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The Walls
of the Castle, the XII-XVIII century. Preservation #730/1 | Foto
Zamkova St.
The investigations
of the western wall of the city were carried out. It is known that history of
this wall had several stages of building, the most ancient of the walls dates
back to the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII century. The wall was opened
on the length of 20 metres. It connected the Denna (Day) Tower with Mala (Little)
Tower. The similar loopholes, revealed in the Denna (Day) Tower and in the wall
from the northward, some of them were also revealed near the Mala (Little) Tower
(three remained). A very important fact is that the original core of the wall
ends near the Mala (Little) Tower in the exact place where according to the
stratigraphy, the cultural layer of the ղ�-ղ�� centuries ends. The means of
the laying of the original wall of 20 metres high, the structure of joining
solution and architectural elements that differ from more late castle constructions,
attracted attention of the researchers. Chemical analysis of the solution, made
by the laboratory of the petrography of Kyiv T.G.Shevchenko State University,
gave the reason to S.I.Nashyvenko to tell that it is limestone-cement-carbonate
solution. It consists of: 42% of limestone, 20% of broken fawn bricks, 25% of
broken limestone and 10% of admixtures, including charcoal. The same structure
of the solution was typical for the buildings of the Ancient Rus.
The mentioned above phenomenon is not accidental. P.O.Rappoport and V.V.Kostochkin
while studing the ancient Rus defensive fortifications, draw a conclusion that
it strongly improved right on the turn of the ղ�-ղ�� centuries. It was connected
with planned siege of the towns instead of sudden attacks of the enemies. That
is why building of new fortifications - stone walls - was popular at that time.
Archaeological researches gave to B.O.Tymoschuk the opportunity to find the
stone wall of the Ancient Rus` period in the place of the later Medieval Khotyn
Fortress.
�.�.�������,
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���'�������� � �������� ����� ������: �������� ������. - ���'�����-����������,
1997. - �. 1. - 124 �.; 1998. - �.2. - 64 �. (2 ���� � ����� ����).
Translated
by Yana Anufriyeva
mail to: [email protected]
They are
located on the upper and three lower terraces of the castle - the southern,
northern and eastern ones. They create its additional fortifications. The walls
of the upper terrace, 336 m long (without towers) bound the territory of the
main yard. Its north-western walls that make up the ancient part of the castle
are located between the Denna (Day) and the Rozhanka Towers. They consist of
two parallel walls and include Mala (Small) Western Tower, remains of the Porohova
(Powder) Tower and two-tiered casemates. The most ancient wall is a floor one
that with indented walls of the beginning of the XII century wtih loopholes
for the archers. In the 40's of the XVI century, both of the walls were restored
by military engineer and architect I. Pretfes. In the 20's of the XVII century,
the gates, leading to the bridge to the New Castle, were made in the floor wall.
At the end of the XVII century, the walls were damaged during the storm of the
castle. In the 70's of the XVIII cenruty, the commandant of the fortress, military
engineer and architect,Y. de Vitte, reconstructed a part of the floor wall.
Today, the north-western walls remained to the height of 13,7 m from the floor
side and 5,7 m - from the side of the yard. The wall thickness is (m):
of Ancient Rus period-1,45;
of the XIV-XV centuries-2,2,
in the places after reconstruction of the XVI and XVII centuries - on average
4.
The restoration works of the Ancient Rus' fragments were conducted on the walls.
The north-eastern and south-western walls (long sides of the main yard of the
castle) were built at the end of the XIV - at the beginning of the XV centuries.
In the middle of the XVI century, the upper part of the south-western wall was
rebuilt by I. Pretfes. Today, the south-western walls from the floor side have
height of 17-19 m, from the side of the yard - 6-7 m. The scarp part, upper
tier with toothing and battle passage, wooden gallery on the consoles with a
shringle roof were restored in the territory of 72 m, between the Kovpak Tower,
the Tenchyns'ka Tower, and Lias'ka Tower.
The eastern wall of the castle was built in the 40's of the XVI century by I.
Pretfes in 5 m from the ancient wall of the XV century. In the XIX century,
it was strenghtened with scarp walls. The loopholes of its lower tier were layed.
The ashlaring was restored on the eastern walls and the upper part of the walls
was layed up.
The walls of the upper, southern, terrace of the castle situated along the edges
of the rocky precipices along the foot of the fortifications of the upper terrace.
They begin from the Paps'ka Tower and, confining the territory called the Southern
Yard, finish near the Tenchyns'ka Tower. Forming of the fortifications of the
terrace began in the XII century. The southern yard has the area of 760 sq.m.
It is fenced in with the stone walls, 2-3 m thick. The height of the walls fron
the floor side is 8- 10 m, from the side of the yard - 2-3,5 m. The ashlaring,
white stone belt and loopholes of two periods were restored on the defensive
walls of the Southern yard.
The walls of the lower, northern, terrace were located along the edges of the
rocky precipices along the road, passing nearthe north-eastern elevations of
the Old and New Castles. The total lenght of the walls from the Pidzamcha's
Gate to the Fortress Bridge is 350 m.
In 1544, I. Pretfes built the New Pol'ni Gate on the basis of the wall of the
XI-XII centuries, with the bridge over the ditch. At the beginning of the XVIII
century, the ditch was covered up with earth, and in 1771, the gate was reconstructed
by Y. de Vitte. In 1876, after dismantling of the Polish Gate, the level of
the road along the castle was raisen and the defensive walls were changed into
the supporting one. Now, its upper part near the road is covered with mound
and vegetation. The height of the walls from the precipices side is 7-12 m.
The area with 9 loopholes near the passage to the Vodna (Water) Tower was restored
there.
The wall of the lower, eastern terrace of the castle, with the undeground gallery
is located along the southern side of the road, leading to its gate. Its length
from the Fortress Bridge to the eastern wall of the Castle is 140 m. This wall
remained to the height of 12 m from the precipices side and 2.5 m - from the
side of the entrance to the castle. The western end of the wall is ruined. The
wall thickness in the earth level is 1.9 m. The underground gallery is covered
with a torispherical vault. There are 9 gun loopholes in its south-western wall.
The external wall of the gallery, 2.7 m thick, stand out along the elevation
for 1.1 m of the level of the top of the wall. The passage is made obliquely
for the ricochet of the ammunition. The loopholes and vaults are restored in
the underground gallery.
��������� ������������������ � ����������� ���������� ���; (��. �����.-�������): � 4-� �./ ��. ������.: �.�. ������� (��. ���.) � ��. - �.: ����������, 1983-1986
Translated
by Yana Anufriyeva
mail to: [email protected]