Zaporizhzhya is an important industrial center of Ukraine, a home for the famous hydroelectric power plant known as "DnieproGES" and the country's main car manufacturing company ZAZ. Until 1921 the town was named Aleksandrovsk. The fortress Aleksandrovsk was founded in 1770 to ensure government control over the Zaporozhye Cossacks, whose headquarters were on nearby Khoritsa Island. In 1806 the settlement became a town.
The growth of the town began with the construction in 1927-1932 of the Dnieper hydroelectric station, then the largest in the world. Zaporozhzhya has one of the largest strip-rolling mills of Ukraine.
In this town that stretches for miles on the bank or the River Dniepr you can visit St. Nickolas’s Cathedral, monuments to Taras Schevchenko, Glinka and Bogdan Hmelnickij, 700 years old oak, ancient burial mounds and many other places. And of course don’t forget to visit Hortitza Island, the residence of Cossacks.