Velyki Sorochyntsi

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Velyki Sorochyntsi is a village in central Ukraine, in Poltava Oblast, Myrhorod Raion. It is the administrative center of Velyki Sorochyntsi rural hromada. The settlement dates back to the 1620s and is best known as the birthplace of the writer Nikolai Gogol (born 1809) and as the site of the Sorochyntsi Fair. From 1925 to 1931 it was named Neronovychi after Bolshevik Yevhen Neronovych, who was executed there in 1918. The village name may come from soroka (magpie) or sorochka (shirt). Danylo Apostol, a Ukrainian Hetman, founded the Sorochyntsi St. Michael's Monastery here, and the Church of the Transfiguration was built in 1732, where Gogol was baptized. Since the 18th century the Sorochyntsi Fair has grown into a major event; today it is an annual national fair showcasing traditional crafts like Reshetylivka embroidery and Opishnia ceramics, with performances that depict village life. The population is around four thousand (about 4,231 in 2001; about 3,800 in 2013).