The characters from Nikolai Gogol’s (Mykola Hohol’s) works have been placed in Poltava’s Gogol Public Garden: Solokha, the Nose, Taras Bulba, the Young Lady, and Vakula. Alongside them are four bags and the structures “The Sorochyntsi Fair” and “Stealing of the Moon.” The alley ends with a monument to Gogol, which was restored to mark the writer’s 200th birth anniversary. The official website of the Poltava City Council reports that nearly 1 million hryvnias were used to restore the monument and the boulevard, with the costs split evenly between the two.
The Gogol monument was made by the renowned sculptor Leonid Pozen, who presented it to Poltava as a gift in 1915. The monument was restored only once, 50 years ago. “Gogol’s characters were born in the Poltava region. They are our ‘fellow countrymen.’ The alley has been revived with the help of these characters, and the Poltava residents and the guests of our city will come here; there will be a lot of happy young people and here,” Poltava’s mayor Andrii Matkovsky said.
Incidentally, a monument to Taras Bulba has been unveiled in the village of Keleberda, Poltava oblast, also in conjunction with the writer’s anniversary.
These days Poltava is the host of three events connected with Gogol and his works: the International Exhibit of Caricatures, the All-Ukrainian Theater Festival, and the exhibit “Gogol. Ukraine. The World.”
