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| The Kamenetsk tower in Belarus 2019 |
In the city of Kamenets of the Brest region, there is a unique monument of architecture and defensive architecture of the second half of the 13th century - the Kamenetsk tower (Kamenets pillar, Kamenetsk tower).
On a hill near the once-full-flowing Forest River, a magnificent structure rises like a huge chess rook.Ancient Kamenets According to the annals, the Kamenets tower was erected between 1276 and 1288.
By order of the Galician-Volyn prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, the architect Alex found a place where the city and Vezha with a wooden castle soon appeared.
Kamenetskaya vezha (tower) belongs to the Volyn type and has common features with donjon towers, common in the 12th-13th centuries in Western Europe.
The five-tier round construction in the plan (height about 30 m, wall thickness 2.5 m, outer diameter 13.6 m) stands on a stone foundation with a height of about 2.3 m and a diameter of 16 m.
The tower is made of brick of dark red and yellowish colors.
Vezha in Kamenetz was defensive and has few elements of architectural and decorative plastic: narrow loopholes, 4 flat niches with semicircular endings. The upper platform is surrounded by 14 rectangular teeth with holes for viewing, a decorative strip is laid out around the perimeter in a special way.
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| Kamenetskaya vezha(tower) |
Kamenetsk tower. Drawing of Napoleon Horde. XIX century Similar towers in the Middle Ages existed in many cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Mstislavl, Myadel, Novogrudok, Polotsk, Radoshkovichi, Turov, Shklov, but only Kamenetskaya has survived to this day. This is its uniqueness.
In the XIV-XVII centuries, the tower withstood the raids of the crusaders, the assaults of the troops of the Polish and Lithuanian princes, the armies of the Commonwealth, Sweden and the Moscow state fought against its walls.
By the 19th century, the Kamenetskaya Vezha lost its defensive significance and was abandoned. In 1822, they tried to disassemble it into a brick, but over the centuries the masonry turned into a real stone.
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| Kamenetskaya vezha(tower) |
Tower in Kamenetz The remains of the earthen rampart and wooden castle disappeared in 1903 during restoration work. According to the project of the architect Suslov, a layer of earth was removed around the tower, and the first tier, which was previously considered the cellar, again appeared on the surface. Around the tower, they poured and overlaid with a stone an annular shaft. In this form, the monument has survived to the present day.
In the early 1950s, the tower was first whitewashed, and the floor was paved with stone. Restoration work was carried out in 1968-1973 and 1996-2003.
Many legends, believable and fantastic, are associated with the Kamenetsk tower. For example, the stone pillar is a monument to the unknown giant who built the tower.
The Kamenetsk tower is a museum now.
Museum "Kamenetskaya Tower" Nowadays, the Kamenetskaya Tower - a monument of history and culture - is under state protection. |
| Kamenetskaya vezha (tower) |
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| Kamenetskaya vezha(tower) |
Here is the museum "Kamenetsk Tower". Sightseeing tours "Architectural monuments of Kamenets" are held on the upper platform. A visit to the tower is included in various excursion programs.
The Kamenetsk tower is on the preliminary list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Tour to Belovezhskaya Pushcha includes a visit to the Kamenetsk Tower.
