Memorial Complex of I.P.Kotlyarevsky, Literary memorial museum in Poltava, Ukraine
The Memorial Complex of I.P. Kotlyarevsky is a restored early 19th-century house in central Poltava, Ukraine, set up as a museum dedicated to the Ukrainian writer. The rooms are arranged to reflect how the house looked during his lifetime, with original furniture, personal items, and manuscripts on display.
Ivan Kotlyarevsky lived in this house in Poltava during a period when Ukraine was under Russian imperial rule, and the building remained tied to his memory after his death in 1838. The museum was opened here in 1969, more than a century after he died, when the site was restored and turned into a place of remembrance.
Kotlyarevsky is widely seen as the writer who gave the everyday spoken Ukrainian language a place in literature for the first time. Visitors can walk through rooms where ordinary objects from his daily life are still on display.
The museum is in central Poltava, within walking distance of several other landmarks, which makes it easy to combine with a broader visit to the city. Opening hours vary and the museum has regular closures on certain days, so it is worth checking before you go.
The museum holds a copy of the 1798 first edition of Kotlyarevsky's Aeneid, which is considered the first major work written entirely in the Ukrainian vernacular language. What many visitors do not know is that this book was first published without the author's knowledge or consent.
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