Poltava. Young and wonderful. A walk with a review of the landmarks

The convenient location of Poltava, surrounded by seven brothers — the capital and regional centres — allows one to broaden the geography of travel and reach the city on the Vorskla in 3-4 hours from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Cherkasy, Kropyvnytskyi. A weekend in one of the oldest cities of Ukraine, with a thousand-year history, to admire the panorama of the city from Ivanova Hora, to taste the famous Poltava halushky and to see the other notable landmarks of the cultural centre of our country — this is interesting, convenient, tasty and instructive.

Poltava. Cathedral Square

In the city there are two railway stations, located on opposite sides of the historical and architectural zone. If the walk begins from Poltava-Kyivska or the Poltava-3 bus station, then one should move in a south-easterly direction.

The railway station of Poltava-Kyivska

The station is surrounded by industrial enterprises and production sites. The Poltava distillery was founded in 1885 and is famous for its quality alcohol, with which guests of the Sorochyntsi Fair have been treated since ancient times.

The Poltava distillery

One of the city's old thoroughfares — Sobornosti Street — was in the 18th century the only paved one, for which it received the name Mostova. From Zyhin Square to Korpusnyi Row is the development of the post-war period.

Sobornosti Street, 63. The Poltava regional directorate of Oshchadbank

Sobornosti Street, 57. The "Aleia Grand" hotel

The kilometre-long chestnut avenue, laid out in 1913 and renewed in 2002, is one of Poltava's numerous green oases.

Sobornosti Street. The chestnut avenue

The hands on the dials of the street clocks demonstrated discord and inactivity.

Sobornosti Street. Street clock

In the most sumptuous building, constructed for the Peasants' Bank in 1909, the regional directorate of the SBU is housed. Multicoloured mosaic panels and sculptures of sirens adorn the workplace of the state-security law-enforcers.

Sobornosti Street, 39. The former Nobles' and Peasants' Bank. Currently — the SBU

In the very heart of Poltava, Sobornosti Street passes into a ring 350 metres in diameter, the centre of which is crowned by the Monument of Glory, erected in 1811 in honour of the victory over the Swedes.

Round Square. The Monument of Glory

Round Square is broken up by radial avenues that pass, beyond the edge of the ring, like sunrays, into the six main streets of the historic centre. Each sector is coloured with flower beds, trees and shrubs of 50 kinds.

Round Square. Korpusnyi Garden

The ring is framed by 8 buildings with columns, built at the beginning of the 19th century.

Sobornosti Street, 35. The House of Civic Assemblies, 1809. Junior Academy of Arts

Sobornosti Street, 33. The Communications House. Central Post Office

Sobornosti Street, 38. The former Governor's House. 1806-1811

Sobornosti Street, 36. The former House of Provincial Government Offices. Poltava City Council

Sobornosti Street, 31. The former House of the Nobility Assembly. 1810. The Kotliarevskyi Cinema

The building of the cadet corps did not change its military-educational purpose until 1995, when the owner changed. The revocation of its architectural-monument status, court litigation and oblivion turned the historic building into an abandoned ruin.

Sobornosti Street, 42. The former Peter Poltava Cadet Corps. 1840

After Round Square, Soborna Street becomes a pedestrian zone, on which cafes are open, lamps and bins are installed, and the trees create a green canopy from the heat in sunny weather.

Sobornosti Street. Pedestrian zone

The Poltava Music and Drama Theatre is the main theatrical stage of the city.

Sobornosti Street, 23. The M. V. Gogol Poltava Regional Music and Drama Theatre

The pedestrian space lacks benches, tourist navigation, landscape decorations, sculptures, fountains, expositions and souvenir kiosks.

A part of Sobornosti Street is the oldest city square — Cathedral Square, located on a high plateau and surrounded by ravines.

Cathedral Square. The Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin

In 1709 in this place, in the centre of the Poltava fortress, fierce battles were fought with the Swedes.

Cathedral Square. The Podilska Tower of the Poltava fortress of the 18th century. Reconstruction — 2009

In memory of the glorious victories, 200 years later a white gazebo was opened, which received in Soviet times the name of the Rotunda of the Friendship of Peoples and a quotation from the anthem of the Ukrainian SSR.

Cathedral Square. The white gazebo

In the years of independence the text of the solemn song was replaced with a saying of the Poltavan Ivan Kotliarevskyi: "Where there is harmony in the family, where there is peace and quiet, there the people are happy, blessed is the land." From the hill a panorama of the city opens up, with industrial and residential development, the blue ribbon of the Vorskla and its picturesque banks.

The architectural dominant of Cathedral Square, the majestic Dormition Cathedral, was laid down as the main church of the fortress in the middle of the 17th century, but was destroyed by the godless authorities in the 1930s.

In 2004 the cathedral was restored, but significant violations of the design documentation could not be avoided.

