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Tower on the Ford, the XV-XVI centuries. Preservation #727/7 | Foto
Staroposhtovyi Uzviz

It is a part of the North-western city fortifications. It is situated on the ledge of the canyon on 13 m height from the riverside. It is located 300 m from the Polish Gate. It was the patrol one, it guarded the part of the road under the rock and the place of the crossing over the river (ford). It was completed in the XVI century. At the end of the XVII century, the roof and the upper part of the walls were ruined. In the XVIII century, the upper tier lost its defensive importance, its loopholes were blocked, the upper part of the walls was repaired, and the flat ceiling with the earth backing was made instead of the roof. At the beginning of the XIX century, the Tower was filled up and the arbor was built over it.
The Tower is stone, two-tiered, almost round in its plan, with the diameter of 9-10 m. The wall thickness is 1,3 m from the floor side, and 0,7 m in the level of the second tier from the side of the slope. The tower sides with the rock to the height of the first tier. The entrance is located from the side of the slope in the eastern wall in the level of the second tier. The remained loopholes have the arched tie plates with the sides widened to the both directions. The rock is the floor of the tower, the floor is on beams and with propping up in the sockets of the walls. The tiers were connected by the step ladder.
In 1962, the conservation works were carried out in the tower. In 1966, as a result of the degradation of its rocky foundation by the subsoil waters, a part of the rock with the fragment of the wall was collapsed. In 1983, the restoration of the original look of the tower began.

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Translated by Yana Anufriyeva
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Tower on the Ford

One more tower was included in the system of the Polish Gate. It was situated on the right bank, where the bed of the Smotrych River widened, forming the ford. The place of its location determined its name - "The Tower on the Ford". In the XVIII century, it was sometimes called the Tower of Zaharzhevs'kyi. It was built simultaneously with the Polish Gate not later than in 1564. It is possible, that a wooden tower was located in its place before.

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Translated by Yana Anufriyeva
mail to:
[email protected]