Travel Guide Rakhiv (Рахів)

17 000 inhabitants. Nicknamed the Paris of the Houtsoules, the pretty Rakhiv is located in the centre of the Transcarpatie and is surrounded by six summits, the highest of which is Mount Hoverla. If in Soviet times it was one of the most frequented ski resorts in the region, today it is known to be the entrance to the National natural park of the Carpathian Mountains, the favourite rendez-vous of hikers and mountain bike enthusiasts who are here from May to October. Beautiful two-storey houses, small wooden churches, the river Tysa which cuts the city in two and a typical rural setting makes Rakhiv a charming village where it is good to walk on the summer evenings. Founded in 1447, the history of Rakhiv has always been linked to its status as a border city. Here was the Polish-Hungarian, then Polish-Czechoslovak, and now Ukrainian-Romanian border. Smugglers and oprishky bands, insurgents against the feudal regime, have always inhabited these lands. But Rakhiv was and above all is the centre of houtsoule culture. On 5 January 1919, in the village of Yasine, a few kilometres from Rakhiv, was proclaimed the independent Houtsoule republic, guided by Stepan Klochurak, which resisted until 11 June 1919 when it was wound up by the Romanian army. Every year, at the beginning of September, in Rakhiv, the Festival de la Brynza is a cheese produced by the Houtsoules and very popular. According to tradition, only men can prepare this cheese.