Zaporizhzhia

The "City Beyond the Thresholds" Museum Studios is a branch of the "Khortytsia" National Reserve, located in the center of the city of Zaporizhzhia, on the second floor of the "Shoes House". It is an exhibition space and a cultural hub for the cooperation of cultural institutions and figures with the aim of popularizing Ukrainian history and culture.

The exhibition "Zaporizhzhia through the Ages: A Heroic History" is permanently open, where part of the exhibits from the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks History Museum, which is closed for reconstruction, is presented. Its sections are devoted to the Scythian era, the period of Kyivan Rus and the Cossack times. The expositions are designed in the style of a museum still life. In the exhibition hall, visitors will see symbolic boats - an ancient Rus boat, a Cossack Chayka, a Cossack ship - which combine and weave different pages of history into a single "text".

Another exhibition presents the latest archaeological finds that were discovered during the survey of the washed-up areas of the coast of the Dnipro River, which appeared as a result of the Russian aggressors blowing up the dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP. About 80 artifacts representing different historical periods from the Bronze Age, the Scythian Age, the Middle Ages to the Cossack period are presented in three display cases: fragments of molded ware and ancient Greek amphorae, a Bronze Age dagger, stone tools, a sling stone, varvarkas, arrowheads, arrows weapons of the Cossack period, a fragment of a mirror, a bracelet, a blacksmith's hammer, etc.

The photo exhibition "Reserved Khortytsia" is a creative installation in the form of unrolled photo film of the second half of the 20th century, supplemented with mirrors, branches and sand, which carry certain symbolism.

The "Khortytsia" National Reserve is named after the largest island on the Dnipro (23.5 square kilometers), which is now located in the middle of the city of Zaporizhzhia. Khortytsia Island is one of the most famous places in Ukraine, a unique historical and cultural complex and an ancient symbol of Cossack freedom.

The island was formed by a geological fault in the granite massif that occurred approximately 2.5 million years ago. Now Khortytsia impresses with its picturesque cliffs and small islands. In the north, granite rocks are majestically raised above the water mirror of the Dnipro by almost 30 meters, and the southern edge of the island is part of the Zaporizhzhia Velykiy Luh flooded by the Kakhovka Reservoir.

Long ago, this natural fortress served as reliable protection for the tribes that settled here, traces of which have been preserved in abundance. In particular, the "Scythian Camp" complex exhibits barrows and stone statues from the Scythian times, a pagan sanctuary has been preserved from the Old Slavic times, and the remains of the Protolche settlement from the Ancent Rus times.

In the 16th century, Zaporizhzhian Sich, a fortified camp of Ukrainian Cossacks, was founded on the island of Mala Khortytsia, which later became the center of the Cossack state, changing its location several times. A generalized image of Cossack fortresses is the Historical and Cultural Complex "Zaporizhzhian Sich" in Khortytsia, which reproduces in detail the arrangement of all eight Cossack Sichs that existed in the 16th - 18th centuries.

The current center of Khortytsia is the museum space around the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks History Museum, where a multi-year reconstruction is underway (part of the exhibits are presented in the Museum Studios "City Beyond the Thresholds"). The Hill of Unity with an observation deck and the "Circle of Unity" art object are located nearby. The venue for the ceremonial events is the Cossack Circle. Along the coast of the museum, there is a "Taras Trail", dedicated to the stay of the young Taras Shevchenko in Khortytsia in the summer of 1843.

In the southern part of the island, you can visit the only Zaporizhzhian Cossacks equestrian theater in Ukraine and see the famous Cossack seagull in the Museum of Shipping.

There is a car parking lot, bicycle rental, and a cafe in the pre-museum space. There is a hotel in the central part of the island, and in the eastern and western parts of Khortytsia there are several sanatoriums and recreation centers, and there are restaurants.

DniproHPP is a unique hydroelectric facility, the first hydroelectric power station in the USSR and the largest in Europe at that time.

The construction was led by academician Oleksandr Vinter with the assistance of American consulting engineers - Frank Feyfer, Vilhelm Meffi, Fridrikh Vinter, Heorh Binder and "General Electric" engineers Charlz Dzhon Tomson and Hyu Kuper. As a result of the construction of the dam, the Dnipro rapids were flooded, which ensured navigation along the entire course of the Dnipro. Thanks to the construction of the station, the rapid economic development of the city began.

Next to the building of the HPP directorate is the massive building of the DniproHPP museum. Currently, two halls with expositions on the construction, restoration and construction of the second stage of the hydroelectric power station are available. During the tour, you can see the layout of the station, operating turbines in the engine room.

On the morning of March 22, 2024, during a massive missile-drone attack on Ukraine, Russian troops attacked the DniproHPP with missiles, hitting hydroelectric structures and a dam. A fire broke out at the station. In addition, a Russian missile hit a trolleybus with people moving along the DniproHPP embankment.

In the south-eastern part of the island of Khortytsia, in the area of Plavni, there is a folklore and ethnographic equestrian theater "Zaporizhzhia Cossacks", which carefully preserves ancient Cossack traditions.

At the request of large tourist groups, equestrian performances and folklore performances are held here with the performance of folk ensembles and demonstrations of traditional Cossack crafts (the date and time of the next performance should be ascertained in advance by phone). After the performance, you can ride horses, and also buy souvenirs, made in front of your eyes by a blacksmith and a potter.

On the territory there is a cafe "Cossack Zastava" (traditional Ukrainian cuisine) with a banquet hall, two huts and summer canopies.

A Cossack seagull and a brigantine from 1736-1739, which were raised from the bottom of the Dnipro in 1999-2007, are stored nearby in the hangar, with which archaeologists and restorers are working.

Jumping with a rope (Flying rope) in Zaporizhzhia is carried out on the iron Arch bridge connecting the island of Khortytsia with the right bank of the Dnipro.

The Archway bridge in Zaporizhzhia was built in 1974 according to the project of Mykola Artemenko. The height of the bridge is 40 meters with a length of 320 meters. Here, for the first time in the practice of Soviet bridge construction, a unique 205-meter-long metal prefabricated beam was used, which works together with a stiffening beam.

In 2000, Oleksandr Shkalikov performed the first rope jump from the bridge. Flying rope or Bridge swinging rope differs from classic bungee jumping in that when jumping on a dynamic climbing rope, there is a direct transfer to the pendulum, which is safe for the person who jumps. The rope is passed and fastened under the bridge. The attraction on the Zaporizhzhia iron bridge is organized by the club of extreme sports "Hermitage".

Jumping with a rope in Zaporizhzhia is possible in several variants: in a climbing system or, in special braces, by the legs, along or across the bridge, with or without diving, various exotic jumps, for example blindfolded, with an umbrella, couples.