A 200-year-old fortress stands amid a modern block of flats in the heart of the prestigious Pechersk district of Kyiv.
However, the Diagon Caponier has never actually been used for war. Nevertheless, it’s a part of the biggest fortification complex in Eastern Europe built in the 19th century, its guide says.
Standing on Hospitalna Street close to Pecherska metro station, it got its name from the peculiar way it was built. It’s angled on a soil bank, hence the word diagon. It’s also shaped like a horse shoe, which allowed firing in two opposite directions simultaneously.
But weapon ports and 10-meter soil banks surrounding the central tower are the only remnants of the original function. That and dozens of cannons dotted around the territory of the fortress.
In 1863, it served as a jail for political prisoners. The first inmates were participants of the liberation revolt in the Polish Kingdom in 1863-1864. They were executed there, too. A hundred years later, their names were carved on a memorial board and a cross was erected close to where they met their deaths.
The caponier had its fair share of VIP prisoners, too. The famous Socialist Revolutionary Dmitri Bogrov, who killed Petr Stolypin, the prime minister of Russia under Czar Nikolai II, and the brain behind the agrarian reform of the time, was held here for 10 days in 1911.
He was then executed by hanging on Lysa Hora (The Bold Hill), another historic part of Kyiv located in the modern day Holosiyivsky district.
The fort was turned into a museum in 1971. Its tower preserved well, and needed little work. Some of the old prison cells were reconstructed scrupulously, based on historic records and old photos.
Cells for officers and soldier guards were restored, as well as regular prison cells. Other items on display include clothes of the former inmates, plank beds, shackles and even the carriage in which prisoners were taken to the gibbet.
To enter the fort, you have to go to the underground tunnel, where even in the height of the summer the temperature hovers at 10-15 degrees Celsius.
Despite the grim history, the caponier is a lovely place for walks and escape from the city fuss, without actually leaving the city.
And remember to take a coat to keep warm inside.
Kyiv Post staff writer Anastasia Forina can be reached at [email protected]
