Ostrozhskyi Princes' Castle

In the last quarter of the 16th century, a unique historical landmark appeared on the lands of Khmelnychchyna — the castle of the princes of Ostroh. It stands on a site surrounded by two rivers — Ikopot and Sluch. Its uniqueness lies both in the date of construction (in the same years as the city of Starokostiantyniv) and in the speed at which it was built. The first mention of the castle dates to 1570, when Ostrozkyi came there to oversee the construction process. Over the years of his life, he visited it about 15 times.

Photo from twitter.com

The castle is not only a residence of the Ostrohs, it is also a powerful defensive structure. According to the records, in 1621, during an inventory, there was a considerable amount of weapons here, which explains the failure of the Tatar army that repeatedly sought to capture it. The castle complex included about 12 buildings. Over 16 years, their condition deteriorated significantly, as recorded in the inventory conducted in 1636. The assault by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi caused major damage to the castle. After it, only two houses remained.

After the death of Anna Khodkevych, Ostroh's granddaughter, the castle passed to the princes of Sangushko. However, the new owners never came here once. From then until the present day, the castle has been continuously repaired and restored, but the building is still in poor condition and needs major repairs and restoration.

Interesting facts:

• In the 1990s, the castle was supposed to be restored by the Ukrproektrestavratsiia institute. However, the restoration work was carried out without proper load calculations, and a large part of the funds was stolen, which only caused even more damage to the building.
• During archaeological excavations conducted in 2001-2008, remains of fortification structures from the late XII – early XIII century were found.
• According to historical records, the castle had five towers. Only two have survived to this day.