Architecture of the Tustan Fortress
“The rock-fortress town of Tustan occupies a special place in medieval wooden construction. The fact is that to this day there is not a single building built of wood of such an early period. Remains of medieval wooden buildings discovered during archaeological excavations give little idea of their appearance – we can learn about the layout of the building from them, but they do not give reliable information about the height structure. Therefore, wooden construction is still poorly understood today.
The builders made great use of the natural terrain and rock formations, supplementing them with wooden structures to increase their defensive capacity, and thus built an impregnable fortress. The rock folds themselves form strong defensive walls, and the gaps between them were filled with wooden walls that blocked possible approaches to the castle.
Where the wooden structures were adjacent to the rocks, special recesses were carved in the stone – grooves and notches – to secure the logs to the rock. Today, these traces allow us to recreate the appearance of the fortress of the 12th-14th centuries, despite the fact that the wooden structures on the rocks have not existed for a long time. More than 4,000 such traces of rock construction have been studied at the Kamin complex of the Tustan rock fortress alone. Since the recesses were dug only for specific structures – walls, ceilings or roofs, they allow reproducing the plan of the building, its vertical structure, the location of walls, ceilings etc. Traces also allow us to recreate the thickness of structures, the length of elements, the nature of the building - that is, what the study of other objects could not identify previously.
“Since the object is non-standard, the main researcher of Tustan M. Rozhko developed a special research methodology. First, architectural and geodetic measurements were carried out, which allowed recording the traces and recreating the buildings behind them. Later, archaeological excavations were carried out, which helped to establish the dating of the fortress, as well as told about its inhabitants”[1].
As a result of these comprehensive studies, Mykhailo Rozhko systematized and classified the footprints on the rocks, but it turned out that there were "too many" of them to reconstruct any one building. After analysing all the materials, the researcher identified 5 periods of wooden buildings in Tustan, which date from the 9th – 13th centuries. Mykhailo Rozhko also suggested the existence of the 6th period when the fortress was partly built of stone[2].
Initially, the building “covered only the dytynets and the few fortifications around it, later the fortress was rebuilt, increased in height and the higher sites of the rock complex were mastered.
Fortifications
As Tustan was a border point of the Galicia-Volyn principality, it had reliable fortifications. The rock complex Kamin is washed on three sides by three streams. The Voronyi stream, which washed the fortress from the south, was blocked by a dam to form a pond. The pond itself already served as a natural barrier on the approaches to the fortress. Next to the pond, there was the first entrance tower through which the fortress could be entered. The road from the tower led over the bottom of the moat. “The moat was dug on the slope because the valley was filled with water at that time. The shaft, formed from the soil thrown out of the moat, served as a dam that protected the path from erosion by water. Archaeological excavations have shown that there were additional wooden structures on the shaft”[3].
In the Kamin-Gostynets tract, the ramparts were of natural origin. "It is possible that they were also involved in the defence of the dutynets complicating the enemy's access to the fortifications even without additional structures, because it is through the Gostynets ridge, that the gostynets most likely communicated with the main road”[4].
“The second line of defence in the form of a wooden wall 2.90 m wide and 13 m high began at the foot of the Velyke Krylo. Two vertical grooves were cut along the entire height of the wall at the junction of the wall with the rock volume. The basis of the wall was an abutment-like structure, which shows traces of grooves that do not reach the surface of the ground, and a large accumulation of stones[5]. “Abutments are wooden walls that are placed parallel to each other at a short distance, where each subsequent longitudinal crown is tied with a perpendicular short log. The middle of the abutment was filled with stones, which made the structure strong and massive”[6].
Поздовжній вінець перев’язаний з перпендикулярною короткою колодою. Середину кашиць заповнювали камінням, що забезпечувало міцність і масивність конструкції»[6].
“The remnants of masonry should be noted separately. The wall was built on the basis of lime mortar with admixtures of burnt clay and coal. Organic impurities (bones) that did not dissolve in lime were also found in the solution. The wall was lined with stones of different sizes and leveled with smaller stones. It was recorded that a system of strengthened arches designed to evenly distribute the load of masonry was used in the construction of the wall”[7].
