In 1782, following the incorporation of Bukovina into the Habsburg monarchy, the seat of the Moldavian Eastern Orthodox Bishops of Rădăuți was moved to Chernivtsi (then known as Czernowitz).

The edifice, completed in 1783, bore a shabby aspect, divided as it was into small, low rooms, with a little chapel that had a brick floor.

Thus, Herescu and his successors Daniil Vlahovici, Isaia Baloșescu and, for a time, Eugenie Hacman, were obliged to move around rented rooms.

[4] Hlávka's proposals for the complex included not only the bishop's palace but also administrative offices, meeting halls, a library, a choir school, a museum of church art and a chapel.

[17] The clock tower of this building is decorated with Stars of David as a tribute to the Jewish community of Czernowitz which contributed to the construction of the complex.

[20] The buildings originally hosted a substantial theological faculty which continued to function as such when Czernowitz became, after the end of World War I, part of Romania under the name of Cernăuți.

[23] After the war, when the region came under Soviet control, the theological faculty was closed down; when the buildings began to be restored in 1955, they were transferred to the town's university.

Extensive restoration was carried out from 2004 onwards, resulting eventually in the ensemble being inscribed by UNESCO in its list of World Heritage Sites on 28 June 2011.