The impregnable fortress has been standing on the territory of Berestie Land for more than 700 years. Even the most worldly-wise architect can still hardly find a defect in it. It was built forever and will probably be standing here for a thousand years. However it can hardly be said that within its long history it has not experienced serious invasions of enemies.

The history of the tower in Kamyanets

As many other fortified medieval buildings, Kamenetz Tower was built to defense the borders; in particular we are talking about the northern borders of Berestie Land. Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich was the initiator of the construction and architect Alexa had realized such a difficult task.

It was important to find a place where not only the walls but also surroundings could protect the fortress. So the preference was given to the steep river banks, which would make it difficult to approach the armed building. As a result it was necessary to strengthen the fortress with the reliable wooden fortifications fr om only three directions. 

It is interesting that people keep in mind many other names of Kamenetz Tower, for example the White Tower or the White Pillar.

The tower was built in the period fr om 1276 to 1288. In the XIV century the full capacity of the tower was used. That was precisely when it had successfully defended the territories against the attacks of the Teutonic Knights, Tatar forays and other enemies. Even if the neighboring lands were captured, there is no reliable data about the tower surrender. 

Kamenetz Tower and historical events

Of course the progress moved forward. Previously it was impossible to bring war engines to the walls of Kamenetz Tower at a distance of a successful firing range. But in the late XVII century with the development of technology new weapons appeared and the fortress had lost its impregnability.

However, it did not prevent the White Tower from becoming a true monument of architecture. Little by little it stopped functioning as a fortified building. It had become an architectural heritage attracting many historians and architects here.

Nowadays a museum is successfully functioning here. Every visitor of the museum plunges into the atmosphere of antiquity.

Among the most significant museum exhibits one should mention a fairly realistic dummy of a guard looking out the window, skillfully painted picture with the image of Prince Vladimir, ancient shields and replicas of knight's armor. In short, everything that was so ordinary when the fortress was functioning as a defensive construction.

Interesting facts about the sights of Belarus in Kamyanets

Basically, they concern the name. Originally Kamenetz Tower was a solid brick construction. By the way, no major restorations of the tower have been conducted until now. So the bricks and the mortar have preserved since the time of the monument construction.

When the Soviets came to power many scientists and historians by mistake connected the history of the tower with Białowieża Forest. In the XX century the tower was repainted in white. Since that time the false name of the tower stuck. Today the tower has regained the original red brick appearance.

You can see Kamenetz Tower with one of our excursions

Visiting the town of Kamenetz you will see the landmark right away, no matter wh ere in the town you are. This is not surprising, because the building is about 30 meters high. If you go up to the top level, you will get a good panorama of the town.

The Tower of Kamenetz is an interesting architectural monument of Belarus, which must be seen with my own eyes. You can visit it with many sightseeing tours around Belarus. You can see the grandeur of the ancient architectural monument by booking trips around Belarus with a visit to Brest and Belovezhskaya Pushcha.