Chernivtsi

The first document that refers to this city dates back to 1408, when Chernivtsi was a town in the region of Moldavia. Initially a defensive fortification, it became the center of Bukovina in 1488. In 1538, the Principality of Moldavia came under Polish suzerainty. Later it came under the rule of Ottoman Empire, formally remaining under Moldavian control until 1774, when Austria took control of Bukovina in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War. Until 1848 Chernivtsi (known at that time as Czernowitz) was the center of Galicia's Bukovina District, and afterwards served as the capital of the Duchy of Bukovina. In the aftermath of World War I, Romania united with Bukovina in 1918, which led to the city regaining its Romanian name of Cernăuți; this lasted until the Soviets occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.