Kamyanets'-Podil's'kyy Things to Do

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The old town hall is said to be the oldest Polish town hall still existing and houses a small museum. The actual town hall is of course situated in the new city.

Opposite the town hall is the old Armenian Fountain.

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Kamenetsk-Podilski consists of two strictly separated parts. the one is the very Soviet modern city with rectangular wide roads and there is very little which might be interesting to see but it is the part where you usually arrive - mostly by bus from Chernivtsy and Khmelnitsky or by train and where the both relevant hotels are situated plus some restaurants with good standard Ukrainian food.

The other part is the old fortified town on the sandstone rock which is impressively surrounded by a canyon formed by an almost perfect loop of the Smotrych river.

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The Town Hall (Ratusha), dating to 16cent., was a place of the Polish City Council. It consists of two parts – the two-storey building, the actual Ratusha and the Bell Tower. Before 1616, these were two separate buildings located 3 m apart from each other, but after the 1616 fire, they have been joined into one.

Looking at the Town Hall Bell Tower one gets impression that it’s been treated as a construction toy by local architects. It looks like every major architect just felt an urge to add something new to the existing building. As a result, the tower combines gothic windows on the first level, with renaissance “body” and baroque features added by Jan de Vitte in 18 cent. The interesting feature – two clocks – the old one on the 4th level and the new (19 century) on the top level.

The Town hall holds several exhibits – medieval torture exhibit in the cellar (yes, they did torture people here); the coin museum and the Magdeburg Right museum. The entrance fee is 2 UAH for each exhibit.

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A stunning monument, a gem, which could make proud any respectful European museum is exhibited in the cathedral. A young woman is laying on the couch, and a cupid is guarding her sleep. The attention to a detail is incredible: every petal on the flower garland, every fold on the cover, every lock of the woman’s hair are carved so masterly that they create a feeling of a breath. And only the upside-down torch in cupid’s hands and the unfinished book, opened on page 21, symbolize her early departure.

Laura Pszezdecki, a daughter of a wealthy Polish nobleman from Chornyi Ostriv (The Black Island), died at 21 after she fell from a horse and broke her spine. The carrara marble gravestone made by Viktor Brodsky, a well-know Russian sculptor. A four-ton monument was put in the church, at the entrance to the family crypt in 1876, two years after her death. In Soviet times, and the crypt has been destroyed, the monument thrown out and the family church has been converted into the club. The monument would not have survived if it hadn’t been transported to the cathedral (then a museum of atheism) in Kamyanets.

When artistic value of the monument was truly recognized, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow as well as Lenigrad’s museum of Arts (which collections include many artifacts from Ukraine including from Kamyanets) demanded a monument to be transferred to their respective museums. Due to shipment difficulties (a way too heavy, plus minor cracks in the marble) as well as beginning of the WWII, the transfer has been postponed, and soon Laura has been forgotten. Thanks to that Kamyanets preserved one of its true pearls and tourists still can enjoy this masterpiece in Kamyanets rather than a Russian Museum.

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The St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, a 600-year-old vitness of the city history, is a great example of architectural and relegious tolerance. it successfully combines european Renaissance, Baroque with Muslim architecture, wchich makes it one of the kind in Ukraine.
The St. Peter and Paul Cathedral successfully combines European Renaissance, Baroque with Muslim architecture, which makes it one of the kind in Ukraine. A 600-year-old witness of the city history, is a great example of architectural and religious tolerance

The Lithuanian Princes, the Koryatovychs, were the founders of the first wooden Roman Catholic Church built in 1370. The building of the stone church is connected with the name of Bishop, Yakiv Buchats'kyi (1502-1517), who was a devotee and a wealthy man; he has given some money for fortifying of the Kamyanets' Castle.

After Turks conquered the town in 1672, they converted Peter and Paul's Cathedral into a mosque by adding a minaret in front of its western front. And needless to say, that when Podillya was returned to Rzech Pospolita, the mosque has been converted to the church. To the credit of the Catholic Church, it didn't destroy the minaret, just "converted" it into a high column and put the statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of it.

The cathedral underwent a major reconstruction in the middle of the XVIII century, when Yan de Vitte did major repairs in the Roman Catholic Church in the Baroque Style on request of Bishop Dembovs'kyi (1740-1757). The new Main Altar and the figures of four Evangelists have been added, while the main front was decorated with the pilasters, capitals and sculptures. The memorable plaque with bishop’s coat was put on the front wall of the church to commemorate his efforts.

a tower-shaped pavilion located next to the city hall attracts attention. It was built in mid-XVIII by Jan de Vitte, a well-known architect, to cover what is know today as the Armenian Well.

The water supply has been a long-standing problem in Kamyanets. To get to the potable water, one had to take a detour road and travel to the Hunnic springs, located 3 miles outside of the city. Those who didn’t want to travel that far could buy a barrel of water for 25-35 kopeiks (in silver), or use dirty water from the Smotrych River, which often led to mass pandemics of typhus, cholera and dysentery.

According to the legend, in the early 17 cent., Nercess, an Armenian merchant, donated a large sum to resolve the problem and to built a water supply system. Well, the money felt through a crack or ended up in someone’s pocket, and the problem remained until in 1638, the Polish King Wladislaw Waza ordered the city to build a well. The central location (the Polish Market) was chosen, and the work began. Well, the ground turned to be a solid rock. It took the city 22 years to build a 40-metter deep and 6 meter wide well. To common disappointment, the water turned to be bitter-salty and believed to be used only for a limited time.

An attempt to revive the well was taken in 1889. the well was cleaned, and water was even sent to chemical testing to prove again - not potable. As for the pavilion built over the well, it has been used as a city storage. Now the city is looking into converting it into the museum/souvenir shop.

“The last, adjacent to the last, in honor of the last of the last.” This riddle, filled with right words, will tell you in a nutshell everything about the location and the history of the Triumph Arch. This is the LAST building on Tatarska St., adjacent to the LAST building of the Polish Market, in honor of the LAST visit of the LAST King of Polish –Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Latin inscription on the arch says: "The King Stanislaw II August has passed here on November 11, 1781."

The baroque arch is decorated with 4 angels (only two preserved), and the statue to John of Nepomuk, the patron of bridges, good fame and confession, in the center.

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After Turks conquered the town in 1672, they converted Peter and Paul's Cathedral into a mosque by adding a 36.5-meter minaret in front of its western front.

A 145-step stone spiral staircase leads to the minaret’s balcony, one of the most spectacular view points on the fortress and Smotrych Canyon. (According to the lady in the church the minaret serves as a view point during the summer time with a permission of the church’s catholic priest).

The copper statue of Blessed Virgin Mary was erected on the top of the minaret in 1756 to commemorate the banishment of the Turks. The statue was manufactured in Gdans'k and placed on May 10, 1756 with bell rings and cannon shooting in the castle. The Blessed Virgin, in an 12-star aureole around her head, stands on the Terrestrial Globe and Half Moon and is blessing the town and land. In memory of this event the inscription was carved in the bottom part of the Minaret: "The Pure Blessed Virgin, the Patroness of the City".

The minaret is the only monument of the Turkish heritage that has preserved in the town.