Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in Central

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Poltava urban hromada, one of the

hromada In Ukraine, a hromada () is the main type of municipality and the third level Administrative divisions of Ukraine, local self-government in Ukraine. The current hromadas were established by the Cabinet of ministers of Ukraine, Government of Uk ...

s of Ukraine. Poltava has a population of

History

It is still unknown when Poltava was founded, although the town was not attested before 1174. However, municipal authorities chose to celebrate the city's 1100th anniversary in 1999. The settlement is indeed an old one, as archeologists unearthed an ancient

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

dwelling, as well as Scythian remains, within the city limits.

Middle Ages

The present name of the city is traditionally connected to the settlement Ltava, which is mentioned in the '' Hypatian Chronicle'' in 1174.Poltava: chronicles of the most important events
"History of Poltava" website. According to the chronicle, on Saint Peter's Day (12 July) of 1182, Igor Sviatoslavich, chasing hordes of the Cuman khans Konchak and Kobiak, crossed the Vorskla River near ''Ltava'' and moved towards Pereiaslav), where Igor's army was victorious over the Cumans. During the

Mongol invasion of Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Principality of Ryazan, Ryazan, Principality of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl, Principality of Pereyaslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimi ...

in 1238–39, many cities of the middle Dnipro region were destroyed, possibly including Ltava. In the mid-14th century the region was part of the Duchy of Kyiv, which was a vassal of the

Algirdas Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the pre ...

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. According to the Russian historian Aleksandr Shennikov, the region around modern Poltava was a Cuman Duchy belonging to Mansur, who was a son of Mamai.Duchy of the Mamai's descendants
Zarusskiy.org. 29 June 2008 Shennikov also claims that the Mansur Duchy joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as an associated state rather than a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

, and that the city of Poltava already existed at that time. In 1399, Mansur's army assisted the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army in the battle of the Vorskla River. According to legend, after the battle, the Cossack Mamay helped Vytautas to escape death. The city is mentioned for the first time under the name of Poltava no later than 1430. Supposedly, in 1430 the Lithuanian duke Vytautas gave the city, along with Glinsk (today a village near the city of Romny) and Glinitsa, to Murza Olexa (Loxada Mansurxanovich), who moved to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the Golden Horde. In 1430 Murza Olexa was baptized as Alexander Glinsky, who was a progenitor of the Glinsky family. According to Shenninkov, Alexander Glinsky must have been baptized in 1390 by Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kyiv, who had just regained his title of Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Russia (rather than the Metropolitan of Russia Minor and Lithuania). On 6 March 1390 Cyprian permanently moved to Muscovy. In 1482, Poltava was razed by the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray.

Early modern period

In 1537 Ografena Vasylivna Glinska (Baibuza) passed Poltava to her son-in-law Mykhailo Ivanovych Hrybunov-Baibuza. After the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

in 1569, the territory around Poltava became part of the Crown of Poland. In 1630 Poltava was passed to a Polish magnate, Bartholomew Obalkowski. In 1641 it changed ownership again, to Alexander Koniecpolski. In 1646 Poltava became part of Wiśniowiecki Ordynatsia (a large Wiśniowiecki estate in Left-bank Ukraine centered in Lubny), governed by the Ruthenian-Polish magnate Jeremi Wiśniowiecki (1612–51). In 1648, the city became the base of a distinguished regiment of Ukrainian

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

, and served as a Cossack stronghold during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. In 1650, to commemorate a victory of the Cossack Host over the Polish army at the Poltavka River, the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Sylvester Kossov, ordered the establishment of the Holy Cross Exaltation Monastery in Poltava. The project was financed by a number of prominent local residents, including Martyn Pushkar, Ivan Iskra, Ivan Kramar and many others. During the 1654 Pereyaslav Council, the Poltava city delegates pledged their allegiance to the Czar of Muscovy, after which

