Cheremosh at the centre of the Hutsul highlands and is where the surrounding valleys come to trade. It is a working town rather than a resort, with a market, a museum of Hutsul life and a strong living tradition of music: the trembita horn, the fiddle and the tsymbaly are still played here, and festivals through the summer bring players in from the valleys. It is the road base for Pip Ivan and the Chornohora.

Background

Verkhovyna, whose name means highland place, was called Zhabie until it was renamed in 1962. The first written mention dates from 1424, when a deed of Grand Duke Švitrigaila named the settlement on August 17. Nobody knows for certain where the old name came from; one version links it to the swamp where the first settlers lived, another to a first inhabitant called Jabie. The settlement lies at 619 metres in the Pokuttia part of the Hutsul Carpathians, on the Cheremosh, a tributary of the Prut. It covers 51.80 square kilometres and had an estimated 5,773 people in 2022. Roman Kumlyk founded the town's Museum of Musical Instruments and Hutsuls Lifestyle.

Source: Wikipedia, "Verkhovyna"

What you'll find

• The Hutsul music - trembita, fiddle and tsymbaly played at festivals and gatherings.
• The market - the trading centre for the surrounding mountain valleys.
• The museum - Hutsul dress, tools and domestic life in the town.
• The Cheremosh - the river running through the town between steep slopes.

When to go

May to October is the season and summer brings the festivals. Winter is cold and the mountain roads difficult. Market days are the liveliest.

Practical notes

The town itself is plain and the interest is the surrounding culture rather than the buildings. Accommodation is guesthouse level. Roads in from any direction are slow.

Nearby

Kryvorivnia is down the valley, and Dzembronia is the trailhead for Pip Ivan.

Key facts