Dykanka

Dykanka (Диканька) is a rural settlement in Poltava Raion of Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Dykanka settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population:

The settlement is located 26 km away from Poltava Kyivska railway station.

Ancient history
Dykanka was first mentioned in 1658 as a small village, though the area was populated for centuries before. Within the area of modern Dykanka, traces exist of Scythian settlement at various times. Also found were the remains of a settlement that had at one point been razed and the remains of two settlements from the 7th-6th centuries BC.

Medieval history
In 1430, the Dykanka area came under the ownership of Tatar Murza Leksada Mansurksanovych, the future Prince Alexander Glinski, and, according to Leo Padalka and other pre-revolutionary (before 1917) historians, Dykanka was among his ″settlements″.

Modern history
Dykanka has held the status of urban-type settlement since 1957.

Until 18 July 2020, Dykanka was the administrative center of Dykanka Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Poltava Oblast to four. The area of Dykanka Raion was merged into Poltava Raion. On 26 January 2024, a new law entered into force which abolished the urban-type settlement status, and Dykanka became a rural settlement.

Culture
Dykanka is the location of the short story collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. The tale of St John's Eve, concerning the family of the Church Sexton, inspired Mussorgsky's tone poem Night on the Bare Mountain.