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

Andrei Spasitelev arrived in Poltava and recorded 1,335 residents who had pledged their allegiance. In 1658 Poltava became a center of anti-government revolt led by Martyn Pushkar, who contested the legitimacy of Ivan Vyhovsky's election to the post of Hetman of Zaporizhian Host. The uprising was extinguished with the help of Crimean Tatars. On the issue boyar Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev wrote to Alexei Mikhailovich on 8 June 1658: "... the ''Cherkas'' ossackcity of Poltava is ravaged and burned to the ground and only if the Great Sovereign orders to rebuild on the Tatar Sokma (pathway) of Bakeyev Route and protect many his sovereign cities from Tatar visits. And if the Great Sovereign allows to place a

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

in the city and rebuilt the city until the fall that in Poltava ''Cherkasy'' ossacksand residents built their houses and stock-piled their food". With the signing of the 1667 truce of Andrusovo, the city was finally subjected to the Tsardom of Muscovy, while remaining part of the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

. The city suffered from the Great Turkish War when in 1695 Petro Ivanenko led an anti-Muscovite uprising with the help of Crimean Tatars, who ravaged the local monastery. The same year the Poltava Regiment actively participated in the Azov campaigns which resulted in the taking of the Turkish fortress of Kyzy-Kermen (today the city of Beryslav,

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

). On 8 July (New Style) or 27 June (Old Style) 1709 the Battle of Poltava took place near the city during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. The battle ended in a decisive victory of Peter I of Russia over the Swedish forces and had great historical importance for the Russians. In 1710 there was a plague in the city and its surrounding area. In the mid-18th century the Kolomak Woods near Poltava became a base of

haidamak The haydamaks, also haidamakas or haidamaky or haidamaks ( ''haidamaka''; ''haidamaky'', from and ) were soldiers of Ukrainian Cossacks, Ukrainian Cossack paramilitary outfits composed of commoners (peasants, craftsmen), and impoverished nob ...

s (Cossack paramilitary bands). By 1770, Poltava had several brick factories, a regimental doctor, and a pharmacy; that same year the city conducted four fairs. In 1775 it became a city of Novorossiysk Governorate, guarded by the 8th Company of the Dnieper Pike Regiment headquartered in Kobeliaky. In 1775 Poltava's Holy Cross Exaltation Monastery became the seat of bishops of the newly created

Eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

(

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

) of Slaviansk and Kherson. This large new diocese included the lands of the

Novorossiya Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...

Governorate and the Azov Governorate north of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

.Никифор Феотоки
(Nikephoros Theotoki's biography) Since much of that area had only recently been seized from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

by Russia, and a large number of Orthodox Greek settlers had been invited to settle in the region, the

imperial government The name imperial government () denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the empero ...

selected a renowned Greek scholar, Eugenios Voulgaris, to preside over the new diocese. After his retirement in 1779, he was replaced by another Greek theologian, Nikephoros Theotokis.Евгений Булгарис
(Eugenios Voulgaris's biography) Poltava 1850 Main Square

In 1779 the city established the Poltava county school, which became its first secular educational institution. In 1787 Catherine the Great stopped in Poltava on the way from

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, escorted by Grigori Potemkin,

Alexander Suvorov Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...

and Mikhail Kutuzov. In Poltava, on 7 June 1787, before another Russo-Turkish War, Potemkin received his title "Prince of Taurida", while Suvorov received a snuffbox with monogram. In 1802 the city became the seat of the newly established

Poltava Governorate Poltava Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate (1796–1802), Little Russia Governorate and had its capital in Polt ...

. The city's population in 1802 consisted of some 8,000 residents. That same year Poltava opened a government-funded hospital of 20 beds.

19th century

On 2 February 1808, the Poltava Male Gymnasium was established. On 20 June 1808 some 54 families of craftsmen were invited to the city from German principalities and settled in the newly established German Sloboda neighborhood with about 50 clay-made houses. In 1810 there were 8,328 people living in Poltava; that same year, the city's first theater was built. In August 1812, on orders of Little Russia Governor General Lobanov-Rostovsky, the famed Ukrainian writer and statesman Ivan Kotlyarevsky formed the 5th Poltava Cavalry Cossack Regiment. By 1860, Poltava had around 30,000 inhabitants, a district school, a gymnasium, an Institute for Noble Maidens, a spiritual academy, a cadet corps, a library and a number of schools. In 1870, Poltava railway station was opened, leading to rapid economic growth in the region. However, by 1914 the Population of Poltava (around 60,000) was mostly working in small enterprises. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Poltava became an important cultural centre, where many representatives of Ukrainian national revival were active.

