ukraine: kamyanets podilsky

I went to Kamyanets-Podilsky my first school year in Ukraine, but I hadn't seen the town since. Since I knew this would likely be my last chance for a while, I figured out a free weekend to return. Getting there was easy, but not terribly convenient. The tickets were cheap, but that's because they were for seats on the train, not sleeper beds. The train left Kyiv mid afternoon, and arrived just after midnight in Kamyanets-Podilsky. Combining the seat and the timing of the train, I dozed on and off, but didn't really sleep.

I'd booked a place to stay for three nights, since the train back to Kyiv left in the middle of the night, and I just wasn't in the mood to carry my pack all day then spend hours at the train station in the late evening and night Sunday/Monday.
The guy who owned the place had sent a message to tell me he would pick me up at the train station when the train arrived. He did so, which was awesome.

There were a couple other people on the train staying at the same place, we were all in the car together. Driving to the hotel didn't take long in the car, it would've taken me a lot longer to walk the distance. As I've experienced in other places in Ukraine, there was no sign outside the building, there is no way I would've found it on my own.

My room had a giant skylight, which I loved. I fell asleep after looking up at the black sky.

The next morning I woke up early, despite going to sleep so late. Annoying to me, because I was tired. Also annoying to me was that it took me foreva to get moving. I didn't leave my room until just after noon, despite being awake for hours already.

My hotel was on the island part of Kamyanets-Podilsky. This is the part that is surrounded by city walls and a few of the old tower gates. There is a newer part of the city, not on the 'island.' Not surprisingly, most of the sights of the city are on the island, so that's where I stayed.

When I got out the door I realized I was really thirsty, and kinda hungry. I used my phone to figure out the closest supermarket, so I walked in that direction. While walking I saw several places of interest. The first was a church, which is basically the first thing anyone sees after crossing the bridge onto the island. It's not a church that makes much of an impression in terms of aesthetics or architecture, but it is the first thing you see, so it's memorable.

The grocery store was off island, so I walked across the bridge, which is also memorable. The bridge goes over a canyon of sorts, which is filled with greenery at this time of year. There is also a small creek at the bottom, which is quite pretty.

Just after crossing the bridge I took a path which took me down to the bottom of the path. It was pretty steep, and not in the greatest condition. I imagine it gets dangerous when there has been a lot of rain. When I got to the bottom I saw a pedestrian bridge crossing the creek, and started to go over. The bridge wasn't in great condition though, and I turned back after just a few steps. I normally have the courage to go over sketchy bridges, but I wasn't loving the swaying, and missing planks. Oh well.

I climbed back out of the canyon and took a look at a fountain, managing to take a photo just before a couple moved in to have wedding photos taken. When they moved in, I knew it would be at least 30 minutes until the area was free of people again. 

From there I walked to a nearby monument, which was memorializing the soldiers who founght in the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Across the street from the monument is a big church. St. Alexander Nevsky is the name I think. It's an Orthodox Church, with silver domes on top.

The church is on a small hill, which makes it seem even bigger. I climbed the steps and went through the gate onto the property, then found the door to the church. It was closed, but unlocked. When I entered, the guy directly inside looked at me as if to inquire what I was there, but I'm pretty sure it was obvious I'm a foreigner, so he waited for me to speak. I tried to communicate that I just wanted to see the church, and he let me go into the sanctuary.

It was stunning. The entire sanctuary is painted with frescoes. There is painting inside the cupola, painting on the concrete columns, painting on the walls, etc... The iconostasis in the front was gold, with colourful icons. My neck got whiplash of a sort, trying to take it all in.

After the church I walked just a bit further to the supermarket. It felt really good to finally have something to drink, and I grabbed some snacks as well. I also ordered a hot chocolate from the stand out front, I"m such a sucker for hot chocolate.

I walked back to my hotel, then I followed the closest road, which took me to one of the old tower gates, and what remains of the city walls in that area. My travel book said this gate is seven stories tall, but it didn't look that big to me. I'm hoping I got something mixed up, because I'd hate for a guide to be wrong. There were doors at the bottom of the gate, but they were locked. Darnit.

I followed another road for a while, which took me into the center area of the island. I found another church, one that I remembered from my first visit 5 years ago.

The first time I visited I was able to go into this church, but this time the doors were locked. Oh well. The front of the church is bordered by a small cemetery, which had a lot of flowers growing already. It was beautiful, and peaceful. I walked out another way, through a small gate, which was also beautiful.

I walked down the hill, and ended up at what is called the Polish Gate (I'm assuming it was built or named when this part of the country was part of the Polish Empire) which is gorgeous in an abandoned building sort of way. Sadly, there was plenty of rubbish laying around, from people who had a picnic inside the gate remains. People really ought to clean up after themselves. I climbed around a bit, which was fun. Given the way some of the stone was collapsing, I can't help but wonder how/why the whole thing is still completely open for anyone who wants to climb around. (Then again, Ukraine is not known for taking safety precautions.)

I walked back up the hill, and followed the path all the way into the city center. I found a church that wasn't exciting from the exterior, nor was it exciting inside. I think the church was under renovation, I hope religious items would be put back in, and soon.

