Sataniv Castle
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member UKRDOUG
N 49° 15.419 E 026° 15.175
35U E 445638 N 5456292
The castle is first mentioned in 1431 when the Odrowaz family who improved the stronghold to stand against Tatar raids purchased it.
Waymark Code: WMDMVD
Location: Ukraine
Date Posted: 02/02/2012
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 4

Sataniv Fortress

The town of Sataniv is first mentioned in 1404, but the settlement probably had a much earlier beginning. It is unlikely that a Slavic settlement would have chosen such a name since it means “Town of Satan” in their language. The settlement must have existed prior to the Slavic migration into the region. The most likely theory is that the Roman Emperor Trajan made it that far after defeating the Dacians in 106 A.D. Legend has his general Tonilius asking the Emperor if the army should move deeper into unknown lands or was this far enough. Emperor Trajan responded “Sat an non” (this is far enough) which gave this Roman settlement its name.
The castle of Sataniv also must have existed before the first mention of the town in the early 15th Century. The Romans would have built some form of defense to protect their northernmost settlement. A four-tiered stone tower that still stands today includes loopholes for shooting arrows, which dates the fortress to at least the early 14th Century. The castle is first mentioned in 1431 when the Odrowaz family who improved the stronghold to stand against Tatar raids purchased it.
In the middle of the 16th Century the castle was purchased by the influential Sieniawski family based in Berezhany to serve as their first line defense against the raiding Tatars. They improved the defenses of the castle and surrounded the town with a wall with a magnificent gate of which one tower still stands today. This proved to be unfortunate for the inhabitants of Sataniv who became a constant target of the raiding Tatars, who often took the fortress over the years.
It was during this time that one of the sons of Sataniv rose to infamy. Severyn Nalyvaiko was born in Sataniv and the ruling Polish magnate killed his father when he was a little boy. He fled with his mother to Ostroh where his brother was studying in seminary. He joined the registered Cossacks serving in the Lithuanian army and fought against the rebellious Zaporozhian Cossacks. But he never forgot about the murder of his father and he eventually formed his own band of Cossacks to fight against the Polish Kingdom for his own principality in the region of his birth.
He made a bold attack against the Lutsk Fortress, the capital of the Volhynian Principality, and slaughtered all the Polish nobility living within its walls. From there he moved into what is now Belarus and captured Mogilev. He then offered peace to Polish King Sigismund Vasa III under the conditions that they cede the lands of Podilya to him. Sigismund refused and eventually captured Nalyvaiko taking him back to Warsaw where he was publicly quartered (cut in four pieces to be displayed around the kingdom).
The 17th Century proved to be the harshest for the town of Sataniv. In 1617 the Tatars sacked the town. The following year Sataniv was granted the Magdeburg Law giving it semi-autonomy to rebuild. The Tatars sacked the town again in 1651. Two years later the Zaporozhian Cossacks surrounded the town. The citizens were tired of fighting and opened the gates to them. The Cossacks spared the town and waged war against the castle. Eventually the Cossacks stormed the fortress slaughtering all the defenders. Later the Polish army retook Sataniv and punished the citizens by killing every tenth male. The Turkish army came in 1672 and conquered the region until the Polish-Turkish War ended in 1699 and the region was returned to Poland. With calm restored, Russian Czar Peter the Great came for a visit to the Sieniawski family in 1711. The castle was rebuilt for the last time in 1722.
Accessibility: Full access

Condition: Completely ruined

Admission Charge?: no

Website: Not listed

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