Myrhorod

Mineral water was found at Myrhorod in 1912 and the town has been a spa ever since, with sanatoria along the Khorol, pump rooms, and a park running by the river. The water is bottled and sold across Ukraine under the town's name. Gogol used the town as the title of his second collection, and a puddle in the central square is pointed out in connection with the story about the two Ivans, with a monument to it.

What you actually see

• The pump rooms - mineral water drunk to prescription at the spa.
• The riverside park - the promenade along the Khorol through the town.
• The Gogol puddle - the square's famous puddle, with a monument beside it.
• The ceramics school - a long-established art college in the town.

When to go

May to September is the pleasant season, though sanatoria run year round. Courses last two or three weeks, which is how the town works. Summer is busiest.

Honest expectations

It is a working medical spa and a day visit gets little from it. Soviet-era sanatorium architecture dominates. The town outside the spa quarter is plain.

Nearby

Velyki Sorochyntsi is southwest, and Poltava is southeast.