Zaporizhian Oak

There is a legend that it was under this oak that the Cossacks, together with their ataman Sirko, wrote the famous letter to the Turkish sultan.

Other legend tells that Bohdan Khmelnytsky, leading the Cossacks to Zhovti Vody in April 1648, where he defeated the enemy for the first time, stopped the army to rest near a well not far from this oak tree. Before setting out on the march, Khmelnytsky addressed the Cossacks with a speech and urged them to be as strong and sturdy in the next battle as this giant oak tree.

Another legend says that Adolf Hitler learned about the Zaporizhzhia giant oak during the occupation of Ukraine. He gave an order to cut it down and bring it to Germany dried. But that didn’t happen of course.

The tree, almost completely dried in 2024, still stands with with only one green branch left.

2024-08-08