FROM THE CAPITAL TO THE CAPITAL
No wonder Poltava is called the heart of Ukraine. It is located right in the middle between the industrial east and the Galician west. Shevchenko, Gogol, Kotlyarevsky lived and worked here. Peter I defeated the Swedes… And so that no one would speak, the Poltava dialect is the basis of the Ukrainian language.
They do not seek good from good. This is well known to experienced travelers. If the previous trip was successful, then it is a kind of tracing paper.
Gone are the days when you had to go to the bus station to get the ticket you wanted. And to endure, as a rule, a huge queue. The Internet has greatly facilitated this process. In addition, there are specialized sites.
In this case, I bought a ticket for a passing flight with an intermediate stop in Poltava. The time of departure is specially chosen as early as possible for the first metro train.
The bus is quite comfortable, although not the latest model.
The main problem is to leave the city. But early departure has its advantages.
Some carelessly call the Boryspil highway an autobahn. Although in fact it is more or less a normal road. Its beginning near the eponymous Kyiv square and metro station is marked by mushrooms at the entrances to the underground passages.
An uncompromising spirit of rivalry immediately awakens in a car herd that has escaped into space. But do not rush. The legendary saying - the quieter you go - the further you will be, does not lose its relevance.
Three hundred with a small tail kilometers to Poltava fly like one moment. The greatest danger for travelers are the numerous cafes, restaurants and taverns that grow along the route, like mushrooms after a good rain. To tell what delicacies are served there only in vain to pull the soul.
You just have to try it.
If you still managed to avoid temptation, you will soon be met by the capital of the Ukrainian soul Poltava. The bus station is usually on the outskirts. But you can get to the city center without any problems. There is a very convenient ring route. Some thirty minutes and quite suddenly a round square opens before my eyes.
She is really round. The park, called the Corpus Garden, is surrounded by a ring road and majestic buildings along it. Administrative buildings were built in the early XIX century in the classical style by the famous Russian architect A. Zakharov.
In the center of the square stands the monument of Glory, which is a symbol and the main monument of the central part of Poltava. It was at this place, after the Battle of Poltava on June 27.1709, that Tsar Peter I was met by the garrison of the fortress and the locals.
For almost three hundred years, a gilded eagle has been proudly looking at passers-by from the top of the monument.
In his claws he holds arrows of war aimed at the battlefield of Poltava, and a laurel wreath in his beak.
Literally five minutes walk away is one of the oldest churches in Poltava, the Church of the Savior. It is said that it was there that the Russian autocrat prayed after the victory in the Battle of Poltava. A little further at the crossroads once stood the house of the Cossack Magdenko. In it in the apartment of the commander of the fortress of Poltava, Colonel Kelin AS Tsar Peter I rested after the Battle of Poltava. A monument was erected on this site in 1817 in honor of this epoch-making event. As evidenced by the inscription: "Here Peter lay after his work. July 27.1709. "
There is a White Gazebo on the platform above the steep slopes. To be more precise, the same historic building, opened in 1909, no longer exists.
During the Patriotic War, it was destroyed by artillery fire.
But in 1954 the "Rotunda of Friendship of Peoples" was inaugurated at this place. The observation deck offers a magnificent view of the city and the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery.
The holy places can be reached by driving a few kilometers around the city. Although much faster to rush straight through the narrow streets of old Poltava. Just do not forget to first stop at the monument to the famous Poltava dumplings. We go down a winding street into a deep ravine. At the bottom of it flows a small river Tarapunka, which gave a pseudonym to the famous satirist Tymoshenko. And the winding Sviatotroitskaya Street, which rises steeply, was nicknamed mother-in-law for good reason.
At the entrance to the Poltava Exaltation of the Cross Monastery, its bell tower, built in 1786, immediately catches the eye.
It is very similar to its older sister, the bell tower of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, but the height is slightly lower - about 45 meters.
The Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral is the only one in the Left Bank of Ukraine and has seven cylindrical baths. By the way, according to one version, it was near the walls of the monastery that Swedish King Carl XII suffered a severe leg injury on the eve of the Battle of Poltava.
The main events of this battle took place a few kilometers from here on a hilly plain lying between the river Vorskla and Malobudushchansky forest. It was in these areas that the general battle took place. As a result, the Swedes lost more than 9.000 people killed and more than 18.000 prisoners, 32 guns and the entire convoy. Charles XII and Mazepa fled to Turkey.
In fact, the event of the Swedish Empire began from that moment. As the Swedes themselves say today, "Our democracy began near Poltava. " And in honor of the victory, grateful descendants built monuments and temples.
Including the defeated enemy.
However, winter days are short. The sun is already setting. Time back home.
After such a busy day you can relax.
