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 and ...

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 populat ...

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 inv ...

. 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. 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 The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station ( uk, ДніпроГЕС, DniproHES; russian: ДнепроГЭС, DneproGES), also known as Dneprostroi Dam, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper river. ...

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 under ...

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 The Zaporizhzhia Pylon Triple is a set of two triples of tall electricity pylons extending over the Dnieper river standing on a 27m rock in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. They are used for the transport of electricity generated at the Dnieper Hydroelect ...

, 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 Centra ...

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 The Sredny Stog culture (, romanized: ''Serednʹostohivsʹka kulʹtura'') is a pre-Kurgan archaeological culture from the 5th millennium BC. It is named after the Russian term for the Dnieper river islet of today's Seredny Stih, Ukraine, where ...

. 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 Mi ...

, 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 Empir ...

. In his treatise '' De Administrando Imperio'', Emperor Constantine VII mentions the island of ''St. George'' immediately downstream from the rapids. He reports that, while passing through the rapids, the Rus 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, პა� ...

. The Kiev Rus' prince

Svyatoslav I ; (943 – 26 March 972), also spelled Svyatoslav, was Grand Prince of Kiev famous for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. H ...

was attacked and killed during his attempt to cross the rapids in 972. The earliest record about a stronghold known as a ''

sich A sich ( uk, січ), or sech, was an administrative and military centre of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The word ''sich'' derives from the Ukrainian verb сікти ''siktý'', "to chop" – with the implication of clearing a forest for an encampm ...

'' refers to the one was located on the island of Small Khortytsia (Mala Khortytsia Island) and was established by the Volhynian prince

Dmytro Vyshnevetsky Dmytro Ivanovych Vyshnevetsky ( uk, Дмитро Іванович Вишневе́цький; russian: Дмитрий Иванович Вишневе́цкий; pl, Dymitr Wiśniowiecki) was a magnate of Ruthenian (Ukrainian) origin and an organi ...

. 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 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 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 Russia ...

and

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of ...

). 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 Radic ...

from the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

port city of Gdańsk (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 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 the Great Northern War. ...

. 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 set ...

). 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 The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station ( uk, ДніпроГЕС, DniproHES; russian: ДнепроГЭС, DneproGES), also known as Dneprostroi Dam, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper river. ...

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 dioramas: "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