The oblique caponier is a real Kyiv fortress. Museum-prison "Oblique Caponir" How to get there: Museum-prison "Oblique Caponir" on the map of Kyiv
The defensive fortification Oblique Caponier was built in the first half of the 19th century, or more precisely in 1844, as an additional part of the defensive structure in the “Kyiv Fortress” system and was intended for artillery firing along the left and right flanks of the front at an angle to the earthen rampart, therefore strengthening is called “oblique”. The defensive fortification is a structure buried in the ground with very thick stone and brick walls, with embrasure openings for artillery cannons and narrow loopholes for rifles. The ground part of the Oblique Caponier fortification faces the elevation of Cherepanova Mountain.
At first glance, a simple defensive fortification, part of the Novo-Pechersk defensive structure, turned into a real political prison at the end of the 19th century. The first prisoners of the dungeon, after the suppression of the Polish uprising in the early 60s, were participants in the armed uprising of the Polish gentry. And the commanders leading the rebel detachments were shot at the fortress wall. At the beginning of the 20th century, participants in the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907 were imprisoned in this prison, as well as soldiers of the 41st Selenginsky Infantry Regiment, the leader of the uprising of soldiers of the sapper battalions - the revolutionary Russian officer B. Zhadanovsky. The most active participants in armed uprisings in 1907 were shot in the dungeons of the Caponier. Later, the dungeons of this prison became the last refuge for the Russian anarchist D. Bogrov, the murderer of the statesman of the Russian Empire P. Stolypin.
Due to the particularly strict conditions of detention of prisoners and the extremely harsh regime, the “Slanting Caponier” was popularly given a new name - “Kiev Shlisselburg” - in honor of one of the prisons in the Leningrad region for especially important criminals.
Political prisoners served their prison terms within the walls of the dungeon, and in the fortress next door on Bald Mountain, state criminals were put to death. The prisoners taken to the place of execution were met by the executioner and his assistant and an Orthodox priest. Although the prisoners could confess before death, they were still deprived of the right of burial according to Christian tradition; the prison executioner buried the bodies of those executed next to the gallows. Over the course of eleven years, three professional executioners executed more than 200 prisoners. None of the prisoners had the opportunity to escape punishment. After all, the structure, which has thick walls made of stone and brick and is located in a semi-dungeon, made the Oblique Caponier completely impregnable.
Since 1930, a museum dedicated to the revolutionary events in Kyiv in the period 1905-1907 was opened in the prison part of the Oblique Caponier fortification. In the small rooms, a couple of meters in area, in which guilty political prisoners were crowded, the atmosphere of the oppressive prison days of past centuries was recreated. 
The current state of the Oblique Caponier Museum
Today, the Oblique Caponier Museum presents the museum’s exhibition “The History of the Use of Protective Structures of the Kyiv Fortress.” The prison corridors of the dungeon will lead to the prison cell, to the cells in which the arrested officers and soldiers were kept, where instead of a bed there was straw on the stone floor, and instead of a toilet there was a wooden barrel; you can also visit the death row. The temperature here rarely rose above “0”, and the floor was flooded with water so that prisoners could not sit or lie on the stone floor.
The oblique caponier was built in 1844 as a defensive structure of the Hospital fortification in the New Pechersk fortress system. Initially, the Oblique Caponier was used to store weapons and artillery supplies. The oblique caponier is a semi-underground structure with thick walls made of brick and stone. The walls contain embrasures and loopholes for firing cannons and rifles. This is the only place in Europe where the embankments were restored to their full size and represented a complex system of earthen ramparts 10-15 meters high and deep ditches. The shafts cut through patterns - long, up to 40 meters, tunnels, lined with bricks and closed on both sides with gratings. The ground part of the Oblique Caponier overlooked the slopes of Cherepanova Mountain. For the convenience of conducting artillery flank fire, the Oblique caponier is located at an angle to the earthen rampart of the fortress and therefore received the name “Oblique”. The multi-level defense system of the fortress did not give the slightest chance of taking it. So, after the Oblique caponier came the next part of the protection, the horseshoe-shaped caponier. There was a ditch all around, and you could get inside through hanging gates. If the enemy broke through the first defense, he immediately came under a barrage of fire from another fortification. Thus, the fortress was considered impregnable.
