Ostrog (fortress)
Encyclopedia
Ostrog was a Russian term for a small fort, typically wooden and often non-permanently manned. Ostrogs were encircled by 4-6 metres high palisade
walls made from sharpened trunks. The name derives from the Russian word строгать (strogat), "to shave the wood". Ostrogs were smaller and exclusively military forts, compared to larger kremlin
s that were the cores of Russian cities. Ostrogs were often built in remote areas or within the fortification lines, such as the Great Abatis Line.
From the 17th century, after the start of the Russian conquest of Siberia
, the word ostrog was used to designate the forts founded in Siberia
by Russian explorers. Many of these forts later transformed into large Siberian cities.
When later Siberia became a favourite destination for criminals sent there to serve katorga
, Siberian ostrogs became associated with imprisonment
, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the word ostrog often meant prison.
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
walls made from sharpened trunks. The name derives from the Russian word строгать (strogat), "to shave the wood". Ostrogs were smaller and exclusively military forts, compared to larger kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
s that were the cores of Russian cities. Ostrogs were often built in remote areas or within the fortification lines, such as the Great Abatis Line.
History
Russian conquest of Siberia
The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of vassalages which were becoming undermined by the activities of Russian explorers who, though numerically outnumbered, pressured the various family-based...
, the word ostrog was used to designate the forts founded in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
by Russian explorers. Many of these forts later transformed into large Siberian cities.
When later Siberia became a favourite destination for criminals sent there to serve katorga
Katorga
Katorga was a system of penal servitude of the prison farm type in Tsarist Russia...
, Siberian ostrogs became associated with imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the word ostrog often meant prison.