[2] Khotyn, first chronicled in 1001,[3] is located on the right (southwestern) bank of the Dniester River, and is part of the historical region Bessarabia.

Important architectural landmarks within the city include the Khotyn Fortress, constructed in the 13-15th centuries (new fortress started in 1325, major improvements in the 1380s and 1460s), and two 15th century constructions by Moldavia's ruler Stephen the Great: the Prince's Palace (Palatul Domnesc) and the city's clock tower.

Khotyn, located on cliffs above the Dniester, is sometimes conflated with a sound-alike locality mentioned in 1001,[3] a minor settlement of Kievan Rus'.

In 1351, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania conquered the area, only to give it three years later to the Romanians, who formed their own independent principality in 1359, Moldavia.

After 1433, it was occupied by Poland, due to wars between Alexander's successors, and was reconquered from the Poles by Stephen the Great of Moldavia in 1459 after a two-year siege.

As the Moldavian state's power was weakened by that of the Ottoman Empire, the latter sought to gain control of the strategic river crossing.

The Ottoman Empire finally seized the fortress from Moldavia in 1713 during the Great Northern War and held it during the following century as a base for its troops.

After the Khotyn Uprising was put down by the Romanian Army, Romania implemented policies aimed at the re-Romanianization of the territory.

[13] The city remained under Romanian control until June 28, 1940, when along with Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina it was occupied by the Soviet Union.

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester in September 1621 with approximately 35,000 soldiers[17][18] and entrenched the Khotyn Fortress, blocking the path of the Ottoman march.

The Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay for a whole month, until the first snow of autumn compelled Osman to withdraw his diminished forces.

But the victory was also dearly purchased by Poland: a few days before the siege was raised, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress on September 24, 1621.

The battle, described by Wacław Potocki in his most famous work Transakcja wojny chocimskiej, marked the end of the long period of Moldavian Magnate Wars.

This victory is remembered primarily through the Ode on the Taking of Khotyn from the Turks, composed by the young Mikhail Lomonosov.