Address
36, Shkolnaya Street (behind the gymnasium №2),Zaporizhzhia
The Alexander Fortress, constructed under the direction of Colonel Wilhelm von Freeden-dorf in 1770, is the progenitor of Zaporizhzhia.
Due to a powerful flood in the spring of 1771, the fortress was relocated to its current location near the Dnipro River. Remains of the fortifications are situated within the modern boundaries of Pryberezhna coastal thoroughfare, the streets of Poshtova, Zaporizhzhska and Fortechna.
Construction was overseen by Colonel Yakiv Bibikov. By 1780, there were already barracks, a Hauptwache, a prison, workshops, Zeughauser and provisioning shops, a pharmacy, a lazarette, a warehouse for cannons, and powder magazines. Later on, a battalion school, buildings for the command staff, and a church were built.
The fortress lost its military and administrative significance in 1800 when the garrison regiment was disbanded. In 2019, fragments of fortifications in the form of ramparts and ditches of the Alexander Fortress were discovered during emergency archaeological excavations on the territory of Zaporizhia Gymnasium No. 2, which became the first in the history of urban archaeology.