Bilhorod-Dnister Fortress

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine, Ukraine

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Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Fortress, also known as Akkerman Fortress, in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine, rises on the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Tyras from the 4th century BC, with its medieval core built by Genoese traders in the 13th century on the Black Sea estuary to control vital trade routes amid Golden Horde influence.

Expanded under Moldavian rule by Stephen the Great in the late 14th-15th centuries into Ukraine's largest fortress spanning 9 hectares, it boasts 34 towers up to 20 meters high, double walls up to 5 meters thick, a 20-meter-deep moat, and four courtyards including a citadel, garrison, civil yard, and port yard with barbican gates like the ornate Kiliya Gate.

Withstood sieges through Ottoman occupations from 1484, Russian-Turkish wars, and into the 19th century before becoming a Russian Empire outpost, these white limestone walls now form a preserved historical monument drawing visitors to its layered Byzantine, Moldavian, and Turkish architecture.