DETERMINATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND STATUS OF PRESERVATION OF THE COMPLEX OF THE ROUND TOWER WITH A BARBICAN AND THE BASTION OF THE MEDZHYBIZH FORTRESS

Abstract

Based on the available materials of archaeological research, architectural surveys, and documents on emergency and restoration works, the article examines the problems associated with the attribution, research, preservation, and restoration of historical and architectural monuments that have been repeatedly rebuilt. The Round Tower with the Bastion and the Barbican of the Medzhybizh fortress are laid at the base of the analysis. A review and brief analysis of previous studies of the structures mentioned above has been carried out over the past fifty years. The article provides a short historical excursion into the “evolutionary development” of the defensive complex of the Medzhybizh fortress in the 14th-17th centuries. The architectural features of the construction and numerous reconstructions of each presented research object, as well as the historical and military-political prerequisites that led to such large-scale reconstructions, are revealed. The author describes the architectural solutions by which each of the elements is combined with the others into a single defensive complex. Light is also shed on the reasons that caused most of the destruction and damage to the structures. The technical condition of the object and the measures taken during emergency and restoration work during the period of active reconstruction of the complex from 2016 to 2021 inclusive are determined. The list of existing damages with their characteristics and the level of danger they may pose is indicated. The article proposes appropriate measures to eliminate the existing problems, which ultimately will enable the preservation of the objects, their museumification and involvement in the general exhibition space of the Medzhybizh fortress. Finally, the article concludes with conclusions about the current status of architectural conservation of objects and the people's safety there. The sequential order of emergency, conservation, restoration, and additional cleaning and archaeological measures that must necessarily precede the museumification of the south-eastern defensive complex of the Medzhybizh fortress are compared.