In the early 60s of the 19th century, the caponier was turned into a political prison. Due to the cruel regime, the Oblique Caponier was called the “Kyiv Shlisselburg”. Political prisoners were imprisoned in the “Slant Caponier”, and in the Lysogorsk fort, which was further away from residential areas, gallows were installed in 1906 - state criminals were executed here. Three executioners took the lives of more than 200 people over 11 years. Those brought to the place of execution were met by the executioner with his assistant and the priest. Despite confession before death, those executed were deprived of the right to Christian burial, so the executioner buried the bodies of the hanged not far from the gallows.
Currently, the Oblique Caponier is one of the components of the historical and architectural monument - the Kiev Fortress Museum. The “Kyiv Fortress” includes the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the territory of the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, the Arsenal plant and many other objects located mainly in Pechersk. On the territory of the Oblique Caponier itself there are two museums, the exhibitions of which are dedicated to the history of this fortification.
The first museum is located underground, it is presented in the form in which it was converted for prisoners, but originally there were rooms for soldiers and weapons. The loopholes for rifles and cannons were later turned into windows with bars. The museum displays many antique utensils, weapons, uniforms, and personal belongings of prisoners. The second museum was opened 2 years ago. It presents uniforms from different times and historical documents concerning the history of the city and the fortress itself.
Four years ago, during the restoration of one of the parts of the fortification, caponier No. 2, it was discovered that its large vaulted hall had very good acoustics. Since then, chamber literary and musical evenings have been regularly held there.
In April 2001, a musical and theatrical show was held on the territory of the Oblique Caponier as part of the presentation of Stella Artois beer in Ukraine. This was the reason for my first visit to the fortress. My friends from several historical re-enactment and fencing clubs took part in the performance, and their skill perfectly emphasized the original purpose of the Slanting Caponier, giving the place a spirit of glory and victory.
The hospital fortification is a separate combat unit of the Kyiv fortress, and specifically the New Pechersk fortress. Neither the fortress as a whole nor this fortification was destined to fight, justifying all the difficulties that their construction in Pechersk gave rise to. But the history of the Hospital Fort and the Oblique Caponier is still full of interesting moments and sprinkled with all sorts of fables that Kievans and guests of the city managed to invent over the course of a couple of centuries.
Hospital fortification plan.
Not being sufficiently prepared, like 99% of the people on the street, I called this entire fortification the Oblique Caponier, while the Oblique Caponier itself is only the red building on the far left on the plan. It’s amazing how this one defense point was able to remain in the people’s memory, displacing the real name of the complex - the Hospital fortification of the Novopechersk fortress.
And this is how everything looks on Google map now. The ramparts still represent a strategic high-rise in the area.
The Kiev fortress, created back in 1708, gradually began to creep onto the hills from the 18th century. This is how the New Pechersk Fortress arises, of which the Hospital fortification is a part.
Its history is complex and a little ridiculous. The main battle here was not with the enemy, who never received serious resistance on the lines. The real war took place along the line between the military and the residents of Kyiv. For global construction, it was necessary to demolish almost 800 estates (that’s just estates!!! But there are also apartment buildings, shops, markets), disrupt communications and logistics in the city.
Since no one just wanted to part with their mansions, an entertaining scam was carried out: the Kiev governor Dmitry Bibikov banned the renovation of houses on the site of which it was planned to build fortifications and esplanades. When buildings fell into disrepair, officials assessed them (the value of unrepaired slums dropped to ridiculous amounts at that time). According to this assessment, the residents were paid meager compensation.
These people were sent to live in Podol, and the then luxurious areas of Pechersk were built up for military needs. This is how the hero of our story was born.
The same Oblique caponier now. It appears to have been reconstructed.
The original plan of Kosoy and similar caponiers of the Hospital fortification.
Hospital fortifications were erected to the northwest of the Zverinetsky fort in such a way that they could conduct flanking fire. In the direction of the current Olympic Stadium and Kyiv Clinical Hospital No. 17, caponiers (including Kosoy), the Sports Palace and the Guliver shopping center - the half-tower - could have struck. From the crest of the rampart an excellent panorama still opens up to these places. However, at the time of commissioning, more than half of the defense points were earthen.
The wall of the so-called "Dry Yar"
The fort was built in 1843-1845. But some stone buildings were completed even in the 20th century. The name "Oblique Caponier" arose because it is located at an angle to the then rampart and was asymmetrical relative to other buildings. It’s easy to check this now: in urban planning, it is customary to call a boulevard a street whose axis runs along the territory of the former rampart.
