Khotyn Fortress
Ukraine · Europe
About
The Khotyn Fortress (Ukrainian: Хотинська фортеця; Romanian: Cetatea Hotinului; Polish: twierdza w Chocimiu; Turkish: Hotin Kalesi) is a fortification complex located on the right bank of the Dniester River in Khotyn, Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine. It lies within the historical region of northern Bessarabia, a formerly Romanian territory occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The fortress is located near another famous defensive structure, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle. Construction of the current stone Khotyn Fortress began in the late XIV century, when these lands had already become part of Moldavia. The fortress underwent significant improvements in the 1380s and in the 1460s under the Romanian princes Alexander the Good and Stephen the Great.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.