Attractions of Poltava region

The Bilsk Hillfort near Kotelva is the largest Scythian settlement in Europe (4 thousand hectares). Scientists identify the Bilsk Hillfort with the legendary city of Helon - the "Scythian capital" described by Herodotus.

The system of defensive ramparts and ditches that surrounded the city, with a total length of about 34 kilometers, is located on the banks of the Vorskla River around the present village of Bilsk. First, the Western and Eastern fortifications were built, then they were connected by a common oval-shaped rampart, which was called the Great Hillfort. In the northern part is the least explored Kuzemyn fortification.

According to one of the versions, it is this Scythian settlement described by the "father of history" Herodotus in the "History of the Greco-Persian Wars" (5th century BC) as the northernmost Greek city of Helon, founded in the Scythian lands by Hellenes who moved from the Black Sea.

To protect the archeological monument, the historical and cultural reserve "Bilsk" was created with the administration in the town of Kotelva (Pokrovska Street, 13), whose employees conduct tours of the ramparts, the Scythian necropolis of Skorobor, Barvinkova Mountain, the Skovoroda Oak and other archaeological and archaeological sites weekends - by prior authorization).

The wooden palisade and the watchtower at the entrance to the settlement are the buildings of the conserved open-air museum "Skifland", which planned to create the charitable foundation "Helon".

The most beautiful building in Poltava, which currently houses the regional office of the SBU, was built at the beginning of the 20th century for the Peasant and Noble Land Bank, which issued long-term loans to peasants for the purchase of noble lands.

Architect Oleksandr Kobelev designed the building, which is now considered one of the best examples of Ukrainian modernism. And the decorations are widely used details of Rus architecture. Multicolored mosaics give a special picturesqueness. The central entrance at the truncated corner of the building is decorated with a decorative mosaic panel with firebirds and siren sculptures.

The Building of Noble and Peasant Bank was damaged during the Second World War, restored in 1948.

The Myrhorod State Ceramic Technical School was founded in 1896 as an art and industrial school named after Mykola Hohol, which graduated masters in the production of pottery, terracotta, majolica, porcelain and earthenware products.

The main body is made in the style of the French Renaissance.

In 1992, the young Kateryna Bilokur, a future famous folk artist, tried to enter the Myrhorod Technical School of Ceramics, but was not accepted due to lack of secondary education.

Currently, it is the Mykola Hohol Art and Industrial College of Myrhorod.

The museum exhibition has existed at the school since its foundation. The exhibition was based on 20 copies of famous sculptures by Falcone, Adamson, Pimenov and others. A unique majolica iconostasis (1902) from Myrhorod Holy Assumption Cathedral is kept here.

The central square of the Poltava is a Round, in the center of which is the Corps Garden with the Glory Monument in honor of the 100th anniversary of the victory over the Swedes near Poltava (1806-1811, architect Zhan-Fransua Toma de Tomon, sculptor Feodosiy Shchedrin). According to legend, Petro I met the defenders of the city at this place.

Administrative buildings were built around the square in 1809-1811: The present places (now - the City Council), the Noble Assembly (now - the Ivan Kotlyarevsky cinema), the House of the Governor-General (now - the Council of Trade Unions), the Malorosiyskyi Post Office (now - the Poltava School of Arts) , Petrivsky Cadet Corps (until recently (Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile School) and others. A modern shopping complex was built in the underground part.

The Round Square in Poltava is a popular place for city dwellers to walk.

The monument of Cossack glory in Poltava was opened in 1994. Dedicated to the Ukrainian Cossacks who died during the Battle of Poltava.

The authors of the project are sculptor Volodymyr Bilous, artist Viktor Baturin.

A huge Cossack cross with the laconic inscription "To Ukrainian fallen Cossacks" is placed on a massive granite base. At the foot of the symbolic mound - two bunchuks.

The Hradyzk roadside fish market spontaneously formed opposite the bus station of the Hradyzk village on the N-08 Kyiv-Dnipro highway thanks to the developed fishing industry in the Kremenchuk Reservoir.

