Velyki Sorochyntsi

Flag Coat of Arms

Velyki Sorochintsy is a village in the heart of Ukraine and it is a genetic magnet of Ukraine, that attracts great figures and great destinies. It is a village in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. It is famous as both the birthplace of the great writer Nikolai Gogol and the location of the Sorochyntsy Fair. The population is around 4,037. The name of the village stems from the Cossack's name “Sorochin” or from the ancient nation “Saracens”, which lived in the territories of Medieval Europe. There are many legends explaining the name of the village.

The earliest recorded mention of the settlement is in the 1620s The earliest recorded mention of the settlement is in the 1620s. In 1646, the village became the domain of a Polish Prince from the Wiśniowiecki family. By the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, the village was the location of a Cossack regimental government headed by the future hetman, Danylo Apostol, who in 1670 founded the Sorochynski Mikhailovsky Monastery.

Danylo Apostol went on to build the Ukrainian baroque Church of the Transfiguration in 1734, in Sorochyntsy, where he was buried two years later. Also Nikolai Gogol was later baptized in this same church.

Спасо-Преображенська церква 1734 рік

Since the middle of the 18th century, the large Sorochyntsy Fair has been held in Velyki Sorochyntsy. Recurring five times a year in the time of the Russian Empire, the fair is now held annually since its revival after a 40-year moratorium during Soviet rule. Since the Presidential Decree of August 18, 1999, the fair bears the status of the National trade fair. The fair is a large showcase for traditional handicrafts made by skilled craftsmen, including Reshetilivka embroidery, rugs, Opishnya ceramics, as well theatrical performers who re-enact scenes of village life from famous Ukrainian stories.

The field of Sorochintsy Fair (Жабокрицька площа — головне місце ярмарку)

The monument of Danylo Apostol The monument of N. V. Gogol The monument of Danylo Apostol

On April 1, 1809, famous writer Nikolai Gogol was born in Velyki Sorochyntsy. His short story “The Fair at Sorochintsy” made the small village, and its fair, world-famous. On August 23, 1911, a monument of Nikolai Gogol was installed in the village. Also in 1845, the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko visited the village for the archeological commission, compiling the history and architecture of Poltavshchyna. There has been a street named in his honor in this village for over a half a century.

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