Cherkasy Castle ( uk, Черка́си замок) is a former medieval wooden castle in
Cherkasy
Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the capital of Cherkasy Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city has a population of
Che ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
built as a defense against enemies of the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragment ...
and later against Turks and
Crimean Tatars
, flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg
, flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars
, image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg
, caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...
.
The city of Cherkasy grew up around the castle.
The wooden castle was rebuilt in 1549.
Today traces of the castle no longer exist.
The structure of the castle
The dimensions of the first castle were by along the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...
strip.
The walls were built of oak and pine logs, placed vertically and very tightly filled with earth.
At the corners of 4 pine towers were large-caliber guns, made in Cherkasy in 1532.
The castle was located within the modern square of
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...
, on
Castle Hill. At that time,
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
region was under the rule of
Lithuania, and Cherkasy was owned by
Skirgaila
Skirgaila ( la, Schirgalo; be, Скіргайла; pl, Skirgiełło, also known as Ivan/Iwan; ca. 1353 or 1354 – 11 January 1397 in Kiev (Kyiv); baptized 1383/1384 as ''Casimir'') was a regent of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for his broth ...
.
The walls of which stretched along the hem of the modern .
The castle had barns, stables, barns, a house for the elderly, rooms for guests, a house for the castle staff, two pubs, a prison and a church.
It was surrounded by a wide moat.
The city of Cherkasy itself was built on both sides of the castle which had a fortification and a prison with two gates.
Site today
The square is equipped with footpaths, lighting and park benches. At the entrance to the park there is a
stele with the image of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in honor of the 325th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. In the center is a monument to a prominent Cossack
ataman
Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comma ...
, and short-lived
Voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...
(
Prince
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
) of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...
,
Ioan Potcoavă
Ivan Pidkova ( uk, Іван Підкова) or Ioan Potcoavă (died 16 June 1578), also known as Ioan Creţul, and Nicoară Potcoavă among Romanians, was a prominent Cossack ataman, and short-lived Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia (November–Decem ...
.
See also
List of castles in Ukraine
References
{{reflist
Castles in Ukraine
Castles
15th-century establishments in Ukraine