Kamieniec

Kamieniec is a Polish toponym meaning “stone place” or “stony district,” and it is used for several settlements in Poland as well as for the historic city known today as Kamianets-Podilskyi in present-day Ukraine. The name derives from the Polish word kamień (stone) and is common in Slavic place-naming.

The most historically prominent Kamieniec is Kamianets-Podilskyi (Kamieniec Podolski) in the western part of present-day Ukraine. Located on a rocky escarpment above the Smotrych River, it hosts the medieval Kamianets Fortress, one of the region’s best-preserved fortress complexes. The city was a major border stronghold of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and later changed hands multiple times during conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and others. Today it is an administrative center in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and a site of extensive architectural and archaeological remains reflecting its diverse period of rule.

Kamieniec Ząbkowicki is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, known for the Kamieniec Palace (Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Palace), a 19th-century residence associated with the Hochberg family. The town sits near the Odra (Oder) river region and represents one of the better-preserved examples of a rural palace-town in Silesia.

Beyond these, the name Kamieniec is applied to numerous smaller villages and settlements across Poland, reflecting its common etymology and descriptive origin.