Medzhybizh Fortress

The Medzhybizh Fortress (Ukrainian: Меджибізька фортеця, romanized: Medzhybiz'ka fortetsya) also known as Medzhybizh Castle (Ukrainian: Меджибізький замок; Polish: Zamek w Międzybożu), is situated at the confluence of the Southern Bug and Buzhok rivers, in the town of Medzhybizh, Ukraine. Today the castle is part of the National Historical and Cultural Reserve.

The first fortification on a high cape located near the confluence of the Buzhok and Southern Bug rivers dates back to the period of Kievan Rus'. Medzhybizh town was first mentioned in historical chronicles in 1146, but archaeological findings on the territory of the castle show that the town existed much earlier. In the 13th century Medzhybizh was part of the Bolokhiv land, and at that time there was a wooden fort on this place. It was dismantled by Daniel of Galicia in 1255.

The first stone castle was built here during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (14th century), when the Koriat's owned the Podolia land. Some buildings of the Lithuanian period were preserved under the buildings of the following periods. Since 1540, Medzhybizh castle and town was the property of hetman Mikołaj Sieniawski (1489–1569) and his descendants. Then the size of the castle was increased to the perimeter of the modern territory. In 1672–1699, during the occupation of the Podolian Voivodeship by the Turks, the castle housed a Turkish garrison.

Since 1731, as a result of his marriage to Countess Maria Zofia Sieniawska, the castle became the property of prince August Aleksander Czartoryski and their descendants as part of the dowry. In the 18th century the castle lost its important military purpose and turned into one of the provincial residences of the Czartoryski family. In 1790–1791, Tadeusz Kosciuszko was the chief of the Medzhybizh garrison.

After the second division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1793) and the annexation of the Podolian Voivodeship, Medzhybizh passed to the Russian Empire, but remained the property of the Czartoryski family. In 1819, prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski opened a school in the castle for children of the local nobility. For this, the castle was slightly rebuilt, as a result of which it acquired neo-Gothic stylistic features. For participation in the November Uprising of 1830–1831, the castle was confiscated along with all the Czartoryski estates.

Text adapted from “Medzhybizh Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Medzhybizh Fortress ranks #1,710 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #34 of the 188 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 1586, it is older than 35% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,897 times in the last 60 days, more than 81% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