Pleskaya fortress

Cathedral Mountain is a hill located on the right bank of the Volga and the left bank of Shokhonka . The foundation of the settlement on Sobornaya Gora dates back to the middle of the 12th century. Its fortification was built at the end of the XII century and was a single-row wall with residential cages. The fortress served as a border outpost of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal , located in a favorable place: the Volga is clearly visible from the Sobornaya Mountain, and ships traveling along the river got into channel curvature, slowed down and became defenseless. In February 1238, during the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the fortress along with the settlement was burned. After the invasion, a cemetery was built on the territory of the former fortress.

View from the eastern side of the Cathedral Mountain to the Volga (further) and Shokhonka (closer)

In 1410, by decree of Vasily I, to protect Kostroma and Moscow from the Tatar-Mongols, a new fortress was built on the same hill, which became part of a unified customs and defense system of the Volga border.

Its territory was expanded 10 times. A new shaft 170 m long, 6 m high, 29 m wide at the base was poured on the south side, the steepness of the outer slope did not exceed 25 °. At the eastern edge of this rampart was the entrance to the fortress. Under the defensive structure was made sand bedding - pillow. From the outside, the remaining unoccupied edge of the site was reinforced with a layer of clay. The multilayer chopped walls of pine logs, built with the latest military equipment, encircled the fortress for 800 m. There were several towers, but only the north was studied in detail. It had a base of 9 × 9 m. Its walls were suitable for opposing artillery shells and consisted of two parallel walls, the space between which was covered with mud brick, and above it with stone. The total thickness of such a wall was not less than 0.6 m. The corners of the tower were made with the release of the ends of the logs ("round"), which added rigidity to the structure. A similar construction had a section of the wall adjacent to the tower on the east side. Brick was used in the construction of the entire defensive complex as a whole, but the brickwork was not used as a foundation, since the brick was laid dry, without mortar, and a powerful wooden base was traced everywhere under the masonry tapes; masonry was placed in the cavity between the logs on the log flooring in 2-3 rows. At the western corners of the tower, the masonry power reached 0.7-0.8 m (8-9 rows). Perhaps in this way both outer sides of the tower were reinforced.

The fortress of 1410, along with the settlement, was burned by the Kazan Tatars in 1429 after their victory in the battle with the Ples garrison.

It was partially and hastily restored; a new, lighter (6x6 m at the base) was built on the site of the old tower. By the 17th century the fortress had decayed, but perhaps its remains were preserved by 1609, when Ples was captured by Polish-Lithuanian invaders . If by this time something remained of the fortress (for example, the north tower or, less likely, some walls), it was destroyed by the Poles. Since then, defenses in Plyos have not been built.

To date, the earthen rampart of 1410 with a moat has been preserved on the south side. Local archaeologists, in particular P.N. Travkin , recreated the base of the tower described above.

The hillfort on Cathedral Hill, where the fortress stood, is a monument of archeology. It was examined in 1984 by K. I. Komarov , in 1986 and 1988-1992 by P. N. Travkin. The fortifications themselves were first investigated by P.A. Rappoport in 1959. He made a section of the ramparts, revealed its structure and found confirmation of the annals of the construction of new structures in 1410. The research of P. N. Travkin of the 90s provided additional information on the structure of towers and walls.

• K.I. Komarov. Archaeological map of Russia. Ivanovo region. - M .: Inst. Archeology RAS, 1993.
• P.N. Travkin. Pleskaya fortress of 1410