Bila Krynytsia, Chernivtsi Oblast

For the village in Edineţ district, see Parcova.

Bila Krynytsya (Ukrainian: Біла Криниця, Belaya Krinitsa Russian: Белая Криница, Romanian: Fântâna Albă) is a village in the Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the Hlybotsky Raion (district), on the Ukrainian-Romanian border, in the historic region of Bukovina (Ukrainian: Буковина). The international border runs just a few hundred metres south of the village. It means "White Well" in Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian.

The recent estimated population is 169 (as of 2006) and is made up almost entirely of Lipovans.

History

Bila Krynytsya was founded in 1784 AD.

The First Hierarch of the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy of the Orthodox Old-Rite Church nominally had the seat of his ecclesiastical See in Bila Krynytsya until 1940 (due to the Soviet occupation of Northern Bukovina), when it moved to Brăila from two reasons: first, the fear of persecution by the Communists and secondly: it was the only Lipovan village in Northern Bukovina, all the other subordonated vicariates are located in Southern Bukovina, Western Moldavia, Eastern Wallachia and Dobruja. Those territories remained in Romania.

In 1941, it was the site of the Fântâna Albă massacre.

Further reading

• Short text on Bila Krynytsya published as hidden europe e-news, No. 2006/20 (August 2006)

External links

• Fântâna Albă history articles (Romanian)