Fresh, dried, dried and smoked Dnipro fish are sold at the Hradyzk market: zander, bream, catfish, pike and others.

The Museum of Heavy Bomber Aviation was established on the territory of Poltava Military Airfield, where the 13th Guards Dnipropetrovsk-Budapest Order of Suvorov Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was based in Soviet times.

It consisted of 18 long-range supersonic Tu-22M3 bombers (Backfire), 6 long-range jet missiles Tu-16 (Badger) and other equipment. After the collapse of the USSR, the division was disbanded. According to the Ukrainian-American Agreement on the Elimination of Strategic Nuclear Weapons, in February 2006 the last TU-22M3 bomber was cut down at the Poltava military airfield.

2 planes were saved for the museum exposition, some more were brought from other cities. In particular, the exposition of the open parking lot of aircraft presents the world's largest strategic bomber TU-160 "White Swan" (according to NATO classification - "Blackjack"). And also the only Tu-95MS aircraft in Ukraine (according to NATO classification - "Bear"). Other exhibits: Tu-22M3, Tu-22, Tu-16, Tu-134UBL, Su-15, An-2 and helicopters: Mi-8 and Mi-2.

In addition, 13 halls in the exhibition hall tell about the history and global significance of heavy bomber aircraft.

The Holy Assumption Cathedral on the Ivanova Mountain is the first stone spore in Poltava.

Promoted in 1751-1770 by the initiatives of Colonel Andriy Horlenok at the wooden church, which, since 1695, stood on Vichevy Maidan of Poltava Fortress.

The temple in the style of the Byzantine basilica was designed by the architect Stefan Stabansky. In 1780, two more domes were added to three domes. In 1900, the cathedral underwent one reconstruction, and as a result, it became spacious and bright. On a door with a height of 44 meters, the wall of the door "Kizi-Kermen" is visible from Turkish garmats, for example, of the XVIII century (now at the Local Lore Museum).

In 1934, the Cathedral was demolished by the Bolsheviks, but the door was miraculously preserved. In 1999-2007, at the initiative of the President of Ukraine, the cathedral was reconstructed and turned into the bulk of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Holy Dormition Cathedral in Myrhorod is the oldest religious building in the city.

It was built in 1887 on the site of a wooden temple founded in 1648 by the Cossack colonel Matviy Hladky. The temple in the style of classicism was painted by students of Viktor Vasnetsov.

The altar part was decorated with a unique ceramic iconostasis made at the Myrhorod School of Arts and Crafts (now the Myrhorod Ceramic Technical College) - its fragment is exhibited in the technical College museum.

During Soviet times, the Dormition Church was closed, and it fell into disrepair over the years.

In 1998, the cathedral was reconstructed, a belfry was built, and bells were installed (their ringing is considered therapeutic). Now the interior is decorated with modern paintings by Volodymyr Tkachenko.

The spectacular Holy Trinity Church in the late Baroque style was built in Dykanka on the site of an old wooden church.

It is located on the shore of a pond near the intersection of Ivana Mazepy Street and Troitska Street.

Construction was carried out in 1780 under the direction of the architect Mykola Lviv at the expense of Pavlo Kochubey of the Poltava Regiment of Bunchuzh. The temple is high, single-domed, with four semi-domes. It has the shape of a cross in plan. The floor was once paved with cast-iron tiles.

Legends closely associate the Trinity Church with the work of Mykola Hohol, who visited it many times. It is believed that this church was painted by the blacksmith Vakula in "The Night before Christmas": "...on the side wall, as you enter the church, Vakula painted a devil in hell, so disgusting that everyone spat when they passed by."

During the Soviet era, the temple was closed and looted, for some time it was used as a warehouse.

In 1993, the Trinity Church was restored and returned to the Orthodox Church.

The Chornukhy Literary and Memorial Museum-Manor of Hryhoriy Skovoroda is located in the homeland of the outstanding Ukrainian philosopher, educator and poet - in the village of Chornukhy in the Poltava region.