20th century

During the events of 1917–1920, Poltava was under the rule of a number of governments, including the Central Rada, Hetmanate, Ukrainian People's Republic,

White Movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

and

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s. From 1918 to 1919 there was Occupation of Poltava by the Bolsheviks. After becoming a part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Poltava experienced accelerated industrial growth, and its population increased to 130,000 by 1939. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' occupied Poltava from 18 September 1941 until 23 September 1943, when it was retaken during the Chernigov-Poltava Strategic Offensive of the Battle of the Dnieper. During the Nazi occupation the Jewish population (9.9% of the total population in 1939) was imprisoned in a ghetto before being murdered during mass executions perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppe and buried in mass graves in the area. By the summer of 1944, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

conducted a number of shuttle bombing raids against Nazi Germany under the name of Operation Frantic. Poltava Air Base, as well as Myrhorod Air Base, were used as eastern locations for landing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers involved in those operations. The post-war restoration of Poltava continued in the 1950s and 1960s. The city became an important centre of military education in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, where missile and communications officers were prepared, and was also home to a Soviet Air Force division of heavy bombers. Until 18 July 2020, Poltava was designated as a city of oblast significance and did not belong to Poltava Raion even though it was the center of the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Poltava Oblast to four, the city was merged into Poltava Raion.

Population

ImageSize = width:900 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:320000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:40000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:19 align:left bar:1775 from:0 till:7527 bar:1802 from:0 till:7975 bar:1840 from:0 till:15521 bar:1851 from:0 till:20819 bar:1867 from:0 till:31900 bar:1897 from:0 till:53703 bar:1913 from:0 till:64200 bar:1923 from:0 till:84580 bar:1926 from:0 till:89391 bar:1939 from:0 till:128456 bar:1959 from:0 till:143097 bar:1970 from:0 till:219873 bar:1979 from:0 till:278931 bar:1989 from:0 till:314740 bar:2001 color:cobar2 from:0 till:317998 bar:2014 from:0 till:295950 bar:2017 from:0 till:291963 bar:2020 from:0 till:284110 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1775 at: 7527 text: 7527 shift:(-14,5) bar:1802 at: 7975 text: 7975 shift:(-14,5) bar:1840 at: 15521 text: 15.521 shift:(-17,5) bar:1851 at: 20819 text: 20.819 shift:(-17,5) bar:1867 at: 31900 text: 31.900 shift:(-14,5) bar:1897 at: 53703 text: 53.703 shift:(-17,5) bar:1913 at: 64200 text: 64.200 shift:(-17,5) bar:1923 at: 84580 text: 84.580 shift:(-17,5) bar:1926 at: 89391 text: 89.391 shift:(-17,5) bar:1939 at: 128456 text: 128.456 shift:(-17,5) bar:1959 at: 143097 text: 143.097 shift:(-17,5) bar:1970 at: 219873 text: 219.873 shift:(-17,5) bar:1979 at: 278931 text: 278.931 shift:(-17,5) bar:1989 at: 314740 text: 314.740 shift:(-17,5) bar:2001 at: 317998 text: 317.998 shift:(-17,5) bar:2014 at: 295950 text: 295.950 shift:(-17,5) bar:2017 at: 291963 text: 291.963 shift:(-11,5) bar:2020 at: 284110 text: 284.110 shift:(-11,5)

Language

Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census: According to a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute in April-May 2023, 75 % of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 12 % spoke Russian.

Geography

Climate

Poltava has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Dfb''), with four distinct seasons, it is one of the coldest cities in

. The annual precipitation is fairly evenly distributed, with the highest concentration in summer, and which falls as snow in winter.

