The remains of the Fortress of Saint Elizabeth (Svyato-Elizavetinskaya Fortetsya) form the oldest physical layer of Kropyvnytskyi. Built in 1752 to protect the new southern frontier of the Russian Empire from Tatar cavalry raids, the fortress was designed with five bastions connected by earth curtain walls and surrounded by a ditch. It was never attacked, becoming obsolete within decades as the frontier pushed further south.
What survives today are the earthwork ramparts — substantial grassy mounds that still trace the original star shape of the fortification plan. The area has been landscaped into a park, and local residents walk dogs and push prams along the paths that follow the old bastions. It takes some imagination to read the military landscape, but the scale is clear, and a few information boards (mainly in Ukrainian) explain the layout. The site is centrally located and easy to visit on foot.