Description of the attraction
It is no coincidence that the Fortress of St. Elizabeth occupies an honorable place among the unique structures of Ukraine. This is the only earthen structure in Eastern Europe, almost entirely preserved to this day. The fortress as a military facility was liquidated two centuries ago. Now it is included in the list of monuments of fortification art of the 18th century. The fortress was named in honor of Saint Elizabeth - the patroness of the Russian Empress Elizabeth.
Together with the outer fortifications, it had a perimeter of about 6 versts ≈ 6, 3 km. and the shape of a hexagon is a regular hexagon. At one time, the Elizabethan fortress served as the main settlement of the Novoslobodsky Cossack regiment and was one of the strongholds of Russian influence in the region: for 11 years, starting in 1753, it was in this fortress that the Russian command in southern Ukraine was located. Also, since 1756, an investigative commission for the Haidamaks has been working here. During the Russian-Turkish military conflict of 68-74 in the 18th century, when the Tatars invaded outside the Elisavetgrad province, the garrison of the fortification not only successfully withstood the siege, but also the Turkish-Tatar army was repulsed from neighboring villages.
Since 1775, the fortress has lost its defensive significance. Nine years later, all the artillery was taken from here to Kherson, and the fortress turns into the city of the same name - Elisavetgrad. The defensive fortifications were named after saints or in honor of Christian holidays: the main gate of the fortress is Trinity, the gate to the city center is Prechistenskie, the gate to the Krepost lane is Vsekhsvyatskie; bastions Ekaterininsky, Petrovsky, Aleksievsky, Andreevsky, Alexandrovsky, Mikhailovsky, Pechersky. And this is not surprising, in that bloody, difficult time, the support of heavenly patrons was very relevant.
