Map - Velyki Sorochyntsi (Velyki Sorochyntsi)

Velyki Sorochyntsi (Velyki Sorochyntsi)
Velyki Sorochyntsi (Великі Сорочинці; Вели́кие Соро́чинцы or Больши́е Соро́чинцы, translit. Velyki Sorochyntsi; formerly referred to simply as Sorochyntsi) is a village in Myrhorod Raion of Poltava Oblast (province), central Ukraine, formerly a town. It can be translated as the Grand Sorochyntsi. The village is famous as the birthplace of the writer Nikolai Gogol (April 1 1809) and the location of the Sorochyntsi Fair. In 1925–31 the town was called Neronovychi after the Bolshevik 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.

The earliest recorded mention of the settlement (sloboda) 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 district (sotnia) government. Born here, the future Hetman of Zaporizhian Host Danylo Apostol in 1670 founded the Sorochynski Mikhailovsky Monastery. He went on to build the Ukrainian Baroque Church of the Transfiguration (Преображенська церква, translit. Preobrazhens'ka tsekrva) 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 (Національний Сорочинський ярмарок, translit. Natsiolnal'nyi Sorochyns'kyi yarmarok, Сорочинcкaя яpмaркa, translit. Sorochinskaya yarmarka) has been held in Velyki Sorochyntsi. 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.

From 1925 to 1931 the city was called Neronovychi after the Ukrainian People's Secretary of Military Affairs, Yevhen Neronovych.

 
Map - Velyki Sorochyntsi (Velyki Sorochyntsi)
Country - Ukraine
Flag of Ukraine
Ukraine (Україна, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately 600000 km2. Prior to the ongoing Russian invasion, it was the eighth-most populous country in Europe, with a population of around 41 million people. It is also bordered by Belarus to the north; by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and by Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city. Ukraine's state language is Ukrainian; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south.

During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional powers and was ultimately destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged in central Ukraine in the 17th century, but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and ultimately absorbed by the Russian Empire. Ukrainian nationalism developed, and following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic was formed. The Bolsheviks consolidated control over much of the former empire and established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union when it was formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a man-made famine. During World War II, Ukraine was devastated by the German occupation.
Currency / Language  
ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
UAH Ukrainian hryvnia â‚´ 2
Neighbourhood - Country  
  •  Belarus 
  •  Hungary 
  •  Moldova 
  •  Poland 
  •  Romania 
  •  Russia 
  •  Slovakia