Address
Verkhnya Khortytsia, Zaporizhzhia
The cemetery is located in the northeast part of Khortytsia Island, in the headwaters of the Hannivka (Dovha) ravine, in the center of the modern cemetery.
At the end of the 18th century, the Tsarist government wanted to quickly settle the lands of the south and began inviting foreign settlers. The wave of resettlement in the history of the Zaporizhzhya region began when Catherine II's government invited Mennonites (representatives of one of the Protestant currents that emerged in Europe in the 16th century), who suffered from oppression by the Prussian government, to Russia in 1786.
The colony on the island was founded in 1789. Eighteen families of German Mennonites arrived here from the city of Danzig. The colonists were granted a number of privileges: 65 acres of land per man, 500 rubles per household, exemption from military service and taxes for 30 years.
The cemetery, founded by the colonists, was used until 1916, until the colony ceased to exist. As a result of the active use of the cemetery in the 20th century, most of the burials have been completely lost due to new burials. Many tombstones have traces of damage, but they still remain interesting historical landmarks.