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Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle

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The surrounding Smotrych River valley forms a natural defense system for the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle.

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle (Ukrainian: Кам'янець-Подільська фортеця; Russian: Каменец-Подольская крепость; Polish: Zamek w Kamieńcu Podolskim; Turkish: Kamaniçe Kalesi) is a castle in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi located in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. The castle sits atop a peninsula surrounded by the Smotrych River valley, forming a natural defense system for the castle.

In spite of the many architectural and engineering changes to the castle complex, it is still considered to be a single architectural whole.[1][2] The Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is currently the most recognized landmark of the city.[3]

History

The Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was long considered to have been founded during the second half of the 14th century. The first written mention of the castle dates back to a document by Lithuanian Prince Yuriy Koriatovych of 1374, where it is mentioned that the Magdeburg rights would be given to the town inside the city castle.[3] However, archaeological expeditions of the 1960s provided evidence that the castle may date back to the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th centuries.[4] During the times of the East Slavic state of Kievan Rus', there was an earthen fortress constructed in the area, however it was not the stone castle which stands today.[5]

According to local legends, the first fortifications appeared in the area during the rule of Roman Emperor Trajan (101-107 AD).[5][2]

An old photograph of the castle.

At the break of the 15th century, Spytek of Melsztyn, a voivode from Kraków, began modernization of the castle. Ten new towers were added (two of which did not survive), and old towers were renovated.

A century and a half later, a second reconstruction was undertaken, this time by Yov Pretfes, a military engineer and architect. During the renovation, many constructions were added to the complex, including the New Western and Eastern towers, the Full gates (now destroyed), the castle's eastern wall and an underground gallery, as well as housing for the town starosta[6] (the latter being destroyed).

Modern period

After the Russian Revolution of 1905, political parties were made legal. In 1906, a total of 67 political organizations were based in the castle. Among them was the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party's newspaper "Iskra" (Spark).[7] By a decree issued by the Sovnarkom of the Ukrainian SSR in 1928, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle complex was declared a historical-cultural prereserve.[8]

In 1937, reconstruction was done on the castle buildings to accommodate a museum. Among the museum expositions was a memorial to Ustym Karmаliuk, a Ukrainian folk hero. In 1947, the castle complex was included into the all-Union list of historic preserves. On April 18, 1958, a memorial plaque dedicated to Karmaliuk and a bas-relief depicting him was installed. In one of the museum's expositions, a Karmaliuk figure was placed depicting his time spent in jail in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle.

Restorational and archaeological works have been conducted in the castle since 19632, under the supervision of architects Y. Plamenytska and A. Tyupych. The average annual number of tourists visiting the castle was 300,000 in the 1980s.

Since August 21, 2007, the complex is one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine when it came into 3rd place with 36 points in the nation-wide competition.[9]

Constructions

Walls leading to the Tenchynska Tower overlook the Podillia plains. The tower's upper portion was recently reconstructed, seen by the brick's different color.

The twelve towers

Being a large fortification complex, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle originally consisted of twelve towers, the: Pope's Tower; Kovpak Tower; Tenchynska Tower; White Tower; Day Tower; New Western Tower (or the Great Tower); Little Western Tower; Rozhanka Tower; Commandant's Tower; Lianskoronska Tower; New Eastern Tower; Water Tower; and the Black Tower, whose foundation only remains.[10] However, out of the original twelve towers, only a few have remained unscathed to this day.

Fortification walls

As with any castle complex, there is a strong need for fortification and protection of the stronghold. The Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle's fortification walls were constructed throughout seven centuries (from 11th-18th c.) and are divided into three sections or terraces; the northern, southern, and eastern.

Walls of the northern terrace (about 336 m (1,102 ft) in length) protect the whole inner courtyard. The courtyard's northwestern walls form the old part of the castle, ending between the Day and Rozhanka towers. They are made up of two parallel walls, which include the Little Western tower, the remnants of the Gunpowder Tower, and a two-level casemate. The older of the two walls dates back to the beginning of the 12th century and is built in the form of a crenelation.

A couple of years ago, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Industrial Technicum conducted geological works on the castle walls. They discovered an area of quick sand, which in the previous year led to the partial destruction of the castle's supporting walls.[11] In that area, the technicum discovered that the foundation walls of the fortress exceed a little over 5 m (16 ft) deep.[11] After more excavating work was conducted, they discovered a 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide and 5 meter tall opening, through which they assumed water flowed.[11]

Although the castle complex is still treated as an architectural whole, areas where opposing construction methods were used are still a common sight, as in the case of these exterior walls.