Government and subdivisions

Poltava is the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of the Poltava Oblast (

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) as well as of the Poltava Raion housed within the city. However, Poltava is a city of oblast subordinance, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed in the city itself. Poltava's government consists of the 50-member Poltava City Council () which is headed by the Secretary (currently Oleksandr Kozub). The city's current mayor is Oleksandr Mamay, who was sworn in on 4 November 2010 after being elected with more than 61 percent of the vote. In 2015 he was re-elected as a candidate of Conscience of Ukraine with 62.9% in a second round of Mayoral election. The territory of Poltava is divided into 3 urban districts: # Shevchenkivskyi District, to the south-west with an area of 2077 hectares and a population of 147,600 in 2005. It is a largely residential area and includes the city centre. # Kyivskyi District, is the largest by area, comprising 5437 hectares, or 52.8% of the city total situated in the north and north-west. Its census in 2005 was 111,900. This district has a large industrial zone. # Podilskyi District, to the east and south-east, in the valley of the Vorskla river, with an area of 2988 hectares and a population of 53,700 in 2005. The village of Rozsoshentsi, Shcherbani, Tereshky, Kopyly and Suprunivka are officially considered to be outside the city, but constitute part of the Poltava agglomeration.

Culture

The centre of the old city is a semicircular Neoclassical square with the Tuscan column of cast iron (1805–11), commemorating the centenary of the Battle of Poltava and featuring 18 Swedish cannons captured in that battle. As

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

celebrated his victory in the Saviour church, this 17th-century wooden shrine was carefully preserved to this day. The five-domed city cathedral, dedicated to the Exaltation of the Cross, is a superb monument of Cossack Baroque, built between 1699 and 1709. As a whole, the cathedral presents a unity which even the Neoclassical belltower has failed to mar. Another frothy Baroque church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, was destroyed in 1934 and rebuilt in the 1990s. A

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

2983 Poltava discovered in 1981 by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named after the city.

Sports

The most popular sport is

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. Two professional football teams are based in the city: Vorskla Poltava in the Ukrainian Premier League and

FC Poltava FC Poltava () was a Ukrainian association football, football club based in Poltava in 2007–2018. History The club was created by the newly elected mayor of the Poltava city Andriy Matkovsky (2006–2010) who was the club's Honorary President ...

in the Second League. There are 3 stadiums in Poltava: Butovsky Vorskla Stadium (main city stadium), Dynamo Stadium are situated in the city centre and Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Podil district.

Notable people

* Marie Bashkirtseff (1858–1884) Parisian painter and diarist. * Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (1884–1963) historian, longest-serving

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

from 1952 to 1963. * Hanka Bielicka (1915–2006) a Polish singer and actress, known by the name ''Hanna'' * Oleksandr Bilash (1931–2003) composer of lyric songs, ballads, operas, operettas and oratorios * Sofya Bogomolets (1856–1892) a Russian revolutionary and political prisoner. * Boris Brasol (1885-1963), lawyer and literary critic and a White Russian immigrant to the United States. * Moura Budberg (1892–1974), a Russian adventuress and suspected double agent of OGPU & MI6. * Semion Braude (1911-2003) was a Soviet and Ukrainian physicist and radio astronomer * Nat Carr (1886–1944) an American character actor of the silent and early talking picture eras. * Gregori Chmara (1878–1970) a stage and film actor whose career spanned six decades. * Marusia Churai (1625–1653) a semi-mythical Ukrainian Baroque composer, poet, and singer. * Andriy Danylko (born 1973) stage name ''Verka Serduchka''; a Ukrainian comedian, actor, and singer. * Sam Dreben (1878–1925), a highly decorated soldier in the US Army and a mercenary * Vladimir Gajdarov (1893–1978) a Russian film actor and star of Russian and German silent cinema. * Yuliy Ganf (1898–1973) a graphic artist, caricaturist, illustrator and poster designer. * Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), a novelist, short story writer and playwright. * Alexander Gurwitsch (1874–1954) biologist and medical scientist; originated

Morphogenetic field In the developmental biology of the early twentieth century, a morphogenetic field is a research hypothesis and a discrete region of cells in an embryo. The term ''morphogenetic field'' conceptualizes the scientific experimental finding that ...

