Medzhybizh Castle when built as a bulwark against Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 expansion in the 1540s, was one of the strongest fortresses in Podolia

Podolia

The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...

. It is situated at the confluence of the Southern Bug

Southern Bug

The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh), is a river located in Ukraine. The source of the river is in the west of Ukraine, in the Volyn-Podillia Upland, about 145 km from the Polish border, and flows southeasterly into the Bug Estuary through the southern steppes...

 and Buzhenka rivers, in the town of Medzhybizh

Medzhybizh

Medzhybizh, previously known as Mezhybozhe, population 1731, is a town in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of western Ukraine. It is located in the Letychivsky Raion , 25 kilometres from the Khmelnytskyi on the main highway between Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia at the confluence of the Southern Buh and...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

.

The castle's founder was Mikolaj Sieniawski

Mikolaj Sieniawski

Mikołaj Sieniawski was a notable Polish magnate, military commander and a prominent politician of his times. He built Brzeżany Castle round which the modern town of Berezhany has developed....

, and the Sieniawski family owned Medzhybizh (Polish: Międzybuż) until its extinction in the early 18th century. The stronghold was reconquered from the Turks

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in 1699 and passed to the Czartoryski

Czartoryski

Czartoryski is the surname of a Polish-Ukrainian-Lithuanian magnate family also known as the Familia. They used the Czartoryski Coat of arms and were the leading noble family of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century.-History:The Czartoryski is a family of a Grand Ducal...

 princely family in 1731.

The last rebuilding effort was undertaken by the Russian imperial authorities in the 19th century. Much restoration has been carried out on the fortress since 1968. Within the walls are a small-scale museum and a church from 1586.