Buchach Castle
Ruins of the Buczacki family castle above the Strypa canyon.
The Buczacki family began building the castle on the plateau above the Strypa in the last quarter of the 14th century; the first written mention dates from 1379. From the beginning of the 17th century it was owned by the Potockis: Mariia Mohylianka, the wife of Stefan Potocki, enlarged the southern part with two semicircular bastion towers. In 1648, according to “Ukraina Incognita”, Khmelnytsky's Cossacks did not take the castle, while according to the Ternopil Regional Library for Young People they captured it; the Tatar assaults of 1655 (according to “Ukraina Incognita”, 1665) and 1667 failed. In 1672 the defence against the sultan's army was led by Teresa Potocka, and on 18 October of the same year a peace treaty between Poland and Turkey was concluded in Buchach. In 1676 the Turkish army of Ibrahim Shishman destroyed the fortifications, and at the beginning of the 19th century the Potockis allowed the walls to be taken apart for stone. The eastern bastion tower, part of the wall and fragments of the palace survive; almost the whole town can be seen from the castle hill.
An unattended ruin: keep to the paths, stay clear of the walls.