The Hutsul land

The Hutsul land is one of the most attractive regions of Ukraine. According to Ivan Franko, it was “a blessed part of our lands”.

Territory of Hutsul land

Hutsuls are mountain people. They inhabit the valleys of rivers and streams on both sides of the Carpathian Mountains, the upper flows of the Bystrytsia Nadvirnianska (the village of Pystyn), the Rybnytsia (the town of Kosiv), the Cheremosh (the towns of Kuty and Vyzhnytsia), the Seret (the town of Berehomet), the Putylivka and the Suchava (on the territory of Romania). In the north their settlements extend as far as the Chyvchyny range and the Rakhiv mountains. In the west, they stretch away along the River Mala Shopurka as far as Mount Syvulia and the Upper Limnytsia. Ac­cording to the contemporary administrative-terri­torial divisions, the Hutsul land (Hutsulshchyna) covers the moun­tainous parts of Kolomyia and Kosiv districts, as well as the main part of Nadvirna and the whole Verkhovyna district. In the Chernivtsi region it occu­pies the southern parts of Vyzhnytsia and Putyla districts, in Transcarpathia – Rakhiv district, and in Romania – the north-western part of Maramuresh district.

The origin of Hutsuls

The origin of the term “Hutsuls” has not been re­searched yet. In the last century the ethnographers traced the origin of the term “Hutsuls” back to the word “to roam”. Others connected its origin with the name of the Turkic tribe “Uzy”, with the word “horul” (i.e. a mountain dweller), or with the Volscian word “hotul” that means “a brigand”. The last hypothesis concerning the origin of this name is that it is derived from the personal name ‘Hutsul’. Hutsuls are notable for their local dialect, which is most prominently displayed in its phonetic system, as well as in rich everyday vocabulary.

Economy

Cattle breeding, sheep raising on pastures in particular, plays the most important part in the economy of the region. Hutsuls are excellent car­penters, joiners and coopers. Until quite recently they floated logs along mountain rivers bravely maneuvering out of rocky rapids down to low­lands.

Hutsuls are unsurpassed masters of wood carving, pottery, artistic weaving, carpet-making, egg-painting and other kinds of arts and crafts. Their handmade products are famous for the high quality artistic craftsmanship, great originality of forms and the rich diversity of ornaments, as well as vivid imagination. Therefore, they are known far beyond the borders of our country. Salt produc­tion used to be a major trade in the Hutsul land. Weaving, furriery, carpet-making, pottery, carving, etc. should be mentioned among local crafts.

Traditions

Traditional Hutsul costumes are notable for their simple rectangular designs. Clothes are embellished with embroidery, weaving, plaiting made of sheep’s wool and leather, as well as met­al adornments. The archaic elements dating from the times of Kyyivan Rus have been preserved in some clothing components.

Explore the land of Hutsuls in one of our tours.