Okopy, Ternopil Oblast

Okopy Окопи
Village
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Ternopil
Established	1692
Area
• Total	1,541 km2 (595 sq mi)
Population
• Total	1,880
Website	Ukrainian Parliament website

Okopy (Ukrainian: Окопи) is a village (selo) in western Ukraine. It is located in the Borshchiv Raion (district) of the Ternopil Oblast (province), and had its origins as a Polish fortress at the meeting of the Zbruch and Dniester rivers.

The current estimated population is around 557 (as of 2005).

The settlement was previously referred to as Okopy Svyatoyi Triytsi (Polish: Okopy Świętej Trójcy, Ukrainian: Окопи Святої Трійці), translated as the Ramparts of the Holy Trinity.

The stronghold and the neighbouring town were built in 1692, by Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski, Grand Hetman of the Crown. The site was chosen by King Jan III Sobieski of Poland, as a measure to stop a possible attack from the nearby Turkish-seized fortresses of Kamieniec Podolski, twenty kilometers away, and Chocim, eight kilometers away. The fortress was expanded by Tylman of Gameren, one of the most notable Polish architects of the time.

The site is a natural fortress: a small strip of high rocks linking the Zbruch and Dnister rivers. Tylman of Gameren decided to build a double line of fortifications (two rampart lines of bastion system) with two gates leading east- (Kamieniec Gate) and westwards (Lwów Gate). Other directions were defended by towered walls and natural escarpments over the river banks, with walls stretching along both sides of isthmus on the edge of steep slope to the river. The construction was started under the command of the General of Horse Artillery, Marcin Katski, and the works were finished in the same year. The nearby village was also fortified. In 1693 Jan III Sobieski built a votive church in the compound. Israel ben Eliezer, a Jewish mystical rabbi, and the founder of the Hasidic Jewish movement, one of the most important Jewish denominations, was born in Okopy in 1698.

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Wikipedia