Kamenets-Podolsk Fortress

The fortress presumably existed in the times of Kievan Rus, but the stone structure was built by Lithuanian princes Koriatovichi. From 1362 to 1434, the fortress became the main outpost in the complex with the city's defense structures. The fortress was first mentioned in 1374 in a charter of Prince Yuri Koriatovich (one of the four Koriatovich brothers who owned Podolia). At that time, the towers and walls were already stone and partly wooden. The fortress was located at the entrance to the city, which was reached by a narrow 9-meter-wide isthmus (the city was located in the loop of the Smotrich River). It was under the Koriatovics that the town became the capital of the region, and the fortress became a strategic defense point. For many years, historians and scientists cannot agree on the date of construction of the fortress, so it is still believed that the first stone was laid in 1374. According to legend, the Kamyanets-Podol fortress has never been taken by storm, only by cunning or gold, although historians refute this fact. Due to the impregnability of the fortress, created by the joint efforts of man and nature, since the Middle Ages the reputation of "built by the hand of God" has been fixed for Kamyanets-Podilsky fortress.