Zaporozhye and Chortitza

We docked in the city of Zaporozhye, the former Ukrainian village of Alexandrovsk. Zaporozhye lies on the east bank of the Dnieper; the old Chortitza colony fell mostly on the west bank and the island in the river. One village sat on the east bank. The city formed the hub for our excursions. With only three days for excursions, we chose two days in Molotschna and one in Borosenko, regrettably with none remaining for a tour of Chortitza villages. Great-great Grandfather Heinrich Neufeld was born and raised in Chortitza: in Einlage which is now under the dam waters, and in Schoenhorst. Later he moved to the Caucasus (Stavropol' and then Kuban) before coming to North America. Everyone was included in several very important Chortitza stops, described below. Please click on the picture-buttons for the story and pictures.
	A joint church service in three languages was held with the Zaporozhye Mennonite Church.
	The historic Chortitza oak tree is nearly dead but may hold the same magic.
	The staff and students allowed a special visit to their local school in the building that once was a Mennonite girls' school, the Chortitza Mädchenschule.
	The Lehrerseminar, once a Mennonite teacher-training school.
	An exhibit called "Mennonites in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union" shows at the Zaporozhye Museum, primarily by North American Mennonites; we were privileged to have a short time to view it.
	We had great fun viewing a Cossack equestrian show on the island of Chortitza.