The Tustan Fortress

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    Tustan is a medieval rock fortress of the 12th-15th centuries and a rock defence complex, whose remains are located in the Ukrainian Carpathians (Eastern Beskids) – in the Stryi district of Lviv region, near the village of Urich, south of the town of Boryslav and southeast of the village of Skhidnytsia.[1]. A unique monument of history, archeology, architecture and nature, it is part of the Tustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve.

    Tustan was a defence and administrative centre, as well as a customs point on an important salt road leading from Drohobych to Transcarpathia and Western Europe.[2]


    History

    The earliest written mention of Tustan dates back to 1340 and can be found in the work by the Polish chronicler Janko of Charnkow who was Vice-Chancellor of Polish King Casimir III. In his chronicle, which covers the events of 1363-1384, he mentions “Lamburg or Lviv, the town of Przemyśl, the town and city of Sanok, the town of Korosno, the cities of Lyubachiv, Terebovlia, Halych, and Tustan among the cities and towns of the Kievan Russ lands which were re-fortified by the king. Janko of Charnkow does not mention anything about the capture of Tustan, but another Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480) directly points out that, in 1340, “King Casimir took over all Kievan Russ in just one summer”: “Casimir…, on the birthday of John the Baptist, moved to the lands of Russ and captured the towns and castles of Przemyśl, Halych, Lutsk, Volodymyr, Sanok, Lyubachiv, Terebovlia, Tustan, and other Russ towns and fortresses[3].. Mentions by these two chroniclers indicate that Tustan had already existed as a defensive fortress before its capture by the Polish king in the 14th century. This is evidenced by archaeological research.

    The oldest documentary mention of Tustan is contained in the bulla by Pope Boniface IX of May 15, 1390. It refers to the transfer by Wladyslaw of Opole of the town of Rohatyn, castles in Olesk and Tustan, with districts, hamlets, property and all lands, as well as tithes of salt in Drohobych and Zhydachiv for the newly established Galician Catholic Diocese.

    In addition to defence, Tustan performed an administrative function and was the centre of the volost . This is evidenced by the royal deed of gift regarding the village of Krushelnytsia dated November 4, 1395. It states that the village of Krushelnytsia of the Tustan volost is given as a gift to faithful servants Ivan and Damian and their sons with all their possessions… with forests, meadows, fields, and hayfields[4].

    Eventually, the fortress came under the rule of Polish magnates and gentry. This is proved by the royal deed of gift dated 1539. At the request of Jan of Tarnow, the king donated to Nicholas Blizinski and his heirs “the fortress of Tustan, which, in fact, was just a rock in the Stryi mountains near the border with Hungary”. They undertook “to defend, restore, strengthen and maintain this castle on the mentioned rock at their own expense and by their own efforts”. It is not known whether the Tustan fortress was repaired and fortified, but Blizynsky donated the village of Pidhorodtsi and the Tustan fortress to Jan of Tarnow in 1541[5].

    Tustan was a customs house. A trade route whereby merchants carried salt passed through it. The road went from Drohobych through the nowadays village of Tustanovychi, then through Tustan and the village of Pidhorodtsi, which was a suburb of the fortress, and then through the valleys of the rivers Stryi and Opir to the Carpathian passes. From there on, the road went to the countries of Western Europe. The existence of the trade route is indicated by the toponyms Pidhostynets , Gostynets , and also the mountain Tovar [6].The garrison of Tustan collected customs duties from merchants and provided them with protection during the transportation of their goods.

    The fact that the Tustan fortress existed up to and including the 16th century is confirmed by archaeological research and documents: the last known written mention of the fortress dates back to 1565. It is given in the Lustration of Drohobych Salt Zhupa . It states: “… in Tustan, they take tolls from merchants who go through the mountains, passing Drohobych. The rent is 14 zlotys”.

    The gradual decline of the fortress was caused by several factors: 1) economic factor: in the 16th century, Central European countries were developing their own salt deposits, so there was no need to export it from Galicia. Tustan lost the role of customs; 2) political factor: in connection with the stabilization of political relations between Poland and Hungary and the advancement of Polish borders to the east, Tustan ceased to play the role of a border defensive fortress; 3) military factor: changes in military equipment and, accordingly, in military tactics, led to the loss of the defensive significance of the castle.

    Read more about the History of the Tustan Fortress

    Architecture

    The Tustan rock fortress occupies a special place in Medieval wooden construction.

