The courtyard of the fortress
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In the interior of the fortress housed built residential, military, economic and religious buildings. Here's how they describe the already mentioned Turkish official, "was built on the old fortress town has gates of Constantinople, Timishoarsku, Water and covertly. In the outer court there are two baths, two mosques and near the gates of Constantinople a lot of shops; before the inner fortress there is a bath and gates Enicher-Agassi (the commander of the Janissaries), nearby - a mosque and barracks of the Janissaries; Finally, at the end of the valley is a powder magazine. Above - Pasha Palace, and in front of him - the house sofa Efendi (a secretary of the sultan). Across the road is finely decorated public bath defterdara (government official, who was involved in the financial affairs) Kasim Effendi, it is similar to the Istanbul bath before it well and mosque late valide-Sultan (the title of mother of the reigning sultan) in the vicinity of their trial and the cemetery where is Abdi Pasha. At the same cemetery rests a lot of godly men. Abdi Pasha was buried in a marble sarcophagus, well carved and ornate, gilded and vizirsky turban. Inside, to the right of the gates of Constantinople, were artillery barracks space for wagons and Palace defterdara; Left - a pantry of bread, a spacious and well-built, like no in Rumelia, or in port, or in other fortresses. Next to the bath Kasim Effendi - a well-built school and the arch. " Unfortunately, only in some places extending from the grass foundations remind us of the dense inner granted New fortress in the past. Relatively well preserved only remnants of a mosque with a minaret-valide sultan, built, apparently at the expense of the mother then ruling Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730 gg.). Their ruins are now well traced across the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. Although the fortification complex New Fortress was founded on the European model, in the decoration of certain facilities used elements of traditional Ottoman architecture and marks associated with military symbolism. The latter is most at the entrance gate - central Constantinople (Bender) from the south, west Timishoarsky (Iasi, Izmail), northeastern Water (Podolsk) and southeastern covertly (Kamenetz). Their facades but secretly adorned the top of the chronogram "of gold on blue, made letters taliks (a form of Arabic script)." These poetic inscriptions were dedicated to significant events and glorified action Pasha. In the picture gate of Constantinople, made by the Russian military at the end of the XVIII century. This chronogram surround also numerous drawings, of which only a few have survived. The majority of these drawings ("the sword of Ali", "heart", "crossed the snake", "anchor", "rosette", "fish", "minaret") - is the emblem Janissary Horta - military units that served in the fortress . Similarly, emblems, symbols janissaries attached special importance, they are proud of them and reproduced on banners, tents, barracks walls, like tattoos on the body, and the like.
The result is a grand building of a new fortress was succinctly described by the Moldovan and Russian statesman Dmitry Kantemir: "... in 1712 the Turks captured the fortress, partially destroyed the old walls, but it was surrounded by sturdy structures for new models, increasing them by more than half, so that Now it is rightly regarded as the best and the strongest fortress of Moldova. " Although contemporaries and considered new Khotyn fortress "the best and the strongest" in the construction were not considered innovative at the time and form of technology, prevailing in European military engineering science, and being based on the outdated principles of the French fortification system. After all, before the end of the XVII century. and the long curtains, and finally faceted bastions disappeared from European defense architecture because of the impossibility of adequate protection against artillery.
Despite this, during the XVIII Art. the fortress was never taken by storm, but surrendered three times - in 1739, 1769 and 1788 The last time it happened during the Russian-Austro-Turkish War of 1787-1791., when Galicia-Bukovina body imperial troops under the command of Prince Ivan at Coburg support of Russian troops blocked the Khotyn fortress in May 1788 and after fierce fighting September 29, 1788 forced its garrison to surrender on honorable terms. Hazyaynuyuchy in Khotyn in 1793, the Austrians did not manage to significantly affect the architecture of the fortress complex at the premises of the mosque valide-Sultan, which was adapted for housing for the Commandant, officers and the garrison priest deliberately destroyed before the evacuation of troops in February 1793 True, this time from the past the greatness of this building there is not much when Russian troops seized the fortress August 31, 1739, they damaged the roof and the floor of the mosque, broke the sarcophagus Abdi Pasha and took a rich Turkish library, which is stored at the mosque. Of course, the Turks then able to restore their places of worship.
Turkish authorities, who returned in 1793, lasted only until the new Turkish-Russian war in 1806, at the beginning of which the royal army occupied Khotyn fortress and held it up to the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest May 28, 1812 According to the terms of the Dniester-Prut interfluve with Khotinshchina inclusive, It became part of the Russian Empire. But even before the formal transfer of these territories in chief of the Moldavian Army General MI Golenishtchev-Kutuzov March 14, 1812 sent a secret letter privy councilor presiding sofa principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Senator B. Red Milashevich with a request to assist the tasks entrusted "with the highest command of His Imperial Majesty" on military engineer Major General Harting, which went into Khotyn for "amendments and strengthen" Fortress "in the case of rainfall." In order Harting was supposed to provide 2,000 workers with his "entrenching tools" and 150 wagons. Already in the 20 days of March came the first thousand people, and in the autumn of 1812 a whole day zadiyuvalosya to 11 thousand. Working with different tsinutov, and the number of wagons has grown to 250. The commandant of the fortress at that time was known Major General M . I. Liders, veteran of the war of 1787-1791., who distinguished himself during the assault Ochakov, in 1805 fought at Austerlitz, in 1809, was seriously wounded in the assault Braila. October 7, 1810 he was appointed commandant of Khotin, and October 25 - also the commander of the garrison battalion Khotyn. Since August 1812 participated in the battles with the French, but at the end of December 1812 he was ordered to return to the city and begin to fulfill the commandant service, he and his nose to the resignation in 1820
However, not all commanders Khotyn fortress noted such heroism. One of the first long held the position Colonel Hesse, but in May 1808 it had opened proceedings on complaints from residents of Khotyn Ivan Petrov for the appropriation of money, bills and things. Soon, he was removed from his post, and in the next case it (debt collection for firewood merchant Kamenetskii Azarsovu) already featured different Khotyn fortress commander - Colonel Baron Lange, and performed these duties until the appointment of M. Lüders.
In addition to purely repair work, while in the fortress under the Russian submission was conducted and determined its reconstruction, after which a military object was assigned the second rank. Probably in the western curtain was made one more entry, so-called. "Russian Gate", was situated between the western and north-western bastion. In addition, in another it was resolved entrance to the castle - punched holes in the second tier of the gate tower, which led to the bridge on the same support, that now serves as the input. The room of the mosque was used as a warehouse for food supplies.
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