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Apogee Photo Magazine

An Insider's View of Poltava in the Ukraine

by Olexiy Logvinov  

The Poltava Crest

The ancient town of Poltava, situated on the banks of the Vorskla River (a tributary of the Dnieper), is one of the regional centers in the Ukraine. The name appears for the first time in 1174 in the Ipatiivskiy Chronicle under the name of Ltava. In the chronicle, it is written that Prince Igor Svyatoslavich started a campaign against the Polovtsy (nomads), crossed the Vorskla near Ltava in pursuit of them, and was defeated near Pereyaslav. Later, in the end of the thirteenth century, the settlement and nearby territories were captured by the Mongol-Tatar hordes of Baty-khan. Many towns were thus ruined and declined.

However, in 1430, the name "Poltava" is used in histories, which mention the settlement as a part of a Lithuanian principality, and by 1641, Poltava graduated to being called a "town." Many of the town dwellers were farmers and cattlemen who took part in the liberation war of the Ukrainians (1648-1654). A subsequent conflict, the Battle of Poltava in 1709, made the town more or less famous.

Swedish King Karl XII was supported by hetman Ivan Mazepa and "koshovy otaman of Zaporizh Sich" K.Gordienko (more than eight thousand Cossacks). He received such support due to Czar Peter’s reforms that called the freedom of the Ukraine into question. On June 27, 1709, the Russians defeated the Swedish army and Mazepa's detachments. (Of course, it’s necessary to note that a group of Cossacks fought with the Russians in protest of the hetman’s policy.) Once defeated, Karl XII and Mazepa retreated to the west. So, for Russia, the battle became a glorious victory; for the Ukraine, a tragedy. However, a number of monuments to victory can be found in the Ukraine, because Ukraine was a part of the Russian Empire until 1991. The "Monument to the Fallen Cossacks" was installed only in recent years.     

The life of Poltava continued, and in 1782, the first description of Poltava was provided by the traveler R. Zuev. He noted that the town contained about one thousand clay houses and only two or three brick buildings. In spite of its seemingly humble beginnings, in 1802, Poltava became a center of the province. Amvrosimov, who promoted its replanning and rebuilding, worked out the town planning project, according to which Poltava was destined to become a small St. Petersburg. The plan of 1803, founded a new town center on the spot where Peter I and Colonel Kelin met in 1709. New provincial buildings were erected by the architect Zakharov in the Classicism style.    

Monument to Kotlyarevsky

In 1769, a great Ukrainian poet Ivan Kotlyarevsky was born in Poltava, where he lived and wrote his masterpieces "Natalka-Poltavka," "Moskal-Charivnik," and "Eneida."  In fact, during the first part of the nineteenth century, many educational establishments were opened. Among them was the first men’s "gymnasium" (classic school), a girls’ institute, a gardening school, and a military school.     

During World War II, Poltava was captured and held from October 18, 1941 until September 23, 1943. Naturally, the town was reduced to ruins by the bombing and street battles. In 1944, the combat airbase took part in the "Frantic" operation, and it received hundreds of B17 Flying Fortresses.

Today in Poltava

The center of Poltava is the oldest and most beautiful part of town, where you will find many especially interesting places. Most of the houses that stand there were built during the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century. Several shops, offices, and restaurants are situated there, so the streets are never empty--even in the evening. The area is also residential. As a rule, the first floor of a building is occupied by shops or something similar, while the upper floors are filled with apartments. Most of the town is new, as you can easily tell from the nine and fourteen-story apartment buildings (for example, Almazny, Polovki, and Levada) that occupy the outer districts. The complexes look dull in comparison to the picturesque, historic city center. Travel between the districts is provided by public transport. Owning a personal car is not important for people who live and work within the town limits. To get to work or to school, residents usually use a bus or a trolley, because it's cheaper.    

Friendship Rotunda

At the end of Zhovtneva Street (the main street), you find the landscape is not measured by walls and bricks anymore. You see the horizon through a blue haze many kilometers away. And when you reach the Friendship Rotunda, you’ll see an easy slope and the houses of the low town below. People come here if they want to rest or if they have nothing pressing to do. Newlyweds arrive to drink champagne as they observe the majestic landscape. Recent graduates come to the Friendship Rotunda to greet the sun the morning after their graduation party.

Not far from Friendship Rotunda lies the Kotlyarevsky homestead, a house and several clay buildings covered with straw (including a woodshed and a coach-house). This is a museum, and everything inside is the same as it was two hundred years ago, a fragment of the eighteenth century inserted into the twenty-first. But two hundred years are a mere heartbeat for the town. In 1999, Poltava celebrated its 825th anniversary. However, the buses and shop windows proclaimed two anniversary dates--825 and 1100. Why? In 1998, archaeologists found proof that the town is no less than 1100 years old.

On September 23, 1999, holidays began. Every town of Ukraine has its own holiday, a day that celebrates the town's liberation from the fascists. People crowded the streets. The president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma came to inaugurate the new buildings--a polyclinic for children, an art gallery, a bridge across Vorskla, and a memorial in honor of killed militiamen which consists of a chapel and a bronze sculpture of archangel Gavriil, the protector of warriors. Some people were very glad to see the president and greeted him. Others were skeptical about the motives of his "noble marathon" (visiting a dozen places in one day), seeing his presence as just a part of his pre-election campaign.

Different folk choruses and dancers performed in the central park and other places. Singers dressed like Cossacks sang Ukrainian folk songs. Souvenirs were sold from the benches: clay figures of fantastic creatures, wooden carvings, and pisankas (painted eggs).

Gogol’s Theatre

No doubt the high point of the celebration was a four-hour show at the stadium "Vorskla"--opened by the president. First, a long procession went around a football field. It represented the history of Poltava from Ancient Rus to the present day and literary and historic characters connected with the region--such as Cossack leaders, Swedes, the writer Mikola Gogol, and Natalka Poltavka (a character in a play by Kotlyarevsky). Participants dressed in embroidered shirts traveled on horses and in carts. There were pop-singers and dancers. A biplane flew by, and soon several parachutists landed on the field. (This is a traditional event during the big holidays in Poltava.)     

Perhaps the most spectacular parts of the show were the last two acts. The first was a scene from Ukrainian history. Cossacks stood in their towers on post, when they suddenly noticed Turks sneaking up on them. The skirmish began. Muskets cracked and exhaled clouds of warm, gray smoke that finally covered the football field and turned it into a real battlefield. The enemy came closer and closer. In the next moment, sabers flashed in the stadium lights. Certainly, the attack was repulsed, because who wields a saber and musket better than a Cossack?  The second scene was performed by several hundred students who executed various waves, great flowers, and so on. Ten minutes of fireworks completed the show, and the celebration was over. What remained when all had been said and done? For me, the town seemed much more beautiful, and that’s not bad. Poltava had leaped out and paused in the air for a moment--like a dolphin--and then sank back into the sea of time.

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Olexiy Logvinov was born in January 7, 1981 in Poltava, Ukraine where he still lives with his parents. From 1987 to 1998 he studied at English Poltava School #3. During the last three years at the school he became a very popular photographer and took photos of every school event. About three years ago, he won third prize in a photo competition which was arranged in Poltava by Fuji Photo. He is now a second year student at Poltava Pedagogical College. He will be giving us reports from his country from time to time.