Khotyn

Khotyn ({lang-uk|Хотин}},{lang-ro|Hotin}}{; see other names) is a city in Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine, and is the administrative center of Khotyn Raion within the oblast, and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, it has a population of 11,124.

Khotyn, first chronicled in 1001, is located on the right (southwestern) bank of the Dniester River, and is part of the historical region Bessarabia. Important architectural landmarks within the city include the Khotyn Fortress, constructed in the 13-15th centuries (new fortress started in 1325, major improvements in the 1380s and 1460s), and two 15th century constructions by Moldavia's ruler Stephen the Great: the Prince's Palace (Palatul Domnesc) and the city's clock tower.

Historically, the town was part of the Principality of Moldavia (1359-1432, 1459-1538, 1541-1562, 1572-1615, 1621-1673, 1699-1712), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1432-1459, 1538-1541, 1562-1572, 1615-1620, 1673-1699) and the Ottoman Empire (1711-1812) . Subsequently, it was part of the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (1812–1917), Moldavian Democratic Republic (1917–1918), Romania (1918–1940, 1941–1944), the USSR (1940–1941, 1944–1991) and Ukraine (1991 - ).

Khotyn Fortress

The Khotyn Fortress (Ukrainian: Хотинська фортеця, Polish: twierdza w Chocimiu, Turkish: Hotin Kalesi, Romanian: Cetatea Hotinului) is a fortification complex located on the right bank of the Dniester River in Khotyn, Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is situated on a territory of the historical northern Bessarabia region which was split in 1940 between Ukraine and Moldova. The fortress is also located in a close proximity to another famous defensive structure, the Old Kam'yanets Castle of Kamianets-Podilskyi.

Construction on the current Khotyn fortress was started in 1325, while major improvements were made in the 1380s and in the 1460s.

The fortress is a large tourist attraction for the area and Ukraine. In 2007, the fortress was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine. It is also a National Ukrainian Architectural Preserve as of 2000.

History

As a Rus' stronghold

The Khotyn Fortress's beginning goes back to the Khotyn Fort, which was built in the 10th century by Prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich as one of the border fortifications of southwestern Kievan Rus', after he added the land of present-day Bukovina into his control. The fort, which eventually was rebuilt into a fortress, was located on important transportation routes, which connected Scandinavia and Kiev with the Ponyzia (lowlands), Podillia, Genoese and Greek colonies on the Black Sea, through Moldavia and Wallachia, on the famous "trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks".

Cossacks 3

Cossacks 3 is an upcoming real-time strategy video game for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux made by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. It will be released in 2016. The game will be a remake of the 2001 classic and is again set in the 17th and 18th centuries of Europe. The original 12 nations will make a return as well as 70 various types of playing units, 100 scientific researches, and over 140 diverse historical buildings.

The game will feature up to 7 players support, armies numbering in thousands of soldiers, reconciled game mechanics, a vast selection of unit types, cold steel and firearms, influence of the landscape, and the realistic physics of bullets and cannonballs will provide the player with an unlimited number of realistic tactical opportunities. Possibility to unite into teams or to play against the computer. Flexible customization of random maps with selection of the desired landscape are to return as well.

The developers have also mentioned official modding support and tools will be coming out with the release of the game in an interview, the same tools used to make the game.

Battle of Khotyn

Battle of Khotyn can refer to several battles that took place near Khotyn:

Ukraine

Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/; Ukrainian: Україна, tr. Ukraina [ukrɑˈjinɑ]) is a country in Eastern Europe,bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland and Slovakia to the west, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It is currently in dispute with Russia over the Crimean peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but Ukraine and most of the international community still recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km² (233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world, and a population of about 44.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world.

The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus' forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but its territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire, and later submerged fully into Russia. Two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II, but both occasions would ultimately see Ukraine's territories conquered and consolidated into a Soviet republic, a situation that persisted until 1991, when Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War.