theory * Oksana Ivanenko (1906-1997) – Ukrainian children's writer and translator * Vladimir Ivashko (1932-1994), politician, acting General Secretary of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

* Philip Jaffe (1895–1980) a left-wing American businessman, editor and author. * Ernst Jedliczka (1855–1904) a Russian-German pianist, piano pedagogue, and music critic. * Mykola Karpov (1929–2003), Ukrainian playwright. * Dmitri Kessel (1902–1995), photojournalist, Life magazine 1944–1972 and war correspondent * Vera Kholodnaya (1893–1919) an actress of the early Imperial Russian cinema. * Yuri Kondratyuk (1897–1942), astronautics and spaceflight pioneer; foresaw reaching the Moon * Ivan Kotliarevsky (1769–1838) a Ukrainian writer, poet and playwright and social activist * Anatoly Lunacharsky (1875–1933) Russian Marxist revolutionary; Bolshevik Soviet people's

Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

* Anton Makarenko (1888–1939), educator, social worker and writer and top educational theorist * Yuri Levitin (1912–1993) a Soviet Russian composer of classical music. * Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912) composer, pianist, conductor; founder first Ukrainian classical music school * Patriarch Mstyslav (1898–1993), Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch * Matvei Muranov (1873–1959) a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician and statesman. * Panas Myrny (1849-1920) a Ukrainian prose writer and playwright * Jensen Noen (born 1987) a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, cinematographer and writer. * Oleksiy Onyschenko (born 1933) a philosopher, academic and culture theorist * Mikhail Ostrogradsky (1801–1862), a Ukrainian mathematician, mechanic and physicist * Olena Pchilka (1849–1930), a Ukrainian publisher, writer, ethnographer and civil activist. * Ivan Paskevich (1782-1856), Ukrainian military leader in Imperial Russian service. * Symon Petliura (1879–1926) a Ukrainian politician, journalist and military leader of Ukraine's struggle for independence following the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917. * Vladimir Picheta (1878 – 1947), a Belarusian historian, first rector of the Belarusian State University * Zhanna Prokhorenko (1940–2011) a Soviet and Russian actress * Sasha Putrya (1977–1989) Ukrainian artist, died aged 11 from leukemia. * Svitlana Pyrkalo (born 1976) a London-based writer, journalist and former

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio producer * Boris Schwanwitsch (1889–1957) a Russian entomologist who specialised in

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. * Moshe Zvi Segal (1904–1985), rabbi and activist in Israeli organizations, including Etzel and Lechi. * Bert Shefter (1902–1999) a film composer who worked primarily in America. * Avraham Shlonsky (1900–1973), Israeli poet and editor * Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722–1794) a Ukrainian poet, philosopher and composer * Ivan Steshenko (1873–1918), a Ukrainian civic and political activist, writer and Govt. minister. * Maria Tarnowska (1877–1949), femme fatale, famously convicted of murder in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1910. * Elias Tcherikower (1881–1943), a Jewish historian of Judaism and the Jewish people. * Alina Treiger (born 1979) the first female rabbi to be ordained in Germany since WWII. * Yelena Ubiyvovk (1918–1942) a partisan and leader of a Komsomol cell during WWII. * Paisius Velichkovsky (1722–1794),

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and theologian, promoted staretsdom * Nikolai Yaroshenko (1846–1898) a Ukrainian painter of portraits, genre paintings and drawings.

Sport

* Leonid Bartenyev (1933–2021) a 100 metre team silver medallist at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

* Viktor Buhaievskyi (1939–2009), Soviet and Ukrainian professional footballer * Sergei Diyev (born 1958) a Russian football manager and former player with over 600 club caps * Serhiy Konovalov (born 1972) a football coach and former footballer with 270 club caps and 22 for

* Oleksandr Melaschenko (born 1978) a football striker with over 320 club caps and 16 for

* Ruslan Rotan (born 1981) a former professional footballer with 382 club caps and 100 for

; now manager of the Ukraine national under-21 football team * Ivan Shariy (born 1957) is a former Soviet and Ukrainian footballer with over 500 club caps