Cathedral Square. The Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin

The surviving belfry, built in 1774-1801, has the status of an architectural monument of national significance.

The belfry of the Holy Dormition Cathedral. 1774-1801

On the square is located one of the main landmarks of Poltava — the house-museum of the Ukrainian poet, the progenitor of the Ukrainian literary language, the native of Poltava Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevskyi.

On Cathedral Square, a favourite place of rest for the people of Poltava, a popular tourist spot and a venue for photo shoots, many different monuments have been erected.

Cathedral Square. Monument to the Hetman of Ukraine Ivan Mazepa

In Poltava they remember both historical figures and the breadwinner of the Ukrainian people, immortalised with twelve piglets by the Institute of Pig Breeding.

Monument to the pig and piglets

The most unusual sculptural composition, with Poltava colour, recalls the homeland of the national Ukrainian dish, which is offered both in elite restaurants and in roadside cafes.

Cathedral Square. Halushky of concrete — a symbol of Ukrainian cuisine

It is a pity that I did not manage to see the healing jets of water in the summer heat.

Cathedral Square. Fountain

One can overcome the cliff and cross Heavenly Hundred Street by a metal ladder, shortening the way to Instytutska Hora and to other memorable places.

Poltava. Metal steps to Heavenly Hundred Street

In Pershotravnevyi Lane, the restored Saint Nicholas church, which in the times of the Poltava fortress was located in one of its bastions. During the Second World War the church was destroyed; only the annexe of 1855 remained, and services are now held in it.

Pershotravnevyi Lane, 3. The Saint Nicholas church. 1855

In 2002, on Pershotravnevyi Avenue, a newly built church was consecrated in honour of the great martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia.

Pershotravnevyi Avenue. The Church in honour of the great martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. 2002

One more monument from the series of the victory in the Battle of Poltava was erected in 1909 on the site of the fortress wall. The bronze figure of a lion symbolises the heroism of the valiant defenders of Poltava.

Monument to the glorious defenders of Poltava and the fortress commandant Oleksii Kelin

At the intersection of Pershotravnevyi Avenue and Shevchenko Street are two museums. In an old mansion, built in 1805 for the writer Kapnist, the I. P. Kotliarevskyi literary memorial museum is open.

Pershotravnevyi Avenue, 18. The Poltava I. P. Kotliarevskyi literary memorial museum

The former Fire Brigade House of 1805 is occupied by the museum of aviation and cosmonautics, with a collection of over 3,000 items.

Pershotravnevyi Avenue, 16. The Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics

In the cultural and historical centre of Ukraine one must certainly visit one of the oldest and most famous museums of our state. The Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore is housed in the former House of the Provincial Zemstvo, built in 1903-1908 in the Ukrainian Architectural Modern style. The expositions number about 300 thousand exhibits, including an ancient Egyptian collection, monuments of ancient and Eastern art, of the Cossack period, and antiquities.

Constitution Square, 2. The Vasyl Krychevskyi Poltava Museum of Local Lore

Another example of the UAM style and the only place of worship in the world built in the "zemstvo" style is the chapel of the great martyr George the Victorious, erected by the Poltava Provincial Zemstvo in 1911-1914 in honour of the meeting of representatives of the Poltava Governorate with the Russian Emperor Nicholas II during the 1909 celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. The walls of the chapel are finished with ceramic tiles, decorated with majolica insets and floral compositions. On the pentagonal pediments are panels depicting the Saviour and two angels kneeling. Unfortunately, the chapel does not fulfil its purpose and is not preserved as a monument of history and culture. The decor is crumbling; on the steps of the stylobate the local youth drink beer and grannies from the neighbouring houses crack seeds.

Zinkivska Street, 16. The chapel of the great martyr George the Victorious

The "Field of the Battle of Poltava" historical and cultural reserve, opened on the site of the fateful battle, is dedicated to the history of the Great Northern War. The complex of historical monuments is included in the world tourist route.

Shvedska Mohyla Street. The mass grave of the fallen Russian soldiers on the field of the Battle of Poltava

Shvedska Mohyla Street, 32. The Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava

The Saint Sampson church was built in 1852 by decree of Peter I.

Shvedska Mohyla Street. The Holy Sampson church. 1852

Shvedska Mohyla Street. The Holy Sampson church. 1852

A sculpture of the All-Russian Emperor is installed in front of the building of the Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava.

Shvedska Mohyla Street. Monument to Peter I

One can reach the reserve by buses No. 4 and No. 5. Next to the field of the Battle of Poltava one can visit the arboretum — a park-monument of landscape gardening art.

Travelling around the Poltava region, tourists will find it interesting to visit Opishnia, the pottery capital of Ukraine, to see the training of racehorses in Dibrivka at the stud farm, to stroll the Gogol places in Myrhorod and Velyki Sorochyntsi.

Poltava. The railway station of Poltava-Kyivska