Myrhorod

For the pig breed, see Myrhorod (pig).

For Nikolai Gogol's book, see Mirgorod (Gogol).

Myrhorod Миргород Mirgorod
—  Town  —
Seal
Coordinates: 49°58′N 33°36′E / 49.967°N 33.6°E / 49.967; 33.6Coordinates: 49°58′N 33°36′E / 49.967°N 33.6°E / 49.967; 33.6
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Poltava
Founded	1575
Area
- Total	20 km2 (7.7 sq mi)
Elevation	105 m (344 ft)
Population (January 1, 2005)
- Total	42,011
Website	http://www.mirgorod.osp-ua.info/

Hotel Myrhorod

Myrhorod or Mirgorod (Ukrainian: Миргород) is a city in the Poltava Oblast (province) of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Myrhorodskyi Raion (district), the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the river Khorol.

History

The town was founded either in the 12th or 13th centuries as an eastern border fort of Kievan Rus'. According to legend, the fort was a place of peace negotiations that gave it its name (literally the City of Peace).^{[citation needed]}

Myrhorod was first mentioned in chronicles in 1575 when Stephen Bathory, King of Poland made it a regiment city. According to some^[who?] historians, there was an earlier mentioning of the city in 1530, when the city coat of arms were established - yellow cross over an eight-pointed star, which signifies the victory of Christianity over Islam.^{[citation needed]}

Myrhorod was the regimental base of the Myrhorod Cossacks who were very active in several Ukrainian Cossack uprisings, particularly during the peasants'-and-cossacks' revolt of 1638 under the leadership of Hetman Yakov Ostrianytsia against the Polish nobility (szlachta). The Myrhorod Cossack regiment was among the best units in the army of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1654).

After the Treaty of Pereyaslav, the city became an uezd city, center for the Myrhorod regiment. The famous Sorochyntsy Fair is located 25 km from the Myrhorod.

Myrhorod became famous in world literature through a cycle of stories Mirgorod by Nikolai Gogol.^{[citation needed]}

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Myrhorod is also known as a resort town for its underground mineral waters lodged inside the layer of rocks deposited during the Jurassic period. Commercial drilling for this ecologically pure water started in 1927.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, an English [Language] Resource Center was established at Myrhorod School #9, one of four such centres opened in Ukraine with the continuous help from Siena College since 1995. Other contributors to this project were Americans for Democracy in Ukraine (ADU), Canadian Credit Bank, and Narodna Kasa from Montreal, Canada. In 1995 a group of Myrhorod teachers, former participants at the seminars conducted by methodologists from Siena College Teacher Training Institute, organized Poltava Oblast's English Teachers' Association. The Myrhorod English Resource Center is supervised by the local Teachers' Association.^{[citation needed]}

Tourist attractions

"Myrhorodska" (or "Mirgorodskaya") water is rated as "slightly mineralized chloride-natrium water". It is clear, and tastes a little bit salty. For its unique health curative effects, the "Myrhorodska" water is recommended by doctors for people suffering from gastritis, colitis, and other disorders of the digestive system.^{[citation needed]} It is also used as table water because it effectively quenches thirst and produces the general health-beneficial effect. There are several health resorts in Myrhorod and the vicinity.

Notable residents

Taras Shevchenko, Vasily Kapnist, Vladimir Borovikovsky and Hryhorii Skovoroda lived in the city, while Boris Grekov was born there.

The famous Georgian writer Davit Guramishvili had an estate in Myrhorod and consequently spent a lot of time living and working there. The poet also spent his last years in Myrhorod and is buried there. The town's Central Park has a sculpture depicting Guramishvili in his older years.

Partner towns

Since 1991, Myrhorod administration signed international agreements of mutual cooperation in the spheres of economics, commerce, and culture with four foreign partner towns including Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria (1991) and Randolph, Vermont, USA (1999).^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Official site. (Ukrainian)
• City portal - English navigation, mixed Russian, Ukrainian and English content.