Economy and infrastructure

Transportation

Poltava's transportation infrastructure consists of two major train stations: Poltava-Pivdenna and Poltava-Kyivska, with railway links to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, and

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

. Poltava-Kyiv line is electrified and is used by the Poltava Express. The electrification of the Poltava-Kharkiv line was completed in August 2008. The Avtovokzal serves as the city's intercity bus station. Buses for local municipal routes depart from "AC-2" (autostation No. 2 – along Shevchenko Street) and "AC-3" (Zinkivska Street). Local municipal routes are parked along the

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

Street. Marshrutka minibuses serve areas where regular bus access is unavailable; however, they are privately owned and cost more per ride. In addition, a 10-route

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

network of runs throughout the city. On the routes of the city go more than 50 units of trolleybuses. Poltava is also served by an International Airport, situated outside the city limits near the village of Ivashky. The international highway M03, linking Poltava with Kyiv and Kharkiv, passes through the southern outskirts of the city. There is also a regional highway P-17 crossing Poltava and linking it with Kremenchuk and Sumy.Poltava – Plan. Kyiv Army-Cartographic Fabric.

Education

Poltava has always been one of the most important science and education centres in Ukraine. Major universities and institutions of higher education include the following: * Poltava National Pedagogical University named after V. G. Korolenko * National University "Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic" * Poltava Agrarian State Academy * Poltava State Medical University * Poltava University of Economics and Trade * Poltava Military Institute of Connections * Poltava Law Institute of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University * Poltava branch of the State Academy of Statistics, region and audit to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine Astronomy * Poltava gravimetric observatory (PGO) is situated a bit north from city centre (27–29 Miasoyedov St.). Its main work directions are measurements of Earth rotation, latitude variations (applying zenith stars observations, lunar occultation observations and other) * Observational station of PGO in rural area, some 20 km east along the M03-E40 highway. Radiotelescope URAN-2 (Ukrainian: ''УРАН-2'') is situated there too.

Twin towns – sister cities

Poltava is twinned with: * Veliko Tarnovo,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(1963) * Filderstadt,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* Ostfildern,

* Irondequoit,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* Kristianstad,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

* Kouvola,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Gallery

File:Poltava Dvoryanske zibrannya.JPG, Building of the Noble Assembly File:Poltava City Hall.JPG, State administrative building (Russian Empire) File:PoltavaSpasskajaCerkov.jpg, Church of the Savior File:P1230516 Вул. Жовтнева, 23.jpg, Poltava Theatre of Music and Drama File:"Грандъ Отель" купця І. Гінсбурга.JPG, Merchant Ginzburg's "Grand Hotel" File:Poltava Ivan Kotlyarevsky Obelisk.JPG, Obelisk at the Ivan Kotlyarevsky's burial File:Poltava Mansion of Bahmackiy.JPG, Moorish-styled mansion of Bakhmatsky File:Poltava Monastery 03.jpg, Exaltation of the Cross nunnery File:Poltava Well (Memorial - Estate writer I.P.Kotlyarevsky).JPG, Traditional Ukrainian well, ''krynytsia'' (Kotlyarevsky's estate) File:Будинок земства P1230868 пл. Конституції, 2.jpg, Former Regional Administration building File:Інститут шляхетних дівчат,Полтава, Проспект Першотравневий, 24 061.jpg, Former Institute of Noble Maidens (today - National Technical University) File:Братська могила 1345 російських воїнів (Поле Полтавської битви),.jpg, Mass burial of 1345 Russian soldiers (perished at the Battle of Poltava) File:Poltava2.jpg, Main pedestrian street of Poltava File:Poltava selansky bank SAM 7645 53-101-0521.JPG, State security office File:Корпусный парк.jpg, Round square in central Poltava

References

External links

* * * * * * *
The murder of the Jews of Poltava
during

, at Yad Vashem website.
An English-language city guide to Poltava
{{Authority control Cities in Poltava Oblast Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine Oblast centers in Ukraine Populated places established in the 9th century