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Poltava

Location: Poltava Oblast

Poltava is the capital of Poltava Oblast in Ukraine. It is famous site of Battle of Poltava on June 27th 1709 when Swedish army and its Cossack allies were defeated by the Russian Army under command of Peter the Great. It became a turning point in the Great Northern War. Swedish Empire lost large parts of its land for good, while Russian Empire became an important key player in the region.

Travel Destinations in Poltava

The Monument (Column) of Glory

The Monument of Glory or Column of Glory was constructed in 1809 to commemorate 100th anniversary of a historic Battle of Poltava that was fought in the vicinity of the city. During its course major European power, Swedish Army under leadership of Swedish king Charles XII was defeated by Russian army under command of Peter the Great. According to local oral tradition The Monument of Glory stands on a site where Peter the Great met local peasants after the end of the Battle. The design of the column belongs to architect M. Amvrosimov and also architect J. Thomas de Thomon. Residents of Poltava gathered 150, 000 roubles for the construction of the mountain, while Russian Emperor Alexander I provided funds for casting of an eagle that sits on top of the column and bronze ornaments. Cannons in the base of the Monument were actually used by the Swedish artillery and were captured by the Russians. These trophies were kept in Poltava for almost 100 years before they were used to support a base of the column.

The total height of the Column of Glory is 10.35 meters, eagle width is 3 meters, diameter of the column is 1.3 meters at the base and 1.8 meters on top. Although the column was erected on this site in 1809 it was opened only on July 27th, 1811. In 1852 a round park was added to separate the Monument of Glory from the rest of the city. During Great Patriotic War or World War II Poltava monument was badly damaged. In 1953 it was reopened after extensive restoration.

Khrestovozdvizhensky Monastery

History

Archaeological finds
In the territory of Poltava, primitive people lived even during the Paleolithic. In the tract Belaya Gora, located on the outskirts of Poltava, a Neolithic site was discovered. Archaeological excavations in the city showed that back in the 9th century, a fortified settlement was built by the Slavic tribe of northerners on the Ivanova Mountain in the territory of the present Cathedral Square. Near Victory Park, the remains of two settlements of the late X - early XI century. Opposite the Law Academy, the remains of a posad from three clay houses of the 11th – 12th centuries were found. Further research showed that on the territory of Cathedral Square, Pervomaisky Avenue and Spasskaya Street there were continuous urban areas - streets, residential, utility and industrial premises.

Middle Ages
The Ipatiev Chronicle of 1174 first mentioned the fortification on the Ltava River, but its exact location is not indicated.

In 1240, the settlement was almost completely destroyed during the Mongol-Tatar invasion, and for a long time there were no consonant names in written sources. In the middle of the XIV century, the Principality of Kiev, which included Poltava, was annexed by Prince Olgerd to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In 1430, in the letter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, Poltava was first mentioned, which was under his rule at that time, which he transferred to the Horde prince Alexander Glinsky who had switched to the Lithuanian side, who built a fortress here - wooden fortifications and earthen ramparts around Poltava. In 1482, Poltava was attacked by the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray. Since 1503, Poltava belonged to Prince Mikhail Glinsky. In 1508, she was taken from him by the Polish king Sigismund I for participating in an anti-Polish uprising. However, later it was still returned to the Glinsky family. In 1537, the Glinsky's son-in-law - Baybuz became the owner of Poltava.

In 1569, according to the Union of Lublin, Poltava from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was transferred to the Kingdom of Poland. In 1576, Stefan Batoriy divided the entire Left-Bank Ukraine according to the Zemstvo and the army into regiments, and the regiments into hundreds. In the second half of the XVI century in the Poltava region there were about 300 villages, among which were cities, settlements, villages. In the territory of the Poltava region, large possessions of Lithuanians and Poles, mainly Mazury, were formed.

In 1630, Poltava was given to Bartolomew Obalkovsky, in 1641 she passed to Stanislav Konetspolsky and was first named the city. Under him, a fortress was erected (Ukrainian). The first colonel of the Cossack administration was Ostryanin. Around these years, Poltava received the Magdeburg Law, although the feudal lords continued to intervene in the affairs of the city. In those days, potters, blacksmiths, and shoemakers worked in Poltava.

In 1646, the units of Jeremiah Vishnevetsky captured Poltava. At that time, according to official documents, there were 812 households in the city.

