Akkerman (or Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi) Fortress is one of the largest medieval castles in Ukraine (entrance 80 UAH). It is located in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi on the Dniester estuary, 18 km from the Black Sea and 81 km from Odesa. The fortress was built on the remains of the Greek town Thira, the date of its founding is unknown. It is believed that the founders were Genoese, who came to the Black Sea region in the thirteenth century. Since then, the castle has been changed many times, 1440 it has been significantly expanded by Moldovans (there were 34 towers, some reaching the height of 20 m), then in 1457 the castle was rebuilt by Romanians, and in the 15th century the mosque was erected, but only the minaret remained till today. The foundation of the fortress complex is the Citadel – the most fortified part, built by the Genoese. It consists of four large towers, one of which is dilapidated (the rest are in almost perfect condition). In 1975, during Soviet times, they filmed here movie “Captain Nemo”. After the visit, we moved to Shabo, which is famous for its winery, where we took a nice dinner and made an overnight.
Parking location – Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi: 46.200900N 30.352970E
Parking location – Shabo: 46.144622N 30.372786E (🚻)