“The stone wall is located between the grooves in the place where there was a log wall”. Thus, “a stone wall 2.5 m thick blocked the grooves carved on the rocks for wooden walls”[8]. Accordingly, the wall could appear in the stone only after the destruction of wooden walls. Mykhailo Rozhko dated the construction of the walls to the second half of the 13th century[9]. The wall collapsed in the second half of the 1960s.
Entrance to the Dytynets
“The only accessible entrance to the fortress is a gap in the rock formations of Velyke Krylo and Male Krylo . It was here between the rock wall of Malyi Kamin and Male Krylo that there was an entrance to Dytynets”[10]. The vertical grooves on the rocks allowed Mykhailo Rozhko to reconstruct the appearance of the gate. So, the courtyard could be accessed via a drawbridge with a gate tower. Archaeological excavations in front of Malyi Kamin have uncovered pillar pits from a wooden ramp leading to the gate[11].
In addition to the gate, “a space-passage (gate) was artificially formed between the grooves of the transverse wall of Velyke Krylo and the vertical grooves of Malyi Kamin for better communication between defenders and the outside world”[12].
Water Supply
“To provide water during the siege, the fortress had a more than 30 m deep well at the foot which was carved into the rock. There were also two tanks – on the dytynets and on the top – with a depth of 14 and 4 m, respectively, which stored both rainwater and water extracted from the well. There were special mechanisms to raise the water, and the volume of water in the tank was enough for fifty men for 250 days”[13].
The tank on the top of Kamin (60 meters at the level of the valley) was built near the defensive area, which was converted into a tower in the third construction period. This tank was 3.75 m high and was built of hewn sandstone blocks, tightly fitted to each other and installed on the lime mortar[14].
“The tank is located on the southern slope of Kamin 3 m below the level of the Dvir . The cut volume of the tank consists of two parts: the upper one, the square one which is adapted for the ground wooden superstructure, and the lower one – the water storage tank itself. The total depth of the tank is 13.97 m. The capacity of the tank was cut with a metal tool with a round sharpening, which left clear traces on the rock walls – rough chips, inaccurate cutting, slightly conical shape, and the overall narrowing varies from one side to the other from the vertical axis. The lower part was filled with pine needles and branches covered with sand, which did not allow them to float to the water surface (tanning properties of pine needles contributed to better water storage)[15].
“The Tustan well is located in the western part of the base of the rock group Kamin. The site where the well is located is bounded on the east by a rocky ledge, on the west – by a steep slope, at the base of which is a modern dirt road. The height difference between the level of the road and the upper part of the well is 23 m. The height difference between the well and the level of the dytynets of Tustan is 24 m. A so called Vnutrishniy Dvoryk , a natural gap between two ledges of the rock, is located above the well mine. A significant number of hollowed-out grooves have been found within it, which indicates the nature of the wooden courtyard construction. Apparently, the builders, choosing a place for the well, planned to provide water from it directly to the courtyard. A dug hollow mine, which is actually a continuation of the well (about 6 m high) can confirm this opinion.
The well is a vertical mine cut into solid rocky sandstone. In a layout plan, it has a slightly elliptical shape, elongated along a north-south line. At different depths, its diameter was constantly changing[16].
“There was a special drainage system in Tustan. To prevent the wooden structures from rotting, a system of streams was built to divert water from poles and other wooden structures to the foot of the rocks”[17].
“In the 13th century, during its heyday, the fortress covered all possible galleries and terraces from the foot to the top. The height of the entire building in the courtyard reached 25 m, in five floors, each with a height of 3.5-4 m, which is a sign of a supreme level of building culture”[18]. “The height of the interior is a multiple of the length of the oblique barrel; similarly – the size of the grooves and cuts is a multiple of spans, elbows, fathoms, which indicates that the builders used the ancient Slavic and ancient Rus system of measures[19].