As part of the Hetman
After the Khmelnitsky uprising, Poltava became the military-administrative center of the Poltava regiment as part of the Hetman. The entire territory of the city was divided into hundreds. During the Russo-Polish War, Poltava was one of the main regions of the Left-Bank Ukraine, which became a reliable rear, from where human resources were replenished and the army of Bogdan Khmelnitsky was supplied. A lot of people from these places showed themselves during the war (Martyn Pushkar, Ivan Iskra, etc.)

At this time, Poltava is actively developing in the cultural and economic aspect - the Holy Cross Monastery is being built, the creators of the Cossack annals Samuel Velichko and Grigory Grabyanka, the poet Ivan Velichkovsky live and work in the city.

In 1658, Poltava became the center of an uprising against the hetman Ivan Vygovsky.

During the Ruins, the city was attacked several times by the Crimean Tatars allied with Vygovsky, in connection with which new fortifications were built around the city - Poltava was surrounded by a moat and surrounded by a rampart. However, in 1658, Vygovsky managed to take the city and betrayed it to devastating ruin. Many residents of Poltava were enslaved to the Crimean Tatars. According to other sources, Vygovsky prevented this.

After the Andrusovsky armistice of 1667, Poltava, along with Left-Bank Ukraine, became part of the Russian Empire.

In the years 1693-1695. as a result of the raids of the Crimean Tatars, the city was sacked.

1700-1917
At the end of the 17th century, the restoration and development of the city began. At the turn of the XVII — XVIII centuries. Poltava becomes one of the craft and trade centers of the Left Bank.

Of great importance for the city was the Northern War of 1700-1721 between Russia and Sweden. During the campaign of King Charles XII to Moscow through the territory of the Hetman region, the garrison of Poltava (4200 soldiers and 2.5 thousand armed citizens) held the city for three months until the main forces of the Russian army approached. On June 27 (July 8), 1709, a general battle of the Northern War - the Battle of Poltava - took place near the city walls. Both armies included Zaporizhzhya Cossack regiments, the Russian army - led by Peter I, the Swedish - led by Ivan Mazepa and Kost Gordienko. The result of the battle was the complete defeat of Charles XII, after which he, together with Mazepa, fled to the Bendery fortress in the Ottoman Empire. After the Northern War, the city became known throughout the Russian Empire as a city of military glory. Poltava began to be actively built up; soon the city became one of the main trade and craft centers of Little Russia.

In 1775, Poltava became part of the Novorossiysk province, in 1784 - part of the Yekaterinoslav governorate.

At the beginning of the 19th century, 35 industrial enterprises operated in the Poltava region, including: saltpeter, soap factories, cloth factories, brick factories and others.

After Poltava became the administrative center of the Poltava province in 1802, the first master plan of the city was approved in 1803, according to which a city garden was created in 1803-1805, the city center was designed and built up - an architectural ensemble around the Round Square, from which the rays emanated from 8 streets.

In 1811, the Glory Monument was opened in the center of the square.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Poltava became the center of the formation of the militia of the Poltava province.

Subsequently, Poltava became one of the centers of cultural and spiritual life of Little Russia. Since 1818, the Masonic Lodge “Love for Truth” has been operating here, which included Ivan Kotlyarevsky, V. Lukashevich, V. Tarnovsky and others. In 1818-1819, Nikolai Gogol studied at the school. The playwright and theater director Mikhail Staritsky, the historian and public figure Mikhail Dragomanov, and the mathematician Mikhail Ostrogradsky studied at the Poltava gymnasium. Here, almost all his life, Ivan Kotlyarevsky worked. In 1844, Taras Shevchenko came to the city. Ivan Nechui-Levitsky, Panas Mirny, Vasily Dokuchaev and his student Vladimir Vernadsky, doctor Nikolai Sklifosovsky worked and worked here.

In 1818, the Institute of Noble Maidens and the Theological College at the Holy Cross Monastery were opened, and in 1820, a gardening school.

In 1835, a provincial public library was created in the city, and on April 2, 1838, the publication of the newspaper Poltava Provincial Gazette began. In 1840, the cadet corps was opened.

In 1846, Poltava intellectuals V. Belozersky, Georgy Andruz, and others entered the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, founded in Kiev.

In 1852, the Ilyinsky Fair was transferred from Romny to Poltava.

By the beginning of 1860, in a city with 30 thousand inhabitants, a female gymnasium, a day school and 5 Saturday and Sunday schools were opened.

In 1876, the Alexander Sixth Class School opened in Poltava.

In 1884, an experimental field was created on the outskirts of the city (later transformed into an agricultural station).

