Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
To fully appreciate the trip, you may procure Gogol's Evenings on a Farm near
Dikanka- a collection of funny and surreal stories inspired by the customs and su-
perstitions of local villagers.
Dikanka
In Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, the red-haired beekeeper Panko starts narrat-
ing his macabre tales to a group of eager listeners whiling away a summer evening
at a farm near this large village, 30km north of Poltava. Once in the town centre,
look out for signs pointing to
Troitska Church
. If we are to believe Gogol, its fres-
coes were painted by the local smith Vakula, who underwent a hair-raising trial
while guarding a coffin of a beautiful witch inside this church. Troitska Church is
tucked in a small lane diagonally across the square from the
Regional Museum
(vul
Lenina 68; admission 8uah)
.
Opishnya
Not directly related to Gogol, this potters' village, 20km north of Dikanka, has an
vul Partizanska 102)
. A pottery class is included in the price and you can buy some
great souvenirs here. From Opishnya, road P42 goes west towards Velyki
Sorochyntsi and Myrhorod.
Hoholeve
Away from the main roads and reachable from Poltava via Dikanka or from
Myrhorod/Velyki Sorochyntsi, Gogol's family estate is surrounded by a tranquil
park with a pond, and houses a lovingly curated, old-fashioned
museum
(admission
10uah;
8.30am-4.30pm Tue-Sun)
.
Velyki Sorochyntsi
This sleepy village comes to life in August during the annual
Sorochynska farmers'
fair
, masterfully described by Gogol in Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. The
writer himself was born here in 1809. Outside the fair period, the main sight is the
Spaso- Preobrazhenska Church
, with its unique seven-tier wooden iconostasis.
Frozen in time, the local
regional museum
(vul Hoholya 28)
could easily be rebranded
as a Soviet-era village museum.
Myrhorod
The circuit's main halt. For details, see the Myrhorod section (
Click here
)
.
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