The Khotyn Fortress (Ukrainian: Хотинська фортеця, Polish: twierdza w Chocimiu, Turkish: Hotin Kalesi, Romanian: Cetatea Hotinului) is a fortification complex located on the right bank of the Dniester River in Khotyn, Chernivtsi Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine.

It lies within the historical region of northern Bessarabia, a Romanian territory occupied in 1940 by the Soviet Union following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

Construction of the current stone Khotyn Fortress began in the late XIV century, when these lands had already become part of Moldavia.

The fort, which eventually was rebuilt a fortress, was located on important commerce routes, which connected Scandinavia and Kyiv with the Ponyzia (lowlands), Podolia, Genoese and Greek colonies on the Black Sea, through Moldavia and Wallachia, on the famous "trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks".

They fortified the structure by adding a half-meter (20 in) stone wall and a 6-meter (20 ft) wide moat around its perimeter.

Under the rule of Alexander the Good and later Stephen the Great of Moldavia, the fortress underwent significant renovations, transforming it into its present form.

In 1538, the Khotyn Fortress was captured by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the leadership of Great Crown Hetman Jan Tarnowski.

[3] With Polish support, they engaged in a dynastic struggle against the forces of Moldavia and Wallachia, led by Michael the Brave, who was attempting to capture the fortress.

In 1611, Voivode Stefan Tomsa II ruled Moldova with the support of the Ottoman Empire, maintaining control of Khotyn Fortress until his deposition in 1615.

Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky initially allied with the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia before occupying Khotyn Fortress for a period in the spring of 1650.

[5] Sobieski vividly described the battle:More than 60 guns were thundering non-stop, the sky was in flames and smothered in smoke, the earth was quaking, the walls were groaning, the rocks were splitting into pieces.

The Turks then fortified Khotyn following a six-year (1712–18) reconstruction and it became the foremost stronghold of the Ottoman defence in Eastern Europe.

On July 6, 1941, Khotyn was reconquered by the Nazi German-Romanian armies, returning to Romania as part of the Bukovina Governorate.

In September 1991, during the 370th anniversary of the Battle of Khotyn, a monument was erected in honor of Ukrainian Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi, designed by sculptor I. Hamal' (І.

[7] Today, Khotyn is one of the biggest cities and an important industrial, tourist, and cultural center of the Chernivtsi Oblast.

One legend says that the spot was created by the tears of the Khotyn rebels against the Ottoman Turks that were killed inside the fortress.

Another legend has it that the spot was created from the tears of a girl named Oksana, whom the Turks buried alive in the walls of the fort.