In 1900-1921, the famous writer Vladimir Korolenko lived, studied and worked in Poltava.

In 1901, a social democratic organization of a spark type was created in Poltava.

On August 30, 1903, a monument to Ivan Kotlyarevsky was unveiled.

In 1908, the building of the provincial zemstvo was erected in a pseudo-Moorish style.

In 1909, on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, the Petrovsky Park and a monument to Colonel Kelin and the valiant defenders of Poltava were opened. At the place where the ancient Sampsonian Tower once stood, they built the White Arbor - a low semicircular colonnade with a view of several tens of kilometers.

By 1913, Poltava was a small provincial provincial city of the Russian Empire. The city was dominated by one- and two-story buildings, industry was developing, 64 enterprises were operating in the city (steam repair workshops, oil churns, stocking workshops, several mills and other small industries), the total number of workers at which was about 2 thousand people.

1918-1991

In 1917, Bolshevik and pro-Russian members of the Poltava Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies were strong in the city.

After the October Revolution, the Poltava United Organization of the RSDLP (b) was created in the city.

On December 17, 1917, the troops of the Central Rada dispersed the Poltava Council, however, on January 6 (19), 1918, the combined Red Guard detachments from Petrograd and Moscow under the command of P.V. Yegorov, the Red Guards of Poltava and the 1st Red Cossack Regiment under the command of V.M. Primakov occupied the city. On January 12 (25), 1918, the Poltava Military Revolutionary Committee began work, in February 1918 the city Council of workers, peasants and soldiers' deputies began work, and the city council was dissolved.

On March 1, 1918, the government of Soviet Ukraine moved from Kiev to Poltava, but on March 10, 1918, it left for Yekaterinoslav. March 29, 1918 Poltava was occupied by the advancing Austro-German troops. The first, according to the memoirs of Vsevolod Petrov, his Haidamaks entered the city.

April 29 - until mid-November 1918, the provincial government bodies of the Poltava province of the Ukrainian state worked in the city and the administration of the 6th Poltava corps of the Ukrainian state was located.

On November 27, 1918, detachments of armed communists entered the city, but two days later they were knocked out by the troops of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

July 16, 1919 the city was occupied by units of the Volunteer Army.

On December 31, 1919, Soviet power was restored in the city.

From June 30 and July 1922 in the city, on the basis of the order of the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Crimea No. 778/204, the formation of the management of the 8th Rifle Corps continued. Here it was until October 1925.

In 1922, a confectionery factory was created and began work.

In the years 1923-37, several administrative reforms were carried out.

In 1924, the Tekstilshchik hosiery factory was created and started operating, on May 25, 1925, a tobacco factory, and in 1929, a meat factory. In addition, in 1929, sewage was carried out in Poltava.

In 1931, the oil and fat factory and the Poltava thermometer factory were built and put into operation, in 1934 - the spinning factory.

September 22, 1937 Poltava region was established with its center in the city of Poltava.

During the Second World War, the city was bombarded several times by the Luftwaffe; on September 18, 1941, German troops entered the city. The city was included in the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine. In accordance with the plans for the colonization of the “eastern space”, by order of the German occupation authorities, the number of schools in the city was reduced from 37 to 2, and the number of students was reduced from 18259 to 150. During the period of occupation, an underground regional committee operated under the leadership of S. F. Kondratenko .

On June 1, 1942, Hitler visited Poltava.

In the summer-autumn campaign of 1943, Poltava was an important communications center behind the rear of German troops, and the loss of the city meant the loss of a number of other large strongholds. As a result, the German command began large-scale work to strengthen the city. Not only local residents were mobilized for work, but also residents of Kiev, Chernigov and Zhytomyr. As Soviet troops approached Poltava in September 1943, German troops began to shoot residents of the city accused of having ties to the Soviet underground, burn buildings and non-evacuated material assets, and establish minefields. The first line of German fortifications ran along the rivers Merepa and Uda, the main line of German defense was on the right bank of the Vorskla River. As a result, the fighting for the city took on a fierce character and continued around the clock from September 21 to September 23, 1943. It turned out to take Poltava only after crossing the Vorskla and bypassing the city from south and north by the troops of the 5th Guards Army General A. S. Zhadov and the 53rd Army I. M. Managarov.

On September 22, 1943, at 11 p.m., the commander of the 201st Infantry Regiment of the 84th Infantry Division, Major Yermishin, established the Red Banner on the central square of the city.