Krasnopillia

Krasnopillia began as a fortress on the southern frontier of the Russian state. Built in the 1640s as part of the Belgorod defensive line, it guarded approaches used by Crimean Tatar and Nogai raiders. From the late 1650s it was a company town of the Sumy Sloboda Cossack regiment. By 1673 the fort had more than a thousand inhabitants; its walls and towers enclosed a settlement connected by a hidden passage to the river.