Monument of Ukrainian Easter egg, Khortytsya

Every nation has its own Easter-related traditions. Easter traditions of Zaporizhzhya region, like doing krashankas (painting eggs) appeared in the 10th century and are still popular in our country. It is worth to mention that this way of celebrating is truly Ukrainian, because in France people tend to make eggs from chocolate and not to paint them, as we do. Due to historical reasons, this holiday is really important for Ukrainians and the monument of easter egg is the good proof. It is located in the central east part of the island it is the symbolic place, because in the 3rd-2nd B.C. there was sanctuary of the egg’s form. This sanctuary was discovered in 2006 and that is how the place for monument was chosen.

Leonid Nikitin - the artist that painted it, decided to stick to some Zaporizhzhya-related patterns that would be perceived as politically correct. The design he chose symbolizes life, fire, beauty and family welfare. According to his words, the hardest things was to keep patterns’ lines straight, as the egg has quite peculiar form. For doing that he used ribbon that was stick to egg with plasticine, and he spent three days on painting and nearly liter of red paints.

The monument was restored in 2013, as artists added some plant ornaments to it. The main color, which is red, was not changed, but they added more white to make egg even more beautiful. This monument is rather popular among residents and tourists as well, and they also made legend that the pregnant women should visit the monument more often as it can positively affect her child’s health.

Translated by: Yelyzaveta Kravchenko