Currently, the preserved northwestern walls have a height of 13.7 m (45 ft) from the exterior and a height of 5.7 m (19 ft) from the courtyard. The walls' depth changed throughout the centuries, having a depth of 1.45 m (4.8 ft) in the Medieval period, 2.2 m (7.2 ft) during the 14th-15th centuries, and an average of 4 m (13 ft) after the reconstruction of the 16th-17th centuries. Conservation works have recently been conducted on the walls to preserve its Medieval fragments.

Castle bridge

As the castle is situated on an island formed by the winding Smotrych River, the Castle bridge (Ukrainian: Замковий міст) serves as the only transport link from the Old Town neighborhood to the city castle. The bridge is now considered to be an engineering and fortification feat of the Middle Ages.[1]

In the beginning of the 15th century, a large round gate tower was constructed over the bridge in order to control and overlook who enters the complex. During that time, the bridge's height was equivalent to eight stories.[1] During the Ottoman siege of the city in 1687, the castle bridge was subsequently reconstructed and fortified by the Turks. Because of this, the bridge acquired the name "Turkish bridge" (Ukrainian: Турецький міст),[1] with which many locals still call it today. From 1841 until the end of the 19th century, the bridge's stone façade was in disrepair.[1]

Currently, the bridge's length is 88 m (289 ft).[1] At the entrance to the bridge, its width is around 8.5 m (28 ft), while at the end, it goes down to 6.5 m (21 ft).[1] The height ranges from 27 m (89 ft) in the beginning, to 17 m (56 ft) at the end.[1]

Legacy

File:100 Transnistrian rubles - Kamenets (reverse).jpg
A commemorative 100 Transnistrian ruble coin depicting the castle.

The Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is currently the most recognized attraction in the city.[3] The castle also attracts a large number of tourists from around Ukraine and the world, attracting thousands of tourists annually. Its large legacy has left behind a number of local legends surrounding the city castle.

According to one legend, when Ottoman Sultan Osman II came to Kamianets in 1621 to capture the city, he allegedly asked "Who built this great city?" being impressed by its strength and fortifications. Someone then replied to him, "God himself." When Osman could not capture the castle, he then replied "Then let God himself take the city."[4][5][12]

Other legends say that Turkish gold is buried in the Smotrych River and that a 20 km (12 mi) tunnel leads to the Khotyn Fortress from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle.[5]

The events of 1672 when the Ottoman Turks conquered the fortress was depicted in the 1888 historical novel Fire in the Steppe, written by Polish Nobel Prize laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz.[5]

The castle has even appeared on a commemorative coin of the "Ancient fortresses on the river Dniester" series issued by the Transnistrian Republican Bank,[13][14] of unrecognized Transnistria, a breakaway republic within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Zharikov, N. L., ed. (1983–1986). "Old castle, 11th-18th centuries". Monuments of urban development and architecture in the Ukrainian SSR. 1-4 (in Russian). Kiev: Budivel'nyk. p. 182. LCCN 84-0. Retrieved 2007-12-13.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) Cite error: The named reference "vlasenko" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Great Ukrainian Castles". UAProperty.com. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  3. ^ a b c Budzey, Oleh (2005). By the streets of Kamianets-Podilskyi. Lviv: Svit. p. pgs. 89-97. ISBN 966-603-274-0. {{cite book}}: |page= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ a b Budzey, p. 90.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Kamianiec' Old Fortress". castles.com.ua. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  6. ^ In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, starosta referred to a royal official.
  7. ^ Bazhenova, S. (1982). В'язні старої фортеці (in Ukrainian). Radianske Podillia.
  8. ^ Humeniuk, S. (1968). Khmelnytska oblast. Lviv: Kameniar. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "National Historical-architectural Complex "Kamianets"". Seven Wonders of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  10. ^ Klymenko, Sergiy (July 2004). "On the southwest of Kiev, July 2004. Fourth day: Chernivsti -> Khotyn -> Kamianets-Podilskyi -> Chornokozyntsi -> Chernivsti". serg-klymenko.narod.ru (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  11. ^ a b c Tepletskyi, A. "Underground constructions of the fortress". National Environmental Park "Podilski Tovtry" (in Russian). Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  12. ^ Mandzy, Adrian (1996). "Visit the Castle and City Defenses". Kamianets-Podilskyi Foundation. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  13. ^ "Coin with the depiction of a fortress". Ukrainian News (in Ukrainian). 1+1. June 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Ancient fortresses on the river Dniester". Trans-Dniester Republican Bank. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

[[Category:12th century architecture]] [[Category:Khmelnytskyi Oblast]] [[Category:Castles in Ukraine]]

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