Akkerman Fortress

The fortress at Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi stands on the Dniester estuary on ground occupied since the Greek colony of Tyras, and the present walls were built mainly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries under Moldavian and then Ottoman control. It is one of the largest fortresses in Ukraine: about two kilometres of curtain wall, twenty-six towers, a deep dry ditch and four courtyards, with the citadel in the corner above the water.

What you actually see

• The curtain walls - about two kilometres of wall with twenty-six towers.
• The citadel - the inner keep in the corner above the estuary.
• The ditch - a deep dry moat cut round the landward sides.
• The Tyras excavations - the Greek colony site within the walls.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable season. The fortress is open year round with shorter winter hours. Summer weekends bring events and crowds.

Honest expectations

There is very little interpretation and the site is largely bare walls. Some towers are closed for safety. The wall walks are uneven with no railings in places.

Nearby

Shabo is nearby, and Odesa is northeast.