Khortytsia ( uk, Хортиця, Hortycja, translit-std=ISO, ) is the largest island in the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...

river, and is long and up to wide. The island forms part of the Khortytsia National Park. This historic site is located within the city limits of

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a popula ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. The island has played an important role in the history of

, especially in the history of the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

. The island has unique flora and fauna, including oak groves, spruce woods, meadows, and

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslan ...

. The northern part of the island is very rocky and high (rising above the river bed) in comparison to the southern part, which is low, and often flooded by the waters of the Dnipro.

Geography and location

(direct translation is "beyond the rapids") takes its name from a geographic area downstream of the Dnipro river past the ninth rapid (see Dnipro Rapids). In the 1930s when the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station was built, these rapids were flooded. Only

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

cliffs, rising to the height of , testify to the original rocky terrain of the region. On Khortytsia at Savutyn summit, near a ravine of the same name, are three electrical transmission towers, called Zaporizhzhia Pylon Triple, which are part of a 150 kV powerline crossing the Dnipro river.

History

Khortytsia has been continuously inhabited during the last five millennia. Other islands in the immediate vicinity also contain indications of intensive occupation during the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

and

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...

periods. The island of Small Khortytsia is known for its Scythian remains and a derelict Cossack fortress. The islet of Sredeny Stih (to the northeast of Khortytsia), excavated during construction of the hydroelectric station in 1927, gave its name to the Sredny Stog culture. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the M ...

, Khortytsia was a key centre for the

trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empi ...

. In his treatise '' De Administrando Imperio'', Emperor

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zo ...

mentions the island of ''St. George'' immediately downstream from the rapids. He reports that, while passing through the rapids,

the Rus Rus or RUS may refer to: People and places * Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname * East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus' territories *** Kievan ...

would be easy prey for the nomadic

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...

. The Kiev Rus' prince Svyatoslav I was attacked and killed during his attempt to cross the rapids in 972. The earliest record about a stronghold known as a '' sich'' refers to the one was located on the island of Small Khortytsia (Mala Khortytsia Island) and was established by the

Volhynian Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

prince Dmytro Vyshnevetsky. The Small Khortytsia Island is 20 times smaller than Khortytsia itself. The first Khortytsia Sich existed six years (1552–1558). There are a few other locations downstream past the rapids (Zaporozhia area) where the Zaporizhian Sich was located. There are eight of them: Bazavluk (1593–1630), Mykytyn (1628–1652), Chortomlyk (1652–1709), Kamin (1709–1711), Oleshkiv (1711–1734), Pidpilna (1734–1775). All these places were at river crossings. The uprising led by

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

was started at the Mykytyn Sich in 1648. Legends state that Cossacks wrote the notorious Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire on Khortytsia. In 1775, the Sich was destroyed by the Russian general Tekhely on the order of

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

, resulting in the displacement of Zaporozhian Cossacks, many of whom eventually settled on the

Kuban Kuban (Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and the Caucasus, and separated fr ...

river in the Caucasus area. These Cossacks became known as Kuban cossacks. A part of the Zaporozhian Cossacks escaped to beyond the Danube to become vassals of the Ottoman Sultan. They dwelt at the mouth of the Danube river. In 1830, many of these Cossacks moved and established a new sich on the Azov sea shore (between

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russi ...

and Berdiansk). The last Koshevoy Ataman (leader) of Zaporozhian Sich,

Petro Kalnyshevsky Petro Kalnyshevsky (20 June 1690? – 31 October 1803) was the last Koshovyi Otaman of the Zaporozhian Host, serving in 1762 and from 1765 to 1775. Kalnyshevsky was a hero in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 for which he was awarded the Gold ...

, was imprisoned at Solovetsky Island Monastery at the age of 85. After 25 years in prison he was released and died almost blind at the monastery at the age of 113 years. In 1789,

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

from the Baltic port city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

(Danzig) were invited by the tsar to form settlements on the vast steppes of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. One of these settlements was located on the island of Khortytsia. They farmed on the rich island soil. Some of their profitable business was trade in lumber from the Khortytsia groves and woods. In 1916 the Mennonite colonists sold Khortytsia Island to the Alexandrovsk city council (see

Chortitza Colony Chortitza Colony was a volost Yekaterinoslav Governorate granted to Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonite for colonization northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Mennonite ...

). In 1965, Khortytsia Island was "proclaimed a historical and cultural reserve". The Dnieper Rapids state historical and cultural reserve was established in 1974; this included both Khortytsia Island, adjacent islands and rocks, and part of the right bank of the Dnieper. The total area of the reserve is . The reserve was given national status in 1993.

National Reserve

The major part of the reserve (historic park) covers the Zaporizhian Cossack Museum that includes the Cossack horse show. The museum building is modern, nestling low in the landscape with dramatic views of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station to the north. The museum was opened in October 1983, as the Museum of Zaporizhzhia History. The museum project was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Derzhbud of Ukraine in December 1970. The expo area of the museum was , and portrayed the following themes: Khortytsia in ancient times, the history of the Zaporizhian Cossacks, and the history of Zaporizhzhia at times of construction of socialism. There were four

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s: "Battle of Sviatoslav at rapids" (author M. Oviechkin), "Uprising of the impoverished cossacks at Zaporizhian Sich in 1768" (M. Oviechkin), "Construction of Dnieper HES" (V. Trotsenko), "Night storm of Zaporizhzhia city in October 1943" (M. Oviechkin). Part of the museum became the Zaporizhzhian Oak located at the Upper Khortytsia. In 1992 the exposition of the museum was redesigned. The museum contains exhibits dating from the Stone Age through the

period () down to the 20th century.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links