Khotyn fortress is one of the most famous architectural monuments of Bukovina and the Seven Wonders of Ukraine, along with St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Kiev Pechersk Lavra and Khortytsya Island. In the XIII century Prince Daniel of Galicia ordered to build the fortress on the site of Khotyn early Slavonic wooden fortifications of the epoch of Vladimir the Great. On the left the fortress was protected by 5 gates: Yassky, Russky, Bender, Podolsky and Kamenetsky, and on the right above the waters of the mighty Dniester - a deep ditch with an earthen rampart, in place of which eventually built powerful walls of the artillery bastion.

The fortress was important and one of the most powerful in Eastern Europe and more than once became the cause of fierce battles of Poles, Moldovans and Turkish sultans who wanted to capture the fortress.

In 1621 an important battle took place, which made a decisive contribution to the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. The Turks were opposed by Polish-Ukrainian detachments led by Hetman Ya. Hodkevich and the Cossack army of Hetman P. Sagaidachny, who defeated the 150,000-strong Turkish army.

The largest reconstruction works in the history of the fortress took place in the XV century under the rule of Vojvoda Stefan the Great. On the order of Stephen the Great, a wall 40 meters high and 6 meters thick was strengthened and erected. It was during this period that unusual Christian patterns appeared on the walls of the fortress: Babylons - symbols of wisdom and Golgotha - symbols of the holy mountain. The hieroglyphs were believed to have magical powers, which helped the fortress to withstand the siege.

The fortress was equipped with water supply and sewerage. Water was supplied to the premises through ceramic pipes from a well 62 meters deep.

In the XVIII century, when the Khotyn fortress was under the power of the Turks, new defensive structures were added to the fortress: a rampart, bastions and entrance towers with a minaret and a mosque tower. There is a legend that one of the cellars of the fortress contained a harem of 30 girls.

A wet spot can be seen on one of the walls of the castle. According to legend, a girl was walled up in the wall, and the moisture is her tears. According to another version, the girls sacrificed themselves to make the castle invincible and a third version that the girl was killed by an enemy arrow when she was climbing a rope carrying a jug of water for the defenders of the castle.

In one of the towers, a torture chamber has been preserved, with creepy yet fascinating exhibits. These objects, used in the past, testify to the grim history and brutal interrogation methods.

Other fascinating exhibits include carefully restored siege weapons, including powerful catapults and formidable battering rams. These artifacts provide a vivid insight into the ancient art of siege and military tactics of past centuries.

Khotyn fortress is so attractive that it became a shooting ground for many movies. The most famous ones are "Zakhar Berkut", "Taras Bulba", "The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe", "Black Valley", "The Three Musketeers", "The Viper", "Robin Hood's Arrows" and many others.