Tower of Kamenets
The Tower of Kamenets (also called the White Tower ; Belarusian Белая вежа ; Belaya Wescha ) is a fortification tower and is one of the main attractions of the Belarusian city of Kamenets .
history
The tower of Kamenets was built between 1276 and 1288 by order of Vladimir Vasilkovich , the prince of Halych-Volhynia . The planning was done by the architect Aleksa. Similar towers of the Volhyn type were also found in other cities such as Brest , Hrodno , Nawahrudak , Turau , Chełm , Sambor and Staryj Chortoryjsk . Apart from the Tower of Kamenetz only remained Tower of Stołpie (now Poland ) to the present condition.
The Kamenez Tower survived the attacks of the Teutonic Order between the 14th and 17th centuries and attacks by Polish and Lithuanian princes as well as wars between the Republic of Poland-Lithuania , Sweden and Russia .
In the 19th century the tower lost its defensive importance and was neglected. In 1822 it was proposed to dismantle the brickwork, but over time it turned into stone.
The remains of the mound on which the tower stood disappeared in the course of its restoration in 1903. In addition, a stone wall was built around the tower. In the 1950s, the Kamenez tower was whitewashed and the floor was paved with stones. Further restoration work took place from 1968 to 1973 and 1996 to 2003. Today there is a museum in the tower.
From 2004 to 2015, the Kamenets Tower was on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage in Belarus .
description
The tower shares some features of the Donjon towers built in Western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is a five-tier rotunda that is 30 meters high, 2.5 meters thick and has an outer diameter of 13.6 meters. The foundation is 2.3 meters high and 16 meters in diameter. It consists of dark red and yellowish stones.
The tower was built for defensive purposes, which is why it lacks architectural and decorative elements.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Tower of Kamenets on insidebelarus.com (English)
- ↑ a b Kamenets Tower on belarus.by (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 17 ″ N , 23 ° 49 ′ 10 ″ E