The museum complex includes the museum of Hryhoriy Skovoroda, the "Garden of Divine Songs" and the memorial estate of Hryhoriy Skovoroda's parents - the small-landed Cossack Savva Skovoroda and his wife Pelaheya. In 1722, their son Hryhoriy was born here - a future poet, philosopher and educator. In 1734, he left Chornukh to study at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, from where he went to St. Petersburg, and then on a long journey through European countries. He returned to his homeland in 1750, but did not find his parents alive.

In the center of the manor is a hut under a thatched roof, where items of rural life of the 18th-19th centuries are presented. A large exposition is devoted to the life and work of the philosopher.

The Literary and Memorial Museum of Ivan Kotlyarevsky was created in Poltava in 1969 based on the estate of the outstanding writer, recreated according to a drawing by Taras Shevchenko, made from nature in 1845. There is a house, a barn and a well-crane, which are immersed in the green garden.

Kotlyarevsky lived in Poltava most of his life. He studied at the Poltava Theological Seminary, later was the director of the Poltava Theater, and was even a member of the Poltava Masonic Lodge.

In his Poltava house, the classic of Ukrainian literature created most of his works, including the famous "Aeneid".

Details of the old building have been installed in the house restored to the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth. Inside, the atmosphere of the XIX century is very authentically recreated. Here are stored personal belongings of the writer, awards, manuscript pages of his works, the first editions of books.

A monument to Hetman of Ukraine Ivan Mazepa was erected in Poltava in 2016 in front of the Assumption Cathedral, built at his expense.

This is the first full-length monument to Mazepa (busts were previously installed in Mazepintsy and Chernihiv). The 3.2-meter-high bronze sculpture was made by the sculptor Mykola Bilyk back in 2009, but the opening of the monument was preceded by a long public debate about its expediency, since Russian and Soviet propaganda for a long time formed a negative image of the hetman, who sought to remove Ukraine from the political influence of Muscovy.

A key episode of the Northern War of 1709 is connected with Poltava, when the troops of the Moscow Tsar Peter I defeated the army of the Swedish King Charles XII and his ally Ivan Mazepa. This event is immortalized by many monuments in the city, but almost all of them are dedicated to Russians and Swedes.

Funds for the installation of a monument to the Ukrainian hetman were collected by the public.

Ivanova Hill (Ivanova Hora) is the historical core of Poltava, the best scenic spot in the city. More than 11 centuries ago, the historic city of Ltava stood here on a high hill above the Vorskla River.

Later, an earthen Poltava fortress was built, which in the 18th century held back the advance of the Swedes for three months, until the army of Petro I approached. The wooden Podil tower (one of 15) was reconstructed, next to which it is planned to restore the Sentinel bastion of the Poltava fortress.

The panorama of the Vorskla Valley with the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery on the nearby hill opens from the White Arbor.

In 2006, a monument to the Poltava halushka, celebrated by writers, was erected near the Ivan Kotlyarevskyi museum and the Lileya restaurant.

The house of Krychevsky-Lebishchak in Opishnia is the premises of the former Opishnia Pottery Demonstration Point of the Poltava Provincial Zemstvo (Zemsky Pottery School).

It was built in 1916 in the style of Ukrainian Art Nouveau according to the project of the outstanding architect and painter Vasyl Krychevskyi, the author of the Ukrainian Trident, with the participation of Yuriy Lebishchak, an instructor of pottery production, technologist-ceramist from Galicia.

For many years, the Krychevsky-Lebischak House was the center of pottery life in Opishnia. In 1925, the Opishnia Ceramics Industrial School was opened here, in 1929, the "Art Ceramics" potter's workshop was formed, then the Opishnia School of Art Ceramics Masters, then shop No. 1 of the Opishnia Factory "Art Ceramics" operated.

Since 1986, the building has been owned by the National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnia. The Wall of Pottery Glory of Ukraine and the Krychevsky Art Family Museum are open. There are exhibitions: "Pottery Visions of the Country", "Modern Ceramics of Ukraine, "Ceramics of the Opishnia Art Nouveau", etc. An exhibition of the works of the Krychevsky family has been opened.