Fortress of St. Elizabeth

Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Ukraine

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Fortress of St. Elizabeth in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, is an 18th-century earthen fortress shaped like a six-pointed star, constructed in 1754 under orders from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to defend New Serbia settlements from Tatar raids.

Built by Ukrainian Cossacks from the Hadiach-Myrhorod regiment led by engineers Ivan Glebov and L. Mentselius, it featured bastions and ramparts, serving as a military hub, officer school site in 1763, and Ukraine's first civilian printing press in 1764.

It withstood a 1769 siege by Turkish-Tatar forces, housed Cossack archives until 1918, and lost defensive role by 1775 after the Zaporozhian Sich's destruction, evolving into the city's foundational symbol with preserved barracks and two cannons. Today, its earthworks form Kropyvnytskyi's coat of arms and a central landmark near the Inhul River, marking the site's shift from outpost to urban core.