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Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle
Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle (Ukrainian: Кам'янець-Подільська фортеця; Polish: twierdza w Kamieńcu Podolskim; Russian: Каменец-Подольская крепость; Turkish: Kamaniçe Kalesi) is a former Ruthenian-Lithuanian castle and a later three-part Polish fortress located in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, in the historic region of Podolia in the western part of the country. Its name is attributed to the root word kamin', from the Slavic word for stone.After a series of political changes following the 1905 revolution, political parties and organizations were allowed by the law throughout the Russian Empire. In 1906, a total of 67 political organizations were based in the castle. Among them was the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party's newspaper "Iskra" (Spark). A decree issued by the Sovnarkom of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1928 declared Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle complex a historical-cultural preserve. During the late 1930s, plans were made to turn the castle into a museum, and reconstruction work on the buildings was started in 1937. Among the museum attractions added was a scene depicting Karmaliuk in the castle's prison cell in the Pope's Tower, where he was kept during his imprisonment in the castle. Visitor numbers for the castle during the 1930s reached 300,000 a year.
In 1947, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle was placed on the all-Union list of historic preserves. A memorial plaque and a bas-relief resembling Karmaliuk was erected near the Karmaliuk exposition on April 18, 1958. Restorational and archaeological works have been conducted in the castle since 1962 under the supervision of architects Y. Plamenytska and A. Tyupych. On May 18, 1977, the National Historic-Architectural Reserve "Kamianets" was established. On September 13, 1989, the Ukrainian SSR Government placed "Kamianets" reserve on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
In 2004, the "Kamianets" reserve was upgraded to that of a national preservation district. In August 21, 2007, the complex was declared one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine when it came in 3rd place in a nationwide competition. A severe storm on August 1, 2011 partially destroyed the New Western Tower; the city mayor's office didn't deny that the tower's structural integrity was weakened during its last reconstruction in 2007, paving the way for its collapse just four years later.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia