Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress is a powerful and very photogenic fortification with walls carved into the rocks above the cliff. It seems to have been created by medieval architects in order to stand for centuries and, in our time, serve as an exquisite background for Instagram photos that do not require any artistic retouching.
Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress is the only fortification in the world, covering an area of 121 hectares. The castle complex consists of the old town and the fortress, which has eleven towers.
The fortress is built as if standing on a stone pedestal, which is surrounded on all sides by a moat and its shape forms a closed quadrangle.
It has its own Orthodox church, the commandant's house, preserved rooms for troops and servants, a brewery, a bakery, stables, weapons and ammunition depots.
As it turned out, to the left of the entrance there is an interesting object - a debt pit, in which, to be more convincing, a mannequin depicting the debtor was placed. In this pit, for the science of others, kept all those who evaded taxes. However, I did not notice her and did not photograph her personally, so the photo is from the Internet.
Towers of Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress
- Denna (or Donna) Tower
- Grace (or White) Tower
- Tenchin Tower
- Papal Tower
- Cap Tower (or Noble)
- East tower
- Rozhanka Tower
- Lyantskoronska Tower
- West tower
There is still controversy about when the fortress was built: the first mention dates back to 1374 when the city was granted Magdeburg law, but archaeological research has shifted the chronology of the fortress to two centuries ago.
The fortress is surrounded by a canyon, below which flows the river Smotrych. She loops around the island, creating incredible views. Due to such a favourable location, the Kamyanets-Podilsky Fortress is considered to be one of the most inaccessible in modern Ukraine. She has been captured only twice in history, so the people of Kamyanets are sincerely proud of their past.
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Architects and sculptors from Italy, the Netherlands, Armenia, Poland, France, Turkey and others contributed to the creation of the unique architectural look of Kamyanets-Podilsky in different periods of its history.
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Today, many tourists admire the successful combination of strong defensive walls of the city, the Old Castle (XII-XVIII centuries) and the high steep cliffs of the canyon of the river Smotrych.
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Extremely attractive for fans of fortifications and the complex of fortifications of the New Castle, built in the XVII century, which is the only surviving example of this type of buildings of the Dutch school. The unique Castle Bridge, which connects the Old Town with the Castle Complex, is also of great interest.
By the way, each tower has its own story. Thus, the tallest tower was named Papal because it was built with funds sent by Pope Julius II. It is also called Karmelyukova because Ukrainian national hero Ustym Karmelyuk was imprisoned in it three times. In the Black (corner) tower there is a well 40 m deep and 5 m in diameter, carved into the rock.
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In the dungeons of the Castle complex, there are expositions that recreate the pages of its history. In the western bastion, the panorama of the defence of the castle of 1672 under the Chasture invasion was reconstructed. In the eastern bastion, there is an exposition dedicated to the history of light metal weapons in Podillya.
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Exact GPS coordinates of the fortress - 48.673621, 26.562545