The thick line is the shaft. Thin - the axis of the caponier. Koso, right?
The photo shows the half-car of the hospital fortification, which is also the northern half-tower. These are barracks capable of fighting in a northern direction. At the time of construction, the place was considered very comfortable, there were bathrooms with warm water (not baths), closets connected to the sewer system. This was also caused by the need for increased hygiene in the hospital, where infectious patients could be taken.
The permanent garrison of the fortification is 1,500 people with the possibility of rapid expansion by more than half. Not all the premises are above ground - the territory of the powder magazines and the courtyard is vast; soldiers could hide from an artillery attack in potterns leading to caponiers and internal closed courtyards. Plus, some buildings crashed directly into the shaft.
An example of a closed courtyard in a fortification
In the 1860s, it became increasingly clear that the hospital fortification was unlikely to be the epicenter of hostilities, and therefore, like in every non-advanced fortress of the Russian Empire, a prison was built here. Fortunately, there are many casemates, loophole windows do not allow escape, and military buildings are made in such a way that it is almost impossible to escape from them unnoticed. In those days, going to the Oblique Caponier prison was akin to us being in a high-security zone. Here sat violators of the military oath, political rebels.
The epicenter of the prison was the Oblique Caponier, quickly taking on the role of one of the most sinister prisons in Kyiv. We have all heard about “Crosses”, “Butyrka” (no, not the group), “Matrosskaya Tishina” - but all this was on the territory of what is now Russia, and then in the very center of the empire. One of the most terrible prisons in Little Russia (present-day Ukraine) was the Oblique Caponier, popularly nicknamed “Kyiv Shlisselburg” and “Nut”.
This is not only a drainage ditch, but also a way to protect window loopholes from an attack
There were about 200 prisoners in the punishment cells and casemate cells. Many fables have been told about the torture here - supposedly water was poured into the cells, where it was already cold in winter, so that the prisoners could not lie down and sleep even for a minute. This may have happened, but not on a massive scale.
From right to left - counter-escaping embankment, internal prison yard, fortification wall, hospital fortification rampart
Before the construction of the fort on Bald Mountain, prisoners were immediately released. And after that, they were taken out to the so that the people of Kiev would not be frightened by the sound of gunshots and the drumming before the hanging.
Fate of fate - military hospital fortifications in history are known more as a place of execution than a place of potential defense. In 1863, the commanders of the Polish rebels were shot here. In 1907 - the rebellious officers of the 41st Selenga Infantry Regiment and the 21st Engineer Battalion. Those killed were buried right here - in trenches near the training ground. At that time, it was a common practice to bury state criminals in places where soldiers marched. It seems that even after death they will not find peace.
The original cannon is believed to be from the 18th century. It hardly has anything to do with the buildings here.
With the advent of Soviet power, the territory of the Hospital fortification was still used for a certain time as a prison, garrison guardhouse and warehouses. In the 1930s, when the Soviet Union’s logistics and attitude to history improved, a museum was created here. It is not strange, because the Soviets willingly turned to the topic of rebels shot under the tsarist regime.
I did not find any data on the fighting here during the Great Patriotic War, but the abundance of bullet holes, as well as the inactivity of the fort in the fighting of the First World War, speaks of local battles either during the defense of Kyiv or during its liberation.
So what do we have today? The surviving remains of the Hospital fortification are divided by a conventional line into the "Kiev Fortress" museum and the usual working buildings of the military hospital in the southern part). There are museums inside the Oblique Caponier and Half Tower, which I was not able to visit due to the fast train. The fee for entering the territory is purely symbolic (hryvnia, it seems?). The buildings are original, but not all original. After all, initially the fortifications were earthen, giving way to stone ones at the very end of the 19th century.
We came here in May. And, if you don’t really know the history of the Hospital fortification as a prison, then the place seems amazingly beautiful, clean and sunny. Not at all like a military facility...
ZY I am very grateful to Nastya and Stefan, who managed to show me the most desirable places in Kyiv, including this one, just an hour before the train. Thank you guys:)
Z.Y.Z.Y. This post is a rare long-term project, because I sincerely wanted to delve into the topic. I hope my original idea was a success.
