13 Facts About Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is a former Ruthenian-Lithuanian castle and a later three-part Polish fortress located in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, in the historic region of Podolia in the western part of the country.

Specifically, the complex consists of the Old Town fortified by King Casimir IV, the Old Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle rebuilt by Kings Sigismund I and Stephen Bathory, and the New Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle founded by Kings Sigismund III and Wladyslaw IV.

Today, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is the most recognized landmark of the city, serving as an important regional and national tourist attraction.

Traditionally, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was thought to have been founded during the second half of the 14th century, as the first accurate historical accounts of the castle date back to the mid-14th century, when most of the territories of western Rus' were under control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was outdated but remained vital to the defense of Kamianets and nearby trade routes; as a result, the voivode of Krakow, Spytek of Melsztyn, began modernizing the complex at the turn of the 15th century.

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Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle played an important role during the Khmelnytsky Uprising between 1648 and 1654, when the Zaporozhian Cossacks led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, allied themselves with the Crimean Tatars and the local Ukrainian peasantry against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's army and militia.

In 1947, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was placed on the all-Union list of historic preserves.

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle rests on a limestone formation surrounded by the Smotrych River canyon.

The Old Castle defended the approach from Kamianets-Podilskyi's Old Town, and was constructed to protect against direct assaults from enemy soldiers.

The New Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was formed during the numerous later modernizations of the castle; its purpose was to provide protection from enemy field armies and was designed to support newer military inventions such as long range artillery cannons.

An important and large fortification complex, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle had as many as 12 towers, some of which were added during later modernizations to the castle.

Walls of Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle are divided into three sections or terraces; the northern, southern, and eastern.

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was the most recognized attraction in the city in 2005.