The island has unique flora and fauna, including oak groves, spruce woods, meadows, and steppe.

On Khortytsia at Savutyn summit, near a ravine of the same name, are three 74.5-metre-tall (244 ft) electrical transmission towers, called Zaporizhzhia Pylon Triple, which are part of a 150 kV powerline crossing the Dnieper river.

The islet of Sredeny Stih (to the northeast of Khortytsia), excavated during construction of the hydroelectric station in 1927, gave its name to the Sredny Stog culture.

In the Early Middle Ages, Khortytsia was a key centre for the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

In his treatise De Administrando Imperio, Emperor Constantine VII mentions the island of St. George immediately downstream from the rapids.

In 1775, the Sich was destroyed by the Russian general Tekhely on the order of Catherine II, resulting in the displacement of Zaporozhian Cossacks, many of whom eventually settled on the Kuban river in the Caucasus area.

The last Koshevoy Ataman (leader) of Zaporozhian Sich, Petro Kalnyshevsky, was imprisoned at Solovetsky Island Monastery aged 85.

In 1789, Mennonites from the Baltic port city of Gdańsk (Danzig) were invited by the tsar to form settlements on the vast steppes of the Russian Empire.

In 1916 the Mennonite colonists sold Khortytsia Island to the Alexandrovsk city council (see Chortitza Colony).

The museum building is modern, nestling low in the landscape with dramatic views of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station to the north.