At the end of the 19th century, an innocent fortification as part of the New Pechersk Fortress turned into a prison. Due to the particularly strict and cruel regime, the “Slanting Caponier” acquired a new name - “Shlisselburg”, in honor of one of the strictest prisons in the Leningrad region.
Political prisoners served their sentences here, and state criminals were executed in the neighboring Lysogorsk fort. Over 11 years, just three executioners took the lives of more than 200 prisoners. The criminals had no chance to escape punishment: the semi-underground structure with thick walls of brick and stone made the Kyiv fortress impregnable.
Kiev Fortress-Museum: history of fortification since the times of Trypillian culture
The atmosphere of the forgotten prison days of his past is recreated. Underground corridors lead to prison cells with straw instead of beds and a wooden toilet barrel. In the museum's display cases, personal belongings of prisoners, military uniforms of guards, various types of weapons and ancient court documents attract attention.
Coming out of the walls of the dark dungeon, the visitor immediately finds himself at the second museum exhibition, dedicated to the history of military uniforms and the glorious past of the Kyiv fortress-museum.
The main “intimidating maneuver” of the fortress is the prison cells
The guilty prisoners huddled in small rooms with an area of only a couple of meters. Here the temperature rarely rose above zero, and the floor was flooded with water so that the prisoner could not sit or lie on the floor.
You can also tickle your nerves by looking into the death row. This secluded corner of the “Slant Caponier” became the last refuge of Stolypin’s killer, Dmitry Bogrov.
And how many other famous personalities have sheltered the walls of the “Slanting Caponier”, its curious visitors will have to find out.
Not all Kiev residents know that Kyiv has its own real fortress. What can we say about the guests of the city - For some reason, the Oblique Caponier is not on the list of the top 10 most popular places to visit by tourists. But he fully deserves it. Everyone who is looking should come here.
Story
Oblique caponier- a fortification built in 1844. It is part of the New Pechersk Fortress and was a defensive structure of the Hospital fortification within it.
The word “oblique” in the name appeared because the walls of the structure were built at an angle to the earthen rampart of the fortress - for conducting flanking fire.
The complex of the Pechersk fortress also includes the Lysogorsky fort - buildings on Lysaya Mountain in the capital's Vydubychi, as well as the Kiev-Pecherskaya Lavra, the Arsenal plant and several other buildings, now used as warehouses.
Maximum security prison
In the 1860s, the Oblique Caponier used as a maximum security prison - prisoners of the political regime were kept here. Basically, those who went against the system - revolutionaries - were sent here. The death penalty was carried out here by firing squad.
The first prisoners were participants in the Polish, or January Uprising of 1863-1864 against the Russian Empire. Later, participants in the revolution of 1905-1907, such as Boris Zhadanovsky, were exiled here.
One of the most famous prisoners of the Kyiv fortress can be called Dmitry Bogrov, the murderer of Pyotr Stolypin. On September 1, 1911, he committed his historical assassination attempt, and on September 12, as a death penalty, he was hanged in the Lysogorsk fort, part of the Kyiv fortress.
It was called the Kyiv “Oreshok” - as a reference to the Oreshek fortress on Orekhovoy Island in Russia. It is also known as Noteburg, or Shliselburg. In this fortress, in the prison, at the beginning of the 18th century, famous prisoners were also kept, who were brought here for political reasons. This prison, like the Kiev Oblique Caponier, was particularly harsh in its treatment.
In Soviet times, the Kiev garrison guardhouse operated on the territory of the Oblique Caponier. The conditions here were also very harsh: bleach was poured into the detainees’ cells, the heating could be turned off in winter, and they were allowed to use the toilet according to a schedule.
What now?
On the territory of the fortress you can now see real ditches and earthen embankments - defensive ramparts, wooden fences made of sharp stakes, cannons lined up, bridges and arches, thick brick walls, loopholes, entrances to underground galleries. This area is open for walks and gatherings; you can come here with friends or take a walk with your children.
Inside, in the underground halls, there are now museums with paid entrance. Eg. In one of the museums you can see the conditions of detention and the path of prisoners of the former prison to the death penalty. Death row carriage, information about prisoners and the like. The monument-museum “Kiev Fortress” belongs to the funds of the Museum of the History of Kyiv
The oblique caponier is located at 24a Gospitalnaya Street. The name of the street is such because even now there is a military hospital not far from the fortress, and from the height of the earthen ramparts there is a view of the central part of the city and the NSC Olimpiysky.