    Rock formations, which in and of themselves are powerful defensive walls, were very successfully used by builders. The gaps between the rocks were filled with wooden walls that blocked possible approaches to the castle. Where the wooden structures were adjacent to the rocks, special recesses were dug in the stone: grooves and cuts to fix the logs in the rock. These traces allow us to recreate the appearance of the fortress of the 12th-16th centuries, despite the fact that the wooden structures themselves have not existed for a long time. More than 4,000 such traces of rock buildings have been studied at the Tustan Rock Fortress complex Kamin alone.

    After analysing all the traces, the main researcher of Tustan Mykhailo Rozhko came to the conclusion that the fortress was constructed in several stages, was constantly being developed, increased in height and reached the higher sites of the rock complex. During its heyday, the fortress covered all possible galleries and terraces from the foot to the top. The height of the whole building in the courtyard reached five floors, each 3.5-4 m high, which evidences a supreme level of building culture[7].

    The fortress had a well and two tanks to supply water during the siege. Remains of a stone wall have been preserved to this day. It was 2.5 m thick and covered the grooves carved on the rocks for wooden walls.

    Read more Architecture of the Tustan Fortress

    Archaeology

    During the archaeological research of the Tustan fortress, more than 25 thousand archaeological finds were collected[8]. Among them are wooden buildings, metal products, ceramics, glass, leather goods.

    The most interesting among the metal products are a cross-encolpion, a ring shield with an engraved pattern of a bird, a bronze mace, a sledgehammer, an ax, crossbow arrowheads, shaft-hole and tanged bow arrowheads, spearheads, steel for striking sparks from flint, spurs, bell cores, wood cutters, needles, book clasps.

    Wooden finds are represented by a large number of wooden structures, including fragments of six doorposts, gallery pillars, fragments of logs, perches, boards with dovetail incisions, shingles, clapboards, as well as wooden spoons and a shovel[9].

    Researchers date fragments of ceramic pottery discovered during archaeological excavations back to the 12th-17th centuries. Tiles were also found, including elements with a relief image of Saint George the Dragon Slayer killing a dragon[10].

    Read more Archaeology of the Tustan Fortress


    Petroglyphs

    Rock carvings (petroglyphs) constitute a special part of monuments of ancient culture of mankind and its primitive art. In Tustan, petroglyphs are mostly located in the central and largest group – Kamin , and are in hard-to-reach places. Among all the petroglyphs of Tustan, the attention of the scientist Mykola Bandrivsky was attracted by a group of images that look like a circle, a disk or schematic rounded figures. Such signs are called solar. The researcher analyzed the placement of these solar signs and believes that there was a certain system of placement of signs that were applied to the rock according to a pre-designed plan. However, not all researchers agree with the idea of the man-made origin of “solar signs”. In particular, Doctor of Geological Sciences Bohdan Ridush proved that these were natural reliefs of fossilized sea sponges, which were formed in the process of rock weathering.

    Petroglyphs of man-made origin have also been preserved in Tustan. Of particular interest are single images of animals: a wolf catching up with a moose, a horse and a rider. During excavations led by M. Rozhko on the slopes of Velyke Ktylo , a group of rock paintings was discovered, consisting of eight figures: five axes, two crosses and one four-legged swastika.

    Most of the petroglyphs could have been created in the 18th-20th centuries, when the rocks of Tustan were already a well-known site for travellers. Heraldic signs present a significant group of discovered monuments. These are mainly tridents, as well as symbols of various organizations.

    Read more Petroglyphs of the Tustan Fortress

    Sources


    Links

    Шаблон:Замки Львівщини

    1. ↑ Щур Р.; Коханець М./ Тустань (Державний історико-культурний заповідник). Історія. Фольклор / Роман Щур; Сколівські Бескиди (Національний природний парк) / Михайло Коханець.—Львів: Новий час.2002.—72с.:іл. ISBN 966-95279-2-9
    2. ↑ В. П. Кучерявий, Г. Шнайдер, Л. В. Пархуць, З. Ю. Шеремета, Х. Л. Пархуць Ландшафтне планування в умовах гірських населених місць Українських Карпат і Австрійських Альп Шаблон:Webarchive // Науковий вісник НЛТУ України. Збірник науково-технічних праць Шаблон:Webarchive. — 2011. — Вип. 21.16. — 360 с. Шаблон:Webarchive
    3. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    4. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    5. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    6. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    7. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    8. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    9. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
    10. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
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