Tustan Cave Rooms
"Apart from traces of actual rock construction in the form of grooves, cuttings, etc., it also includes several caves – natural and artificial ones. The question of the time of creation and use of artificial caves is difficult. At one time, the typology of Christian cave complexes in Ukraine and the periodization of the historical process of formation of cave monasteries in Rus were developed by T.A. Bobrowski (1993). According to this typology, the first, earliest period was associated with the emergence of the 10th-11th centuries’ cave temples on the sites of ancient pagan sanctuaries. Pagan underground sanctuaries, represented by small natural grottoes, adapted for religious purposes, were developed and transformed into monastic complexes with planning type AB (single-chamber caves and local group of single-chamber caves) in this period (Lyadova, Nagoryany, Mizhhirya (Monastyrok), Bubnyshche, Iliv). The next period covers the second half of the 11th-12th centuries, and may be related to the missionary activity of the lowest monastic orders. These complexes, as a rule, were adjacent to large settlements and differed in the complexity of planning (Lyadova, Bakota, Zymno, Vasyliv, Neporotovo, Rozgirche, Bubnyshche, Nagoryany). The third period – the second half of the 13th century-late 14th century – is associated with the Mongol-Tatar expansion. This time is characterized by the mass emergence of cave monasteries – shelters. In the early 14th century, a completely new category of cave monasteries emerged which was associated with the penetration of hesychasm, an ascetic Christian movement. This process spanned several centuries – 14th-17th centuries for the west of Ukraine (Mykolayiv, Berezova, Bubnyshche, Stradch, Pochaiv, Sataniv, Berizky Bershadski, Studenytsia, Sokillets, Subich, Oknytsia, Komariv, Bakota, Putna, Studenytsia, Oksanivka (Fleminda), etc.).
Tustan cave rooms are few and could have been created both in the first and in the last of the periods”[20]. Among the 3 caves of Tustan, only one is completely artificial. It is located on the Verkhniy Maydanchyk . Above the entrance to the cave, streams for water drainage and gatehouses are preserved. “In the Courtyard, a natural cave was used for housing, which was cut down and widened, which gave it the shape of a room. On the eastern side of the cave lava was cut, in the centre - a recess for the hearth. At the entrance to the cave there are traces of doorways cut into the rock base”[21].
Rock Groups Ostryi Kamin and Mala Skelya
“On the rock groups Ostryi Kamin and Mala Skelya, there were wooden rock fortifications, which most likely had the character of watchtowers on the approaches to Kamin”[22]. “Due to the geographical location of Ostry Kamen and Mala Skelya, the valley of the river Stryi was visible, and therefore they learned about the approach of the enemy there earlier and reported to Kamin. There was a special alarm system for messages, which could report the danger over a long distance very quickly. During the day they signaled with smoke, at night – with fire, and in no visibility, they signalled with sound, including a horn or a trembita”[23].
[1] Рожко В. Тустань – унікальне місто-фортеця//Галицька Брама,2011. – №1-2. – С.2
[2] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони українських Карпат у княжу добу. – С.130
[3] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони… - С. 144
[4] Миська Р Погоральський Я. Нові археологічні дослідження Тустані//Фортеця, 2012. – Кн.2. – С.24
[5] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони… - С. 144
[6] Там само. – С.132
[7] Рожко М. Тустань – давньоруська наскельна фортеця. – С.196
[8] Рожко М. Тустань – давньоруська наскельна фортеця. – С.25
[9] Рожко М. Тустань – давньоруська наскельна фортеця. – С.196
[10] Там само. – С.109
[11] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони… - С. 178
[12] Рожко М. Тустань – давньоруська наскельна фортеця. – С.61
[13] Рожко В. Тустань – унікальне місто-фортеця//Галицька Брама,2011. – №1-2. – С.2
[14] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони… - С. 142
[15] Миська Р. Нові дані до історії наскельної фортеці Тустань. . – С.335
[16] Миська Р. Нові дані до історії наскельної фортеці Тустань… . – С.338
[17] Рожко В. Тустань – унікальне місто-фортеця//Галицька Брама,2011. – №1-2. – С.2
[18] Рожко В. Тустань – унікальне місто-фортеця//Галицька Брама,2011. – №1-2. – С.2
[19] Рожко М. Тустань – давньоруська наскельна фортеця. – С.139
[20] Рідуш Б. Проблема датування печер у Тустані//ІІІ міжнародна наукова конференція Пам’ятки Тустані в контексті освоєння Карпта у доісторичну добу та середньовіччі: проблеми їх збереження та використання. Збірник тез. – Львів, 2016. – С.123-124
[21] Рожко М. Архітектура та система оборони українських Карпат… – С.134
[22] Миська Р. Нові дані до історії наскельної фортеці Тустань… . – С.342
[23] Рожко В. Тустань – унікальне місто-фортеця//Галицька Брама,2011. – №1-2. – С.3