castle

The ruins of the castle in Złotoria were not the subject of interest for a long time after the Second World War. The first architectural and construction inventory was prepared in 1966. At that time, a description of the castle ruins was also made. These were preliminary architectural studies of the monument. Special actions were recommended to save the fragments of walls that were sliding into the Vistula at that time. The next construction and conservation inventory was prepared by researchers from Toruń in 1967.

According to historical documents, the city of Rohatyn was one of the most developed and well-fortified cities in Ukraine during the 16th and 17th centuries. From the city's founding, two structural parts were planned: the town center (sredmiste) and the castle. The development of the town center and its urban structure has been analyzed in several of our previous scholarly works. Despite significant destruction during the First and Second World Wars, the town center has retained its historical layout and part of its architecture.

The properties of the downtown architectural and town-planning creation in the historical cities of Derazhne and Derazhnya are considered. It has been found that in Derazhne the castle was located in the southern part of today's village, on a wedge ledge formed at the place where the stream flows into the Horyn River. The downtown stood northeast of the castle. Its territory had features of a regular rectangle, and the gates were located on the western and northern sides.

In the article, the authors emphasise that the early modern wooden and earthworks fortifications of Podillia have been virtually unexplored. For the first time, the results of field research of the preserved castle in the village of Kokhanivka of Turbivka settlement community of Lypovets district, Vinnytsia region, and in the seventeenth century - in the city of Kohanhorod (Kokhaniv) are introduced into scientific circulation.

There is a widespread opinion in local history and some scientific publications that in the 18th century, especially in the ownership of the Czartoryski princes, Medzhybizh castle was transformed into a luxury romantic residence. The decorative garden was allegedly created as a result of Izabella Czartoryskas interest in English parks, as a continuation of the architectural program of the main residence in Pulawy. There is even a statement that the garden was arranged in the inner territory of Medzhybizh castle.

This article informs for the first time that in the second half of the 16th century, a citizen of the city of Ternopil, Jan Bąk (“Jan Bonk” in English transcription), was employed by Mikołaj Sieniawski as the architect of Medzhybizh Castle (now in Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine). The notice of this fact was found by the author in the first volume of the manuscript “Płac prawnych prac” (“A place for legal searches” – from Polish).

This article introduces documentary information about the structure, condition, functional purpose and actual use of the fortification complex, residential and economic buildings of the Medzhybizh castle in the second half of the 18th century. For this purpose, the text of the inventory descriptions of Medzhybizh castle in 1763, 1765, 1767 in Polish, adapted to modern spelling, and its parallel translation in Ukrainian are published.

The article presents the chronology of the Turkish and Polish stay in Medzhybizh and control over the Medzhybizh Castle based on documents and publications of archival materials. The short period of Turkish rule, which actually lasted about 8 years, as well as the difficult situation for the Ottomans in Podillіa in 1672-1699, cast doubt on the widespread narratives about the 27 years of Ottoman occupation of Medzhybizh. Instead, there is evidence of the inability of the Turkish military to hold the castle.

The article presents the results of the study of literary sources and natural surveys of the territory of the castle in Rohatyn carried out by the authors. As is well known, the city of Rohatyn of the Ivano-Frankivsk region is one of the oldest cities in Western Ukraine. As early as 1415, the city received the Magdeburg right, which gave potential for more intensive development of the settlement.

The remains of defensive structures are an important component of the holistic perception of the historical context of many settlements in Ukraine. Local administrations show interest in creating graphic reconstructions of monuments as one of the easiest means of popularizing the historical heritage of the area.