The Khotyn Fortress was designated as one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine in 2007, and I was fortunate to visit it in 2011. It is indeed quite spectacular. Located near the city of Khotyn, Chocim in Polish, through the years it has been “owned” by a long list of countries including the Kievan Rus’, Russia, Moldavia, Romania, Turkey, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and many more. It changed hands frequently, it seems. It began as a small fort atop a hill nearly 1000 years ago and throug the centuries was expanded, partially wrecked, repaired and updated time and time again.
The Khotyn Fortress is located high atop a hill overlook the historicall important Dniester River, an important trade route. Among its notable history is its place of the historically significant Battle of Khotyn in 1621 where the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in a battle lasting about 5 weeks, stopped the advance of the Ottoman army, though outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. This effectively saved the Commonwealth from the Turks.
The castle itself, what remains of it, is a maginficent structure, as you can see from my pictures here: http://poland.leonkonieczny.com/Albums/Poland%202011/Khotyn%20Fortress/index.html. It has been used often through the years as a setting for many movies as well. If you get to this part of Ukraine, it is well worth your time to visit it. I’m sure glad I did!
I enjoyed your pictures. Very interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
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