When I got to the platz in the city center I found the area full of people. Apparently there was some sort of festival taking place, though I never found out exactly what it was. There was a stage set up, as well as stalls selling popcorn and other snacks. People were milling around, a concert of sorts started not long after I walked into the area.

On one side of the platz was a souvenir village, with lots of perma-stalls set up with ukrainian souvenirs and knick knacks for the town itself. I didn't find anything that interested me, and there didn't seem to be many people looking around.

I walked toward the sight for which Kamyanets-Podilsky is most well known. It's a castle/fortress on one side of the island. There are heaps of photos taken of this castle/fortress, it's the most common thing to be seen on a postcard and/or magnet. As I got close I realized how tired I was, and since I'd seen the interior before (five years ago,) I opted to skip that this time.

From there I wanted to dinner. I chose a steak restaurant in the newer part of town. The food was okay, but the service left much to be desired.

I walked back to my hotel, enjoying the city lit up at night. Some of the areas in the canyon were lit up, as was the bridge. Very pretty. 

The next morning I woke up early again, and managed to get out the door slightly earlier than the day before. My first sight of the day was off island, it was a Chornobyl memorial. After touring Chornobyl itself, and learning the history of what happened at the nuclear plant, I always make an effort to see these memorials. All nuclear disasters have been human caused, and all could have been prevented.

I went back to the same supermarket as the day before, getting more to drink, and more snacks. And more hot chocolate from the stand out front.

I crossed back onto the island, and figured out how to get to yet another former tower of the former city walls. This one wasn't as easy to get to, I had to follow a couple paths that clearly aren't used very often. This tower was also closed and locked. Argh.

The guidebook says the building next to this tower was an old synagogue, but it didn't look like a synagogue anymore. I'm pretty sure it is now a restaurant, argh.

My next sight was yet another former tower in the former city defenses. This one was much more difficult to find. The first street I tried was blocked off, so I wound through other streets. Google maps had a street marked on a map, but it wasn't really a street. It was actually just a streak in the grass that had been walked on a few times. I followed the 'street' and eventually got to where I wanted to go. The tower here was missing a roof, and a door. There were windows though :)

Back in the land of 'normal' roads, I walked to a place listed as a Dominican monastery on maps. The outside walls were high, I couldn't see much of anything. When I got to the front door I saw a wedding party exiting the church. It wasn't a big group, so I hung out for a little, and waited until they pulled away. The front door was still unlocked, so I went in. I'm not sure the church is normally open to the public. A good portion of the sanctuary was blocked off, and under renovation, but I still enjoyed taking a look inside. Somehow I don't think the church was normally open to the public, I just got lucky with my timing. 

Further down that particular street was a set of ruins. My guidebook told me it is what remains of an Armenian church. When I use the word ruins, I mean foundation ruins; there is hardly anything to see. The gate is still in front of the ruins though, I wonder if the gate is taken care of more often than the ruins?

Out the backside of the ruins I noticed another church. This one was tiny, but new, used, and well taken care of. I peeked inside, and as it was so small I wondered if it is used as a place to have services or is just for the members of a church order. It's really small, but it has an iconostasis and several icons.

I made my way down the hill, which basically took me to the bottom of the canyon. Along the way I passed what used to the be the barracks for the soldiers who used to guard the city. I wanted to go in the gates of this abandoned building, but when a dog inside the gates jumped up and started barking, I changed that plan.

At the bottom of the canyon I found a bridge crossing the river. This one was a lot more sturdy than the bridge I'd seen the day before, so I took advantage and used my tripod to take a couple photos. The path on the other side of the bridge took me straight up the other side of the canyon, right to another church. I stepped inside, and judging from the look on the face of the priest, there aren't many visitors to this church.

My map had another former tower/gate marked, and I went hunting for it, but never found it. Obviously the map was wrong, or it doesn't exist at all. Argh.

At that point I followed the street I was on, which went down a hill. I ended up seeing the backside of the famous castle/fortress, and I ended up thinking this was a better view than the one you usually see in photos.

To get to the last sight I wanted to see I used my phone to tell me the quickest path to walk. For anyone who has read any of my posts, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I wanted to see another church. This one is called St George.

I walked all the way there only to find that the gates to the property were closed, as were the doors at the bottom of the bell tower. Darnit.

Since I didn't have anything else of interest to me to see, I walked back to my hotel. I hung out for a while, then walked to the same restaurant for dinner as I'd visited the evening before. This time, they didn't have the first two options I wanted, but I found food to eat.

After eating I walked back to my hotel, and hung out in my room for a few hours. Even though I wouldn't be spending the entire night, I'd paid for the night as I didn't have other ways of spending time until the train left. I dozed off and on, not really sleeping, but not staying completely awake either. 

At the right time, or even a bit late, I started walking to the train station. I walked really really fast to the train station, and got on the train less than 10 minutes before it left. The next morning I arrived in Kyiv, totally sleep deprived. It's not fun trying to sleep sitting up, but that's the way the timing of these trains worked.

There are a couple areas nearby Kamyanets-Podilsky that I'd like to come back to see, but I don't know if it will happen in the forseeable future. I'll put them on the list anywho.