Ukraine Trip – Chris Dusk
May 22 – Castles
We visited a number of castles today. We set out from Hotel Ternopil. Mykulyntsi was our first stop. It was essentially an empty shell of a castle. We took pictures from a distance, but didn’t visit it closely.
We then headed to Terebovlya. This was another shell of a castle, but one that I would never want to try and attack. There was a fairly steep climb to get to the castle itself, and the castle would not have been easy prey. The view from the walls was excellent.
Next, we went to Krywche. All that was left was a couple reduced sections of wall and some towers. The view was incredible though.
Next, we went to Okopy. There was nothing left of the castle but its two gatehouses. However, there was a vantage point where you could look out onto the meeting point of Dniester River and Zbruch River. It was a beautiful view. From there, you could look out onto what had been the borders of Podilya, Romania, and Poland. It was fantastic.
Then we went to Hotyn. The castle is absolutely incredible. There is an outer wall that surrounds an encampment area and the main fortress itself. Just outside the gate is a monument to Petro Sahaidachnyi who led Ukrainian and Polish troops to victory over a massive Turkish army at Hotyn. The castle itself is incredible. The walls reach 40m high; 60m at the towers. Inside the castle is interesting. You can see where they had access to the river for resupplying and all of the internal buildings. We then went around the castle, along the riverfront. The view of the river and bank, and the castle was incredible. Many pictures were taken.
Finally, we went to Kamyanets-Podilski. The castle itself was quite interesting. It wasn’t quite as imposing or impregnable as Hotyn, but it was beautiful. It had a large interior area, but several towers and tall walls. We went into most of the towers and saw the well, powder rooms, and various other areas. The castle was quite interesting and absolutely beautiful. Then we went into the town it protects. The town’s defences were still mostly intact and the town itself was well maintained/restored. All the old buildings were in good shape and it looked like we had walked through a time portal to several centuries ago. The town was absolutely incredible. The view of the castle from the town was excellent too.
