Back to main menu | to historical-architechtural sights

Fortifications of the City, the X-XVIII centuries. Preservation #727 | Foto
Old Town, Zamkova St. (Old Town, Papanina St.)

They are situated around the ancient island part of Kamyanets'-Podil's'kyi along the edge of rocky steeps, in the canyon of the Smotrych River and in front of the western part of the island on the cape. They consist of the defensive systems and complexes, separate towers and walls with total length of 4,5 km.
The western fortifications make up very developed in the direction west-east defensive complex, 1km long. It includes two, facing one another, capes, connected with a narrow (about 9 m) rocky isthmus. There is a canal in its base, and there is a Fortress Bridge in the col that functioned as a defensive one. The fortifications westwardly of the bridge, on the cape, consist of the Old and New Castles. Nearly half of the cape is occupied with a complicated complex of towers and walls making up the Old Castle. The New Castle is situated westwardly of its floor side - it is stone and earthern fortifications of a bastion type. From the opposite side of the bridge, the city cape rises by four terraces, every of which is fortified with defensive constructions that make up the complex of the City Gate.
The North-western fortifications consist of two defensive systems, the Lower and Upper Polish Gates. They occupy the terrritory along the road, with total length of 800 m, if beginning from the defensive and patrol tower of the ford.
The South-western fortifications consist of defensive and hydroengineering system of the Russian Gate, with the functions similar with the Lower Polish Gate. The work of these systems as hydroengineering, was interconnected. The Upper fortifications over the Russian Gate are located along Utiosysta Street. Their total length is more than 400 m.
The Eastern fortifications occupied all eastern part of the town and consisted of three towers with stone and earthern walls (they are lost now) that joined them, with total length of 1 km.
Building history of the fortifications of the city includes seven centuries (from the XI till the XVIII century). All changes that took place in the fortification art during that period, affected its defensive structures, from the stone walls with the loopholes for the archers till the streamlined fortifications of the bastion type.
The earliest stone defensive constructions are revealed on the territory of the Castle and Lower Polish Gate. They look like a low walls with the toothing and slit-like loopholes for the archers. They were located on the cape castle territory from the end of the XI centuury till the end of the XIV century; they were built on and rebuilt for several times: at the beginning of the XII century - the new walls were built on, in the second half of the XII century - the stone little towers were added, in the first half of the XIII century they were heightened and made thicker. On one of the last early stages of the history, we may find a small territory of the Castle on the fortified cape. On the turning of the XIV-XV centuries, and during the first half of the XV century, the castle and city fortifications were completely modernized. New plan of the fortifications was made in the Castle. The territory of the main yard was extended 12 times, it took the form of the gaunt rectangle irregular in plan, with six new large flanking towers. Large defensive systems appeared there: the Lower Russian and Polish Gates that crossed the canyon and bed of the Smotrych River. In the XVI century, two new towers were built from the foot and town parts of the Castle. The systems of the Upper Russian and Polish Gates appeared in the Northern and Southern ends of the town. The eastern part of the town was strengthened with three multi-tiered towers, connected with stone and earthern walls. In the first quater of the XVII century stone and earthern New Castle of the bastion type was built there. At the end of the XVII century, the bastion systems of new fortification were made. The main places of building the additional fortifications and modernization of the old ones became high places of the city in the region of the Upper Polish Gate, in the Armenian blocks. The row of the earthern fortifications was built along the perimeter of the city on the edge of the rocks. In the XVIII century, the repairs and building on of the existed city and castle fortifications were held.
The research and restoration works were held by architects Y.M.Plamenyts'ka, A.D. Tiupich.
The city fortifications that occupied the ancient part of the city and turned it into the fortress, in combination with the landscape and building up made the unique town-planning formation. It is a real museum of Medieval fortification of Podillia.

Translated by Yana Anufriyeva
mail to: [email protected]