Khortytsia

Khortytsia (Хортиця, ˈxɔrtɪtsjɐ) is the largest island on the Dnieper 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, Ukraine. The island has played an important role in the history of Ukraine, especially in the history of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. 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 Dnieper. Zaporizhzhia (direct translation is "beyond the rapids") takes its name from a geographic area downstream of the Dnieper river past the ninth rapid (see Dnieper Rapids). In the 1930s when the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station was built, these rapids were flooded. Only granite 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 Dnieper river. 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 and Scythian 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, Khortytsia was a key centre for the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. 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.