City Hotyn fortress

The attention of researchers is drawn to the town of Hotyn. Archaeologists found the remains of a culture that dates back to the 6th -7th and the 8th -10th centuries. On the remnants of an old wooden fortress (that lies at a depth of 10 metres from the surface) a stone fortification was built in the 13th century. Having undergone a great many reconstructions and restorations the fortification exists till now.
After Dukovina became a part of the Moldavian Principality Stefan IE the Qeat (1457-1504) extended and strengthened the fortress.

At that time Hotyn was a centre of international trade. Merchants from Eastern and Western Europe and from the Middle East came there. The secretary of the Popes nuncio in Poland, A. Graciani, wrote about the Hotyn fair in the 15th century: "a lot of beef that were exported fed not only the population of Qus and Hungary but also Poland, Germany, Italy and even Venice." The Moldavian Treasury got ten thousand golden coins from its custom-house per year. Many heroic events of Bukovinian history are closely connect¬ed with Hotyn. In 2002 Hotyn celebrated its thousandth anniversary. The best-known event of this city was the Hotyn War of 1621. That year, at the beginning of September, the Turkish Sultan Osman II brought to Hotyn an army of 250,000 men, over 300 cannons, a lot of camels, horses, mules and four battle elephants. Poland could oppose the Sultan with an army of only 35,000 thousand, with Yan Hodkevich at the head, and 40,000 Cossacks headed by Petit Sahaidachny.

A witness and participant in the war, Jakub Sobiesky said: "More than 60 cannons were roaring ceaselessly, the sky was burning, the air was darkened with smoke, the ground was trembling, the rocks were breaking apart. The things that took place that day couldn't be described... Both sides were fighting with ardour and courage beyond expression and that became despair".

The decisive role in that war was played by the Cossack army. Having exhausted the Turkish army, Petro Sahaidachny led his troops in counteroffensive. The Polish army attacked too. The Sultan Osman II had to make peace with Poland. To the mind of many historians, the Hotyn War saved Ukraine and Poland from Turkish invasion.

The Battle of Hotyn has been described in numerous literary works. The heroes of the Battle have been glorified in Ukrainian and Polish songs. The feat of the Ukrainian and Polish warriors was celebrated by a Croatian poet Hundulych on the Adriatic Sea. It was the poem "Osman". Diaries of the Battle participants were made known widely. A Polish poet, Wazfaw Potazky, wrote a poem about the Hotyn War. Meanwhile, Ukrainian writer Osyp Makovei composed the story "Jamshenko", also dedicated to the event. Zinaida Tulub mentioned the Battle in her historic novel 'The Peoplecatchers". Stressing the role of the Hotyn War in 162X, the great Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko called it the starting point of the decay of the Osman Empire. Ukrainian warriors were covered with eternal glory in this battle. Among other participants of the Battle there was Petro Mohyla, the future Kyiv Metropolitan and the founder of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

With the formation of independent Ukraine interest in these historic events did not fade. The International conference of the 27-28th of September, 1991 "370 Years from the Hotyn War", the erection of monuments to Petro Sahaidachny and others confirm this interest.

During the Liberation War of the Ukrainian people against the Polish gentry in the middle of the 17th century Bohdan Khmelnitsky's troops stayed in Hotyn in 1650. The people of the town greeted the Ukrainian Cossacks and assisted them in every possible way. The memory of the marches of the Cossacks is still alive within Hotyn villages. It lives in songs, stories, leg¬ends, and local geographical names, all of which glorify the struggle of Zaporozhian warriors against the enemies of Ukraine. The Chemivtsi Museum of Pegon-al Studies contains a lot of old relics and monuments found by archaeologists on Hotyn fatness. The Hotyn region was also a battle field later on. There was a big battle under Stavchany near Hotyn during the Russian-Turkish War of 1725-1759. The result of this battle was the capture of Hotyn by the Dussian army. The famous Dussian poet and scientist M. Lomonosov dedicated his "Ode to the capture of Hotyn" to this event.

Another interesting incident, closely connected with the Hotyn fortress, happened in 1825. According to archival data, the libraries of the executed Decembrists were transferred to it. Perhaps they are still in the caves of the fortress.

The name of a notable student of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Hotyn bishop Amphilohiy, also has a  tight connection with the history of the town. A man of high education, culture and outlook, he became the first enlightener of the area. Books on mathematics, nature studies and geography ordered by Amphilohiy Hotynsky in Italy, were translated into Moldavian and published in 1795. He was the first to popularize the theories of Copernicus Galileo and Newton.

At the beginning of the 20th century Hotyn inhabitants went strike and took up arms in defense of their territory against the Romanian army in 1919 and against fascists during World War II. Now there are different monuments dedicated to these events in Hotyn.
Years, decades, centuries have passed. Only monuments and graves remind the present generation of the past eventful times. Old fortifications and trenches are covered with grass and flowers. Earth, bread, paternal houses, ancestors' faith, and traditions have stayed.