Velyki Sorochyntsi (; formerly referred to simply as Sorochyntsi) is a village in Myrhorod Raion,

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast (), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was par ...

, 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 formerly had town status. It hosts the administration of Velyki Sorochyntsi rural 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. The village is famous as the birthplace of the writer

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

() and the location of the Sorochyntsi Fair. In 1925–1931, the town was called Neronovychi after the

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, ...

activist Yevhen Neronovych, who was executed by Ukrainian military forces in the town in 1918. The population as of 2013 was estimated at 3,809, down from 4,231 in the 2001 census. The name of the village came either from the Slavic word ''soroka'' (magpie) or ''sorochka'' (shirt). There are many legends explaining the name of the village as the location of the Magpie's kingdom or of some magical shirt.

History

The earliest recorded mention of the settlement (

sloboda A sloboda was a type of settlement in the history of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for 'freedom' and may be loosely translated as 'free settlement'.

) is in the 1620s. In 1646, the sloboda became the domain of a Polish Prince from the Wiśniowiecki family. By the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, the sloboda was the location of a

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly 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 borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

district (sotnia) government. Born here, the future Hetman of Zaporizhian Host Danylo Apostol in 1670 founded the Sorochyntsi St. Michael's Monastery. He went on to build the

Ukrainian Baroque Ukrainian Baroque (), also known as Cossack Baroque () or Mazepa Baroque, is an style (visual arts), artistic style that was widespread in Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was the result of a combination of local traditions and Europea ...

Church of the Transfiguration () in 1732, also in Sorochyntsi, where he was buried two years later. Nikolai Gogol was later baptized in this same church. Since the middle of the 18th century, the large Sorochyntsi Fair (; ) has been held in Velyki Sorochyntsi. Recurring five times a year in the time of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, 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 Reshetylivka embroidery, rugs, Opishnia ceramics, as well theatrical performers who re-enact scenes of village life from famous Ukrainian stories. From 1925 to 1931 the city was called Neronovychi after the Ukrainian People's Secretary of Military Affairs, Yevhen Neronovych.

Population

According to the Ukrainian Census of 2001 in village resided 4050 people.Sorochyntsi
at the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

website.

Famous people

On , writer

was born in Velyki Sorochyntsi. His short story The Fair at Sorochyntsi made the small village, and its fair, world-famous. On August 23, 1911, a monument to Nikolai Gogol (by the sculptor Ilya Ginzburg) was installed in the village. There is also the Gogol Memorial Museum in the village. In 1983, 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 ...

issued a postage stamp showing the monument and the museum. In 1845, Ukrainian poet

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 ...

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. Once being categorized as a town the village is also a birthplace of other notable Ukrainians such as Hetman Danylo Apostol, writer Volodymyr Samiylenko, and many others.

References

External links

Village Data

in ''Welcome to Ukraine'' magazine
Velikiye Sorochintsy
a
Rubricator
{{Authority control Mirgorodsky Uyezd Villages in Myrhorod Raion