The mysterious Dikanka
"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" - this book is familiar to many people.
The place as told in stories by Gogol - in the middle of the dense forests of the Poltava region - is now an urban type - Dikanka.
With Dikanka the fate is linked with an Ukrainian hetman - Ivan Mazepa. Being no longer a young man, he met this young girl - Motru, the daughter of Basil Kochubey, the owner of these lands. Motrya wholeheartedly loved the hetman, but their love brought her much suffering, and, eventually, the girl could not stand the test of cruel fate and lost her mind. Her beloved was responsible for the brutal execution of her father, Basil, because he slandered before the king (Peter I) and then angrily ordered the execution of Kochubei.
Kochubey oaks are 250-300 years old and they are the old-timers of Dikan'ki.
Particular glory to this place brought the immortal works of Nikolai Gogol - "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka". The collection was first produced in St. Petersburg in 1831-1832.
And to this day Dikanka has not lost its identity. On christmas eve people walking in the streets and wearing masks, singing carols, shchedrivki (New year songs), posevayut (New year ritual), organize folk festivals.
The night of Ivan Kupala is a special mystery around here. Then the residents kindle the sacred fire: boys and girls hold hands and leap over the flames - a symbol of purification.
In celebration of the Holy Trinity the homes are filled with the odour of savory and cornflowers. If there was a fresh smell of pie around Dikanka it meant that it was the right time for matchmaking and weddings.
Each year as the lilacs bloom, the holiday ("Songs of buzkovogo gayu") is conducted. Then the creative teams come from all over Ukraine. "The Lilac garden (gayu)", it has been told, was created for the terminally ill Anna, the granddaughter of Kochubei, who wanted to make her somehow happy. So from all over Europe he brought back lilac bushes and then he planted them here. This flowering "Purple Island" was so beautiful, that this girl started feeling better. But as soon as the lilacs faded, along with the withered petals faded also her life. Since then, the soul of Anna has settled in lilac garden and every spring the nightingales sing her their most beautiful songs
Near Dikanka on the Prony farm there is a real tavern - a historical and cultural complex ("Evenings on the farm near Dikanka"). Here you can taste the dumplings from Solokha, Cossack potatoes from Vakula, Ukrainian borsch soup, with lard and with pampushka bread. And the Pancakes from Red Pan'ko eaten with honey.
The Attractions of Dikanka:
The Arch of Triumph: built in classical style, in honor of the local visit of Alexander I.
The Nicholas Church: built in 1794 by an architect from Lviv. Under the church is the vault of the Kochubeev family, who was once the owner of these lands.
The Trinity Church: built in Baroque style in 1780, the Church is located in the historical center of the village and is closely connected with the works of Gogol, supposedly it was here that Vakula visited the night before Christmas.
The local history museum of Dikanka
In Dikanka there are so-called Pivovarskie lakes. The name of the lakes come from the brewery of Kochubey, of the water which was used for brewing the drink. Kochubey-beer used to be very popular in the Czharist Russia.
