The Kamyanets-Podilsky

You cannot imagine Kamyanets-Podilsky without the famous Old Castle, a unique fortified structure of the 11th-18th centuries. The Castle was laid out on a rocky cape near the narrow isthmus, which was crossed by the main road to the Old City. Stone fortifications of the 11th century, which replaced the even older ones didn't resemble the present-day stronghold of eleven towers united by high walls. Remnants of Old Rus fortification were found in different sections of the Castle: e.g., the remains of the wall with loop holes in the Denna Tower, and the ruins of the Small Oval Tower - in the middle of the Castle court near the Laska Tower.

In the late 14th - mid-15th century Spytko Melsztynski, a Cracow voivode who owned Kamyanets-Podilsky in 1395-1399 and later died in the battle against the Tartars, ventured an attempt to reconstruct the Castle. In the mid-15th century the Castle was rebuilt: the old towers were refurbished and ten new ones were laid out, two of which have not survived. In the mid-16th century another rebuilding was attempted by lov Pretfes, a military engineer and architect who constructed the New Eastern and the New Western towers over the old well (it still exists today) and the Polna Gate with a bridge whose remnants have been recently unearthed by restorers.

At the beginning of the 17th century, with the advent of longdistance artillery, Theofil Schom-berg, a military specialist, built the stone and earth bastion fortifications on the west facade which were given the name of the New Fortress. In 1672, in spite of the modernization, the Castle was conquered by Turkish troops led by Mohammed IV. However, this defeat resulted from the peculiarities in the historical development of Rzecz Pospolita which at the period couldn't withstand the tide of Turkish army.

In the 18th-19th centuries two bastions were added from the north and from the south, while the barracks were built in the inner yard of the Castle. In spite of the considerable alterations to the Castle complex, it can still be appreciated as a single architectural whole.

Many historical events and names of prominent figures are associated with the Kamyanets Castle. In 1711 Peter the Great visited the Castle and was very impressed by its fortifications. There are also many legends about the Papska Tower which is also referred to as the Karmalyuk Tower.

In 1815 the poet K. M. Batyush-kov, and a year later the Decembrist poet V. F. Rayevsky did their military service in the fortress. In 1831, during the cholera epidemic, the military doctor, writer and dia-lectologist V. I. Dal, worked in the area. M. P. Starytsky and V. P. Be-lyaev described the Castle in their literary works.

In 1928, the Council of the USSR People's Commissars passed the Decree which proclaimed the Castle along with other structures of the Old City, a republican historical and cultural preserve.