The start of construction is unknown. Most historians think it began as a Genoese trading exclave, though the article also cites an unverified claim that it rose on the remains of Tyras. A tower plate reads that Master Fedorko finished construction in 1440, but the article questions what can be concluded from that. It names no architect or client.
The fortress was built of white limestone with 34 towers, some about 66 feet (20 m) tall, and a deep moat. Stephen III strengthened it with new walls and a large gate after 1457. The Ottomans invited French military engineers in 1707 and added a bastion line.
Only 26 exterior towers survive. It was added to Ukraine's register of monuments in 2009 and to the country's UNESCO